Tri tip in the Midwest

[mrteddyprincess]

Okay, I keep seeing amazing pics of medium rare tri tip finished at around 135 F. People rave about how much like steak it is. I cooked my second tri tip tonight to see if I am crazy or not, but the results were the same. That sucker was tough as could be. Yes, I cut it across the grain. I have now tried SVQ and smoking it with a final sear and the results were the same. Either my tri tip is not your tri tip, or the entire state of CA is playing a joke on the good people of the Midwest and sending your toughest cuts of tri tip to our stores. From my perspective, that is one crazy cheap piece of tough meat!

What is going on here? One kind person here has shared with me that tri tip is like brisket and that it needs to be rendered above 190 F. I believe him now. My next cook on a tri tip will be above 190 F. Are the rest of you lying, or is my theory about CA sending all the tough tri tips to the Midwest true?

[JoeSousa]

I have seen others post about an occasional tough tri tip but none of the tri tips I have had in the Northwest or the ones I had when I lived in Florida have been abnormally tough.

And I don't think going to 190 is the solution. Nowhere near enough fat or connective tissue to handle those temps. I usually shoot for 125 on mine but from time to time I go to 135 without any issues.

Give it 10 or 12 more tries before you totally write them off.

[mrteddyprincess]

Well, now i wish i had taken pics. I could still see the connective tissue in place. Thank you for your encouragement to keep trying.

[Santamarina]

Californian here. You finally found out...we’ve been sending you all the leftover tough cuts!!!

Hahaha...kidding. I’ve had a tough one here or there, but they’re the exception. Could be bad luck on those first two. I definitely wouldn’t take it to 190...I can’t imagine that being anything but tough.

Cutting against the grain is a challenge with the shape of a tri-tip. Best to cut it in half first...much easier to cut. If it’s not cut perfectly against the grain it’s definitely one tough piece of meat. You might give up and spit it out after your jaw gets tired of chewing.

Tri-tip is the least forgiving cut - in my experience - for not slicing against the grain. When cut perfectly you can darn near cut a bit off with just a fork!

[mrteddyprincess]

I knew it! Thanks for fessing up. 😅

I will keep pursuing!

[surfdog]

Cutting is key. ;-)

[TripleB]

That was a good one Santamarina. Got a chuckle out of that.

Tri-tip is a sirloin cut and there are two muscles. So you could start on one end and cut against the grain and once you got to the other side be going with the grain. So it could be possible you cut with the grain. Is it possible it was sold as Tri-Tip, but wasn't? Cooking to 190 d will not make it tender.

The virtualweber.com has a tutorial on tri-tip. Check that out.

[Murdy]

What grade meat?

[mrteddyprincess]

It didn't say. I'm guessing Sub-Select.

[Murdy]

That could be the problem

[Henrik]

I would steer clear of cooking it to 190. It will definitely ruin it. Where do you buy tri tips, what brand, how do they look like? I have yet to have a bad one.

[mrteddyprincess]

I bought it at the only grocery I've ever seen it at around here. Market District, which usually has great meat. Cryopacked with no grade listed.

[IowaGirl]

I have cooked about 5 tri tips so far. All have been fairly lean with very little internal marbling and almost no external fat. I get mine from a local butcher who cuts them for me by request.

I love tri tip cooked to the rare side of medium rare and sliced thin -- as thin as I can manage, and certainly well under 1/4" (6 mm) thick. Tri tip makes a stellar roast beef sandwich, and I'm not normally a roast beef sandwich kind of person.

I know someone cooks tri tip to 190 F +, but I would think tri tip cooked that way would be as dry and dusty as pork loin would be. I haven't had the courage to try this and learn for myself.

Only one I've cooked has been unusually chewy, however. It also didn't have the full beefy flavor and juice that the other tri tips I've cooked. With all that, I'm not entirely sure that cut was a real tri tip. The muscle fibers looked kinda like they do in a tri tip, but the shape wasn't the usual boomerang/triangle -- more of a long oval. I suspect it might have been sirloin from higher up on the animal.

edit -- I don't think we Midwesterners have to put up with the leftovers from the California beef industry -- we raise plenty of it around here!

[Potkettleblack]

Sv 133x8-12 hours. Shock, sear at warp 10 a minute or two a side. Profit. Slice against the grain, as described above. Tricky, due to the two muscles.

[Troutman]

I don't know PKB, hate to disagree on this one. I've just done a post where I did one at 130 for 4 hours with great results. Granted it was prime, select grade MAYBE 8 hours. From what I've read after that amount of time the proteins begin to breakdown. Don't want to cause it to become mushy. I think 8 hours is the limit imo.

[Potkettleblack]

There are two schools of thought on the Tritip, that breaks down to personal preference. Some folks like it at min time for shape, which is like 130x3, sear, and slice properly.

Other folks seem to like the longer cook, out to 8-12. I'm a short cook aficionado, but OP already did a min time cook and didn't care for result. He might be slicing improperly, but longer sous vide is not an invalid solution... I haven't tried it, due to lack of tri tip here.

[Troutman]

Good point.

[wrgilb]

Make sure the grade is at least Choice, Prime is even better. Here's the video for making sure you slice it right. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmxHmuV4vTU

[Livermoron]

We're not above pranking the rest of the country, but it's more about making your kids dress funny and listen to annoying music. Tri tip is sacred to us...

