Tri Tip Sous vide

[SierraBBQGuy]

I’m cooking Tri tip for 25 people this weekend, on a crappy gas grill. I’ve done this before, on this very grill, but takes a lot of baby sitting and a few hours. I’m wondering if there is any advantage in pre cooking, the roasts, Sous Vide, the. just reheat
/brown on the grill. Since I need to warm up to 130 ish, which is the temp I shoot for if grilling from raw, would it be any faster/easier? Perhaps the precooked meat heats up faster? I’ve done this before with Brisket and Pork butt, but not Tri tip.

[Thunder77]

For tri-tip I go with 130 for 2-4 hours. Less than two hours doesn’t seem to be worth it. For me 4 hours Sous vide at 130 makes a nice tri-tip. If you want to prep ahead, you can Sous vide, shock with ice water, and refrigerate a couple days until ready to sear. On the grill, bring them up to 115 Fahrenheit internal, then get rip roaring hot and sear them. They should end up around 130-135 internal.

While it isn’t necessary to Sous vide tri-tip, I find that I like it better than straight grilling.

[Thunder77]

I try to set the grill for 250 indirect. At that temperature probably 30-45 minutes. But it does depend on just HOW crappy that gasser is! 🤪
How are you going to sear? Sounds like you might want to put a baking steel or cast iron pan on the grill, to get the heat you need.

[Thunder77]

If you lived closer I would let you borrow my Primo Junior. That baby can put a killer sear on a tri-tip…

[barelfly]

This is great advice right here!

[TripleB]

My one complaint about SV is that the fat does not render very well. So my recommendation is to take off the fat cap all the way down to the meat. Then when you can get a nice crust, bark on the outside (and you won’t have to worry about flare ups).

FWIW…….

[Thunder77]

Good catch! That’s a very good point.

[SierraBBQGuy]

Thanks. I live in Northern Cal, Tri Tip country, lol. I always trim all visible surface fat, assