Trader Joe's Tri-Tip

[The Burn]

So I had heard through the grapevine that Trader Joe's, which is about 20 minutes away in Delaware, carried tri-tip, which is otherwise hard to find. I had found a roast at a boutique butcher for $10.99/lb, which I did once but that's a bit steep for my pocket. TJ's did, in fact, have tri-tip, at $7.99. It's their own packaged, trimmed product. What was interesting is that while it did indicate that it was inspected by the USDA, there was no grade on it. After what Giant went through recently, I was surprised to see this. And I'm certain that it has crossed state lines - probably from California



I thought perhaps that by "trimmed," they meant that they had turned it into a cylindrical roast. But, luckily, after I opened it up, it was a "normal" shaped, 2.67 lb. tri-tip.



I mixed a tablespoon of kosher salt, with a tablespoon of coarse black pepper and a tablespoon of granulated garlic, and used all of it to rub on the roast (after spraying with EVOO). Sat in the fridge for about 3 hours.



Went on the weber/smokenator with two good size chunks of California Red Oak (gotta be official) at an average of about 250. When it got to 110 in the middle (about 40 minutes), I did some reverse searing, with fairly constant turning, over the smokenator until it hit about 130 - less than 10 minutes later.



Sliced at the center to check color, but then sliced across the grain for eating. It had a great oak wood flavor and was as juicy as could be.



Sorry for the photos - I can't for the life of me figure out why I can't get full-size photos anymore or why each photo I post in a thread gets progressively smaller.

[fzxdoc]

That tri-tip looks perfect, Burn. That last photo is really making my mouth water. I don't even mind squinting to see it!

I saw some tri-tips at Trader Joe's a month or so ago but they were all in the freezer section. Is that where you found the one you smoked/reverse seared?

Kathryn

[The Burn]

Thanks, it was tasty.

No, it was in the refrigerated meat section. Nestled in there with various other cuts of beef. Probably wouldn't see it if you aren't specifically looking for it carefully.

[David Parrish]

Nice TB! For the photos, are you using the upload attachments icon, then selecting a larger size for the image? Tell us exactly what you're doing.

[The Burn]

Yep, doing like I have always done. Using the upload icon on the right side and selecting either large or full size. The photos are coming over from my iPhone. I have tried sending them at full resolution and then at a smaller size in case the site was resizing them because they were too large. I've taken them native and square shaped. I've left them alone and resized them in Adobe Lightroom. The strangest thing is that each of the photos in a thread is the same size and they get progressively smaller. I can't even post photos in the What are you cooking thread, because they start so small.

[David Parrish]

When you say they are coming over from your iPhone, are you posting them with the iPhone using a browser (what browser) or are you transferring the pictures from your iPhone to a computer and the uploading them with your computer (details needed... PC/Mac, OS, browser).

You should not need to resize your photos, but if you're trying to upload the pics with your phone that's likely the problem. After we upgrade to the latest version of vBulletin we're hoping this issue is addressed.

If you are transferring the files to a computer then you shouldn't be having problems and we need to investigate a bit more.

[The Burn]

I usually e-mail them to myself from my iPhone, though I've also recently tried other methods of transferring. I always post from my laptop - MacBook Pro, with the most recent OS X at the time (just upgraded to Yosemite). I use Chrome as my browser. I can't recall if I've tried Safari, though I seldom use it.