Smoked Tri-Tip

[The Big Pig]

Smoked Tri-Tip
If you haven't yet tried smoked tri-tip, prepare yourself for one of life's true culinary pleasures. Tri-tip has the best qualities of steak (taste) and brisket (texture) and is relatively inexpensive (around $3/lb. here in KC), easy to prepare, and quick to cook (about 45 minutes). Here in the midwest, most people have never tasted tri-tip before so you get a great Wow! factor when serving.


Ingredients:
2 beef tri-tip roasts
Favorite beef seasonings

My Tri-tip Injection & Marinade:
1 Cup Fab B Lite
2 Cups Water
4 TBSP Worcestershire Sauce
1/4 Cup Olive Oil



Click on any of the pictures to enlarge.

1) I rescued a couple of vacuum sealed Costco tri-tips from the freezer. Tri-tips usually don't need much trimming but remove any fat that is more than 1/8-1/4 inch thick.



2) Inject the tri-tip with your favorite beef injection. My injection recipe for this cook is listed above. Once the meat has been thoroughly injected, place in a Zip-Loc bag and add the rest of your injection to the bag. Marinade in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.





3) Remove the tri-tip from the bag. Discard the bag and the excess marinade but do not rinse the tri-tip. The Fab B and olive oil marinade has thickened and now makes a great slather to hold your seasonings.



4) Season (rub) your tri-tip like you would a steak. I used Plowboys Brisket Rub and fresh ground pepper for this cook. Once seasoned, place the tri-tip on your cooker and smoke at 225F. I used hickory this time but apple or cherry would work as well.





5) Cook for about 45 minutes or until the internal temperature of the meat is 130F. Remove the tri-tip from the cooker and let rest for 15 minutes.



6) Slice like you would a brisket, perpindicular to the grain and #2 pencil thick. Plate and serve.

[PoppaPickles]

Oh man!!! That just looks delicious.. Simple, quick and tasty..

Is it true that you only smoke for about 45 minutes at 225? I've seen so many sites talking about almost 3 hours for a 2-3lb Tri-tip...

I try to cook by internal temp of the meats, but its nice to have a good time reference point. I hate opening the door of my smoker due to the heat loss.

I may have to use my digital thermometer to help me keep track of the temps...

Thanks for such a great site..

[The Big Pig]

It's true.

Tri-tip should be cooked like a steak. I like my steak rare and typically pull it off the cooker around 115-120F internal and let it rest. Even if you like beef a little more done, it doesn't take long to cook tri-tip.

I buy tri-tips from Costco and they come 8-10 in a pack and weight about 1.5-2lbs. each. I suppose bigger ones would take longer but 2-3 hours would be way too done for my tastes.

[PoppaPickles]

I used your method and couldn't be happier! My tri-tips came out so tender, you could cut them with a fork, and juicy and done to perfection! I did smoke the 2 that I did for about an hour.. and I used hickory chips for flavor..

Thanks again, I'm very confident that if I had use the methods I found on other forums to smoke at 225 for 3-4 hours for 2lb tri-tips, they would have been WAY over done...

I think I'm gonna like it here. Maybe I need to start taking some pictures of what I'm cooking! :)

[The Big Pig]

I think I'm gonna like it here. Maybe I need to start taking some pictures of what I'm cooking! :)

Congrats on the successful tri-tip! Pictures would be awesome.

[swamprb]

Man I love Tri-Tips! My favorite is a Santa Maria style rub, seared both sides on the cast iron grate of the Weber, wine barrel chunks for smoke, then moved to the indirect side until it hits 135*.

Excellent direct on the Drum smoker or Reverse seared on the Egg, indirect for an hour, remove the platesetter, then open the vents and quick sear.

[1vegoil]

what is fab b lite??

[The Big Pig]

what is fab b lite??

Fab B is a beef injection/marinade sold by theingredientstore.com.

[Luck91]

You are to kind Big Pig. This is always one of my favorites when you cook it.

[Kit R]

Tri-tip was the first thing I smoked on the WSM. In deference to the Missus' squeamishness with medium rare meat I cooked it to 145F, which yielded a pretty well done (read "bone dry") tri-tip. Fortunately, however, the center of the larger piece was almost perfectly done. Next time I will know better, and the Missus agrees that 45 minutes on the smoker is enough.