Tri-Tip on a COS, the saga begins

[David Parrish]

The Costco stores, here in Houston have Tri-tips, all the time.

In Charlotte as well, though some come pre marinated. Meh.

[dscott]

The Costco stores, here in Houston have Tri-tips, all the time.

[The Burn]

Sure do wish I could get Tri-Tip here in PA, so I could try my hand at some Santa Maria-style BBQ. Even have some California Red Oak coming that is supposedly the secret ingredient. When I lived in So Cal, I would go to the various fairs just to have some.

[jrobertson50]

I do mine similar. growing up in So California im a pursist. I cook over white oak when i can. and use salt/pepper/garilc on top and thats about it. Get it to a nice med. rare and im set. Yours looks damn tasty.

[Flavorsavor]

That looks fantastic...I like your dogs in the pic too, all the black and white reminds me my of my newfie trying to trip me over and every time I bring food in from the grill...

[mgaretz]

My last tri-tip was done about an hour early. Faux cambro to the rescue!

[boftx]

I'm gonna slice it up by hand, but we have TT, pork loin, brisket and similar cuts such as London broil often enough that I want to get a regular meat slicer sometime to make it easier to slice up sandwich meat. And yes, it *was* good eatin' tonight, even if I say it myself.

BTW, the pic doesn't really show it, but Buddy and Angie are actually standing between me and the kitchen door while Molly was looking for a way to make a flank attack.

[David Parrish]

NICE! I bet that was good eating. I 150% agree with you on the Philly Cheesesteak option for the leftovers. Sliced really thin it'll turn out great.

Oh, and congrats on surviving the gauntlet of hungry puppies on the way to the kitchen!

[boftx]

After dinner my wife was wondering what to do with the leftover meat (not that there was very much even from THAT hunk.) Usually, we would have enchiladas or chili or even a stew with it. But we just had enchiladas from Saturday's pork butt last night, and it's really too hot here for a stew or chili.

That leaves only one obvious choice: Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches! (with horseradish sauce)

[boftx]

It was a close thing for timing, but here is what I did.

When the meat was at 117 I opened the lid, moved two of the grates over to the firebox, and started about a 1/3 chimney of lump charcoal. I used lump because it starts faster and i don't need to wait for it to ash over. This effectively stalled the cook other than some carry over cooking which took it to about 121 by the time I started the sear.

When the coals were hot i removed the grates from the firebox, added the new coals to the firebox, spread them out evenly with what was there, and placed the grates back over the now very hot coals. there might have been 2" at most separation between the coals and the grates.

At this point it was pretty hectic. I put the meat on the almost red-hot grates and started flipping every 30 secs or so. I had a couple of flareups, but I could deal with those by lifting the meat off. I checked the temp with the meat probe every few flips and pulled it at 127.

The pics tell the story. And if you notice, the two older dogs know when to get involved. Angie is the fat one on the left, with Buddy on her right. (Yes, the ugly old fart who doesn't know what a haircut is, is me.)

People can talk bad about a COS, and most of it is justly deserved. But I feel once you learn to tame one of these beasts you got a pretty good idea of what BBQ is.

If y'all ever come to Vegas give me a holler!

[boftx]

Trust me, if I didn't watch her like a hawk it wouldn't make it to the grates. She is an expert at snagging' meat off the counter without breaking stride, and so is my oldest dog (he must be 14 now, pound rescue), Buddy. He once snagged a nice piece of steak and then just stood there looking at me as if to say "Okay, I won, can I keep it?" Nothing I could do but let him have it, not gonna waste food and he is a member of the family after all. I did cut it up into thirds and cooked it rare so Molly and Angie could have some, too.

Did I mention that the better I know people, the more I love my dogs?

[boftx]

5PM and the internal temp is at 113 with the cook chamber at 194. Told my wife it will be ready between 5:30 and 6PM. Closed the damper down a bit but this is cutting it close. I'll take a pic of the meat before I start the sear just so I can stall the cook for a few minutes while I do that.

[Jerod Broussard]

I'm really glad you didn't show that dog pic BEFORE you showed the chunk of meat on the pit.

[boftx]

The meat has been on for about an hour and twenty minutes now and is at 102 internal temp. I've allowed the cook chamber to drop to 190 except for when I put a small stick in for smoke (mesquite) then it will come up to about 215. My wife will kill me if this is done before 5:30 so ... gonna be close.

I'll open the lid a bit when the meat gets to 115 and start getting a HOT bed of coals in the firebox to put the grates over for searing when the meat hits 120. I'll call it done at 128 or so.

[David Parrish]

Molly will be happy when that Tri Tip is a Pretty Pink, no doubt.