Wagyu Tri Tip on the OKJ Bronco
I'm not sure the Bronco gets enough love (and it was Valentine's Day!) for the value it brings at its price point, so wanted to share a cook I did yesterday that shows the versatility and rock solid temp management of this $299 cooker...
I had a SRF wagyu tri tip - the last of a package that was a Father's Day gift last year - that I wanted to cook for us for Valentine's Day. I think on Thursday of last week I got a Heath Riles email with a link to a video where he cooks up a wagyu tri tip. I thought it was interesting that his base layer rub was his Simple Citrus (basically his Everyday Rub SPOG but with citrus), I'd have never otherwise considered something citrusy on this sort of cut. As luck would have it, I recently purchased a bottle so I figured I'd try it out, very glad I did. Trimmed it up first (never pretty when I'm done with it), and took a pic to note the direction of the grain before I got the rubs on.
After I got the Simply Citrus on there pretty good, I added another layer of beef rubs. I ended up using the last of my Black Ops and All In Championship rubs. I let this dry brine overnight.
Now, the first (and only other) one of these I cooked I took it to about 120F and reverse seared it on my kettle w/ SNS. It was just ok, not great, 135-ish was too rare for both of us (yes, I'll accept the showering of boo's now). This time I wanted to front sear it and use the Bronco to do it. I wanted to front sear because I knew the surface wouldn't have much moisture after dry brining all night, and it offers more control on the final temp which I wanted to nail at 145F. So I put the Bronco in grilling mode and got a very full basket of B&B lump going. Let that preheat just a bit, and got to searing - several minutes per side until I was happy.
After that I flipped the Bronco into smoking mode. Goes pretty quickly and easily even in the rain: gloves on, take the cooking grate off, set it on my stainless steel table, use the Bronco's hook tool to the lift basket out (its got a notch in the center of the handle where you hook it to stabilize it) and set it in my kettle, take out the inverted heat deflector, put the basket back in on top of the ash pan, put the heat deflector in place for smoking, and put the cooking grate back on.
When I closed the lid, I left the vents wide open until it hit ~285F then I shut them both down about half way. Never made another adjustment and it settled in really nicely.
After a little over an hour, it hit the 145F mark.
Took it inside and let it rest for a few.
I found this Jess Pryle's video on how to slice a tri tip super helpful.
Not perfect, but MUCH better than the previous one. In the end, it's just not our favorite cut of beef, we'd put our dollars elsewhere. Don't get me wrong, if a tri tip was part of a package again I'd take it and happily cook it up, I just won't be seeking them out. I will say that citrus rub provided a really nice tangy flavor underneath the beef rubs that we all loved. Served it up with baked potatoes and salads - made for a great Valentine's Day meal!
I had a SRF wagyu tri tip - the last of a package that was a Father's Day gift last year - that I wanted to cook for us for Valentine's Day. I think on Thursday of last week I got a Heath Riles email with a link to a video where he cooks up a wagyu tri tip. I thought it was interesting that his base layer rub was his Simple Citrus (basically his Everyday Rub SPOG but with citrus), I'd have never otherwise considered something citrusy on this sort of cut. As luck would have it, I recently purchased a bottle so I figured I'd try it out, very glad I did. Trimmed it up first (never pretty when I'm done with it), and took a pic to note the direction of the grain before I got the rubs on.
After I got the Simply Citrus on there pretty good, I added another layer of beef rubs. I ended up using the last of my Black Ops and All In Championship rubs. I let this dry brine overnight.
Now, the first (and only other) one of these I cooked I took it to about 120F and reverse seared it on my kettle w/ SNS. It was just ok, not great, 135-ish was too rare for both of us (yes, I'll accept the showering of boo's now). This time I wanted to front sear it and use the Bronco to do it. I wanted to front sear because I knew the surface wouldn't have much moisture after dry brining all night, and it offers more control on the final temp which I wanted to nail at 145F. So I put the Bronco in grilling mode and got a very full basket of B&B lump going. Let that preheat just a bit, and got to searing - several minutes per side until I was happy.
After that I flipped the Bronco into smoking mode. Goes pretty quickly and easily even in the rain: gloves on, take the cooking grate off, set it on my stainless steel table, use the Bronco's hook tool to the lift basket out (its got a notch in the center of the handle where you hook it to stabilize it) and set it in my kettle, take out the inverted heat deflector, put the basket back in on top of the ash pan, put the heat deflector in place for smoking, and put the cooking grate back on.
When I closed the lid, I left the vents wide open until it hit ~285F then I shut them both down about half way. Never made another adjustment and it settled in really nicely.
After a little over an hour, it hit the 145F mark.
Took it inside and let it rest for a few.
I found this Jess Pryle's video on how to slice a tri tip super helpful.
Not perfect, but MUCH better than the previous one. In the end, it's just not our favorite cut of beef, we'd put our dollars elsewhere. Don't get me wrong, if a tri tip was part of a package again I'd take it and happily cook it up, I just won't be seeking them out. I will say that citrus rub provided a really nice tangy flavor underneath the beef rubs that we all loved. Served it up with baked potatoes and salads - made for a great Valentine's Day meal!
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