First ever tri-tip tonight. I picked up a package the last time Creekstone had them on sale just to see what all the hubub was about. Since I had never made one before, I went with a standard steak cook and seasoning. First was a 10 hour dry brine I started before bed this morning. I followed that up with a generous layer of Hanks beef rub.
Then it was time for pellet pooper to come out and play. Since this was going to be a fairly short cook, I loaded up the 6" smoke tube with my usual half piece of charcoal in the bottom, and filled the rest up with hickory chips. The pooper was set for Low Smoke which is around 185° according to the Fireboard. After an hour there, I kicked it up to 250° just to keep things moving on a work night. Once the internal temp hit 125°, it was time for a quick sear on the Blackstone.
The sear was a little disappointing since it ended up being more of a spotty char than a nice even browning, but some days it just goes like this. To round things out, I tossed a couple of taters in the toaster oven, and heated up a can of beans. Hey, cut me some slack, I also got the third and final header (footer?) installed for my remodel while everything was cooking. But that's for a different post. The picture of the tri-tip pretty much tells you page three of the story.
Except it might have tasted even better than it looks. Tender, with enough chew that you know you're eating beef. And what an amazing beef flavor too! I cannot believe I waited so long to try this cut. The GF loved it so much she has declared this to be a locked recipe. No fiddling with it. No trying to improve it. Make just like that every single time. This is only the third thing that she has officially locked up, and I'm hard pressed to argue with her. What she doesn't know is she just declared that there must always be Creekstone prime tri-tips in the freezer. Oh well, there are worse things to suffer through.
Then it was time for pellet pooper to come out and play. Since this was going to be a fairly short cook, I loaded up the 6" smoke tube with my usual half piece of charcoal in the bottom, and filled the rest up with hickory chips. The pooper was set for Low Smoke which is around 185° according to the Fireboard. After an hour there, I kicked it up to 250° just to keep things moving on a work night. Once the internal temp hit 125°, it was time for a quick sear on the Blackstone.
The sear was a little disappointing since it ended up being more of a spotty char than a nice even browning, but some days it just goes like this. To round things out, I tossed a couple of taters in the toaster oven, and heated up a can of beans. Hey, cut me some slack, I also got the third and final header (footer?) installed for my remodel while everything was cooking. But that's for a different post. The picture of the tri-tip pretty much tells you page three of the story.
Except it might have tasted even better than it looks. Tender, with enough chew that you know you're eating beef. And what an amazing beef flavor too! I cannot believe I waited so long to try this cut. The GF loved it so much she has declared this to be a locked recipe. No fiddling with it. No trying to improve it. Make just like that every single time. This is only the third thing that she has officially locked up, and I'm hard pressed to argue with her. What she doesn't know is she just declared that there must always be Creekstone prime tri-tips in the freezer. Oh well, there are worse things to suffer through.
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