Tri tip over live fire - best technique?

[ecowper]

Cigar and whiskey is my standard accessory set up for grilling or smoking. :-)

[Rob whatever]

It was good. The narrower portion was better because the bark had a great charcoal taste. It was cooked well. It doesn’t get that same Smokey flavor as when I reverse sear.

[CaptainMike]

That fire set up looks very familiar. I'm sure tbob4 would agree.

[CaptainMike]

Hahahahaha, yer velcome! Nicely done, Rob.

[CaptainMike]

Bbqmikeg that's some funny sh!t right there!! Must be a Mike thang!

[theroc]

Nicely done.

[Caffeine88]

Nice work. The grill, the meat, the board sauce, the stogie, and the whiskey! I approve all of the above 👍🏻😁🥃

[Bbqmikeg]

Sorry to hear about your loss…whether it was your arm or just the stogie. Either way my condolences.

[barelfly]

Ha! Cigar and whiskey! Can’t beat it. And that Mgrill! Dang…….. call me jelly! Love it!

[Rob whatever]

Best thing I did was take Captain Mike’s advice. Cigar and whiskey.

rob

[Jfrosty27]

Winner, winner, tri tip dinner. Yum. Nice work pitmaster.

[tbob4]

Nice job - how did you like it?

[Rob whatever]

Here are the results.

[Rob whatever]

Very helpful. I’ve done reverse sear often but I’m intrigued to do this direct.

Thanks.

Rob

[CaptainMike]

I have a traditional Santa Maria grill and my preferred method is to start a half chimney of briquettes then lay 3 oak splits on the coals. With the grill cranked all the way up I'll plop the TT on to catch some smoke while the splits smolder, catch, and burn down a bit. I'll then lower the grate to the 5 second hand test level and cook/flip direct and raise/lower/add a split or 2 as necessary until an IT 115 - 120, then stir the coals to rev them up and sear off. I used to do this with a stogie in one hand and a bourbon in the other, but now it's just the bourbon

One of the keys to true open fire cooking is to keep that meat moving, don't let it set too long in one position. To me that's a big part of the fun! Don't sweat it too much either, even if you overshoot it a little you will still have a great piece of meat.

Remember that TT's have 2 different grains to them and to slice accordingly. A trick I was taught many years ago while doing literally hundreds of TT's for fire department fundraisers was to start at the tip of the triangle and slice it all the way to the long axis. It's more of 1/4 slice against the grain, but it works if you're doing a bunch.

+1 on a board sauce or a dab of horseradish. A dash of Montreal steak seasoning or flaked sea salt is nice for serving as well.