Tri tip over live fire - best technique?

[Rob whatever]

I plan on cooking a tri tip over live fire with splits on my M36 this weekend. Any thoughts on how to best do this? The m36 has the ability to lower or raise the fire, which I’m told is necessary for this method. I’m interesting in any thoughts how cook the meat - how close to the fire? How often to turn? Start with a sear or finish with a sear?

any tips are appreciated.

rob

[smokin fool]

I've only don tri tip once and was saved by the boyz on here from ruining it.
Search will be your friend here, I'm sure Troutman has probably posted a sticky on tri tip prep and cooking on here somewhere.
If I remember correctly it was indirect cooking to start and a really good hot sear to finish.
Its not a really long cook, I think you cook to an inside temp of no more than 130.
Not a lot of good info from me, the real cooks on this site should chime in soon.

[pkadare]

how to cook tri tip on a santa maria grill - Google Search

[Caffeine88]

I've had excellent luck with a Santa maria over really hot lump charcoal, as well as a standard reverse sear approach over briquettes. Keep it high enough that it gets a bit of smoke, but far enough away that it takes 20-30 min to reach 115 internal. Then drop it down or move over to hit it with some heat and sear it to reach 130F internal. It'll coast a bit, since this is not a very big piece of meat. Give it 5 or 10 to rest, then slice pretty thin across the grain. The most recent one I hit with kosher salt about 2 hrs ahead, then rubbed with equal parts garlic power, black pepper, and sweet/spicy paprika. I've been a real fan of topping with EVOO and herb/fresh pepper board sauce when serving.

Good luck!

[Caffeine88]

More specifically - I only turn it once when getting it up to 115, and then watch it like a hawk while searing. I rotate ever 45-60 sec, and try to get the sear as even as I can. On the SM, I keep it on one side away from the fire and 6"-12" up depending on how hot it is. For briquettes, I'm trying to keep the internal temp on the Weber with a lid on below 300 and the meat off the direct side.

[Wedunne]

+1 on the board sauce. It goes really well with tri tip.

[ecowper]

I cook Tri-Tip regularly on the Hasty-Bake. M36 design is similar, in many ways, to the Hasty-Bake. What I do is setup my firebox and get the indirect side of the HB up to about 300F, give or take. Then cook the meat on the indirect side to about 118, give or take. Pull it, crank the heat on the direct side, and when it's blazing, put the Tri-Tip on direct. I flip it about every 60 seconds until it gets the right Maillard reaction. Pull again, let it rest 5 minutes or so, then carve against the grain into 1/4" thick slices.

If you want to be more traditional, then you would cook direct the entire time, but you would raise and lower your fire to keep from burning the outside while you are getting it up to a good internal temp.

[TripleB]

Easy peasy. Front sear over a hot fire until you get the caramelization (crust) you desire. Mopping it occasionally does not hurt. Once you get the crust you want, move it over to the indirect side and finish cooking to your desired doneness. Don't forget that once the TT plumps up, you'll have a third side.

Rear sear works too, but the crust is where all the flavor is and that is what you want to develop.

[rickgregory]

Indirect then direct is the right approach, but remember that a trip tip varies in thickness, so you'll have some bits that are more done than others. You can play with this by doing the whole thing over direct, then moving the thinner part off the direct heat and leaving the thicker part over the coals, etc. Or, if people like varying degrees of doneness, just ignore that.

[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.

[Rob whatever]

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

Thanks.

Rob

[Bbqmikeg]

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

[CaptainMike]

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

[Rob whatever]

Here are the results.

[theroc]

Nicely done.

[CaptainMike]

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

[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.

[Jfrosty27]

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

[Rob whatever]

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

rob

[CaptainMike]

Hahahahaha, yer velcome! Nicely done, Rob.

[ecowper]

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

[barelfly]

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

[Caffeine88]

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