Dropped by Costco today looking for dinner inspirations. Found Prime Tri-Tip for just $4.45/lb. There were four in the package. Below are pictures of three, trimmed and ready to freeze. The fourth is in the SV bath at 127F and will be dinner tonight plus a few more. It will only get about 3 hours in the bath vs my usual 7-8, but I think that will be OK since it's prime. I trimmed just about 1 pound of fat from all of them combined, which is less waste than the local market when they have choice on sale for $5.99 (supposedly trimmed). That makes the effective cost $4.94/lb.
They also had prime full packers for $2.69/lb but they had a lot of external fat, so I passed.
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Nice Tri Tip! Our local Grocery Store here has a very good Meat Manager. He orders Tri Tip during the summer months for $6.99/lb for choice. We are learning to cook and love our Tri Tip here in Minnesota too.
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Be very careful joining Costco... You will save so much money buying stuff much less expensive than normal stores, that you won't have ANY money left.🙈
Fascinated by all of the praise from our California brethren I stopped by my local Costco to inquire about the infamous Tri Tip. The butcher told me they could no longer get them. He couldn't even order them due to the high demand on the west coast. He did, however, point me towards the pre-packaged ones from Morton's of Omaha. Has anyone ever cooked one of these?
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Hi Mgaretz, those packers with the extra fat are great with just a little trimming that I think always comes with a full packer. As for those Morton's tri- tip's that brand is really good. Now I prefer Costco's prime bulk pack but i have cooked a lot of Morton's and never disappointed. I kind of prefer to cook them mostly direct and turn often. I take them off at about 128 and let it sit. Delicious.
They also had prime full packers for $2.69/lb but they had a lot of external fat, so I passed.
IMHO you are being penny wise and pound foolish. As someone else on this site has already commented, at these prices, buying a whole packer cut is like buying a flat and getting the point for free.
I know this thread is regarding tri-tip. However fellow PBCers, just picked up a bottom round roast. Any suggestions? It was on sale $2.59 lb. I was toying around doing it sous vide but they also had whole chickens for $.45 lb. so I think that I'll hang 'em both.
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That's a great price for Prime Tri-Tip .... insane, really. I normally get Choice Tri-Tip at Costco for 6.99/lb. Also, Get the prime packer for $2.79/lb. That is also an insanely good price.
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That's an excellent price for a great cut of meat! Tri-tip is my go to, I love it and it's so easy to do and almost impossible to screw up. I like just coarse ground salt and pepper on it, then smoke over oak at about 240 until it hits an internal temp of 138 or so. Pull it and let it rest 20 minutes or a little more and it's absolutely glorious.
But here's the best thing about them - they are incredibly forgiving. Case in point: I had my in-laws over a couple of weeks ago and I smoked a tri-tip. We got to sipping a little wine and talking, and I lost track of time. I glanced over at the ET-732 and freaked out when I saw that the the meat temp was 153. I rushed out to the smoker and pulled it, but I was fearing the worst. I was certain it was going to be bad.
I brought the incinerated piece of meat back into the kitchen and foil tented it for the usual 20+ minute resting period. "Maybe I can at least make sandwiches", I thought to myself. After it had rested, I started slicing it and realized that it didn't really look too bad. Yeah, it was a little more cooked than usual, but it was still incredibly tender and juicy and delicious. My in-laws loved it and when I mentioned to them how I felt that I had overcooked it, they had a hard time believing that the tri-tip could have been any better.
It doesn't get much better than that, hooray for tri-tip!
We on the West Coast are blessed to be able to get Prime Tri-Tips from Costco, year round. However, in 15 years in Chico, CA I saw my first prime brisket at Costco. I had been asking, with envy after reading posts here about prices elsewhere, for brisket and am always told by the Butchers "It's supply and demand". Because of the addition of briskets I asked if they were going to be a regular item here. Nope, special item only. I don't know how to go back to Choice and I know I won't be getting prime again anytime soon. No - My wife has not allowed me to get the second freezer. She says I have too many BBQs.
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