I wouldn't treat it like a brisket, it's not worked as hard by the animal so it lacks the collagen that brisket has. 190 will just turn it into jerky. Tri tip is really not a "low and slow" item.

Think of it as a very thick steak. The grade of meat matters, and you want to look for some marbling. I haven't noticed a huge difference between Prime and Choice, but I wouldn't go any lower.

And...as others have mentioned, check out a tutorial or two on how to cut it. It can be finicky, but once you nail it, you might just give up brisket...

[CaptainMike]

Sorry, but I have to bust the 190 myth. I have done it several times via this method: https://www.traegergrills.com/recipe.../tri-tip-roast . Yes, it's basically smoked then braised in foil, but when done it does resemble brisket and it is tender, moist, and very flavorful.

With that said, I would definitely not take one to 190 nekkid.

[IowaGirl]

Speaking for myself -- I'm not saying it can't be done, just that I haven't had the nerve to try it that way. Thanks for explaining it's braised to 190, not roasted to that temp. That would make a big difference.

[CaptainMike]

IowaGirl to be sure I was a bit skeptical myself when I first saw this recipe, but I've enjoyed many of Traeger's recipes so gave it a go. Not my go-to for TT's, but very good nonetheless.

[RustyHaines]

I am in the Madison, WI area and I have bought 3 tri-tips in the last 6 weeks. Cooked 2 and one is in the freezer. They have all been Choice and moderately marbled. Bought all 3 at the same meat wholesaler for $5.99/pound. Cooked 2 on my kettle with SnS. I trimmed the excess fat off (one had a lot of fat), sprinkled with Montreal and cooked at 225-250 until internal temp was 122. I seared on red hot coals using the spinner grill method for 1 minute per side, flipping 3 times. I followed the carving instructions (2 directions of grain) and both turned out excellent. Mucho beef flavor and quite tender considering the cut. Maybe I am getting lucky with this particular meat purveyor. They seem to sell quite a bit of tri-tip there.

Hang in there and you will get one to work out for you.

[IowaGirl]

I'll be in the Madison area in late July. Maybe I need to visit your butcher on my way home, if you don't mind sharing their name. The tri tips I'm getting in Prairie du Chien are only lightly marbled and a bit more fat would be nice. Even so, they've still been juicy and flavorful with the one oddball exception.

[RustyHaines]

IowaGirl try UW Provisions (www.uwprovision.com). They have 2 retail locations, west and east side of town. I shop at the west side location. Sometimes there are as many as 15 tri tips to choose from. Hope you enjoy your visit.

[IowaGirl]

Thanks, RustyHaines!

[Troutman]

I agree with the general sentiment here, its got to be the grade of meat. About 4-5 years ago you would be hard pressed to even find tri-tip here but as it's popularity grows, so has its availability. I remember the very first one I found was in the grocery store and was a select grade cut. It was not very good, kind of tough and not that flavorful. Since then our Costco and my butcher have been able to get prime and CAB quality and they are spectacular.

Try getting one from Crowd Cow or another source, I think your're cooking it right, it's just got to be the quality of the meat.

[Skip]

Tri Tip is a favorite at our house. I Dry Brine and usually SV a "Choice" TT @134 for 10-12 hours then Sear over HOT Coals. This method works well for me and has gotten rave reviews from Family and Friends. Several of the people I cook for are older and don't care for Rare-Med Rare so I simply sear a little longer (maybe 2 min/side) and the ends end up Medium and the center Med/Rare so everyone is happy. Like already mentioned I feel the biggest trick is slicing thin against the grain. Someday I'll try the 4-6 hour SV Method as I'm always open to trying something new.

[Potkettleblack]

Troutman See.

[Troutman]

Well obviously it worked on a lessor cut. I just posted a SVQ tri-tip after 4 hours but it was prime grade, definitely all it needed. I still don't see the need for those kind of extended hours unless it's a real tough cut. Again, I would not even consider a select cut of almost anything, guess I'm just jaded.

[Larry Grover]

I live close to Santa Maria. One reason Tri-Tip became so popular is because top block got to be too expensive. I've had plenty of tough meat at BBQ gatherings, but prime is available all the time so I prefer to cook it myself.

On YouTube Harry Soo & T-Roy have both cooked TT like brisket. Harry wrapped & pulled at 210. T-Roy didn't wrap and took it out sooner, and both were pleased with results and compared it to brisket flat.

Recently that info helped me. I had dry brined two TT's for 48 hours and was ready to cook but got struck with high swirling winds. I decided to cook them in the oven to brisket temps. I applied rub then poked holes all around. Covered them bottom to top with hickory smoked bacon and cooked (covered) @ 275. It took 3.5 hrs to reach 200 IT, it probed tough so ended up pulling at 205.

Removed bacon, chopped it up & cooked it some more in a dutch oven rendering out the fat. Drained the pan juices & separated out the fat. Had a half bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's sitting around so I dumped that in with the bacon & pan juices. Let it all simmer a bit while the meat was resting.

My wife said it was the best meal I've made in awhile... really loved that bacon sauce. I think expectations were low though..."Your doing what with tri-tip?" To me it was pretty good...prefer a wood fire anyday.

For the rub I used Folgers instant coffee, Meatheads BBBR (which was running low) so I threw in a little Blues Hog rub & extra garlic powder.