I was a meat cutter back in the late 60’s and worked for Safeway for a while in the Santa Cruz, Ca. area. At that time we were still cubing up or grinding the bottom sirloin and didn’t know what the term Tri-tip was. It was around the mid 70’s that we started using that cut as what is now known as Tri-tip. About 10 years ago my youngest son was living in Nipomo, Ca., which is about 10 miles north of Santa Maria. We would go down often to visit him and went to several large gatherings where they were grilling Tri-tips on the Santa Maria style grills. To feed large crowds they would not only grill Tri-tips, but what they called top block roasts. These were 2-1/2 to 3 inch cuts of top sirloin. Since you only get 2 Tri-tips per beef (1 on each side) and you could get 8 to 10 of the top sirloin roasts per beef, (4 to 5 on each side) they used this to feed large crowds.
Our local Costco used to stock prime grade whole top sirloins with their other whole primal cuts. Now they only have whole ones with the cap off and only rarely. Since they have top sirloin steaks with the cap on in the counter, I knew they had to have whole ones with the cap in the walk-in box. I would have them show me 2 or 3, so I could pick the one I liked best. The whole prime cap on top sirloin are the best value, in my opinion at Costco, in the under $4.00/lb. range. I would take these home and remove and trim up the cap. What you get is a piece that is shaped and weighs about the same as a tri-tip. I would then cut a couple of 2-1/2 to 3 inch thick pieces of the top sirloin for roasts and a couple of 1-1/2 pieces for steaks.
Here’s a good video for slicing the Tri-tip. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmxHmuV4vTU
Also, if you’ve never used red oak for smoking wood, you should try it on Tri-tips. It adds a very distinct flavor, that you don’t get from any other wood. It’s hard to come by, but I got some from https://www.fruitawoodchunks.com/.
Our local Costco used to stock prime grade whole top sirloins with their other whole primal cuts. Now they only have whole ones with the cap off and only rarely. Since they have top sirloin steaks with the cap on in the counter, I knew they had to have whole ones with the cap in the walk-in box. I would have them show me 2 or 3, so I could pick the one I liked best. The whole prime cap on top sirloin are the best value, in my opinion at Costco, in the under $4.00/lb. range. I would take these home and remove and trim up the cap. What you get is a piece that is shaped and weighs about the same as a tri-tip. I would then cut a couple of 2-1/2 to 3 inch thick pieces of the top sirloin for roasts and a couple of 1-1/2 pieces for steaks.
Here’s a good video for slicing the Tri-tip. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmxHmuV4vTU
Also, if you’ve never used red oak for smoking wood, you should try it on Tri-tips. It adds a very distinct flavor, that you don’t get from any other wood. It’s hard to come by, but I got some from https://www.fruitawoodchunks.com/.
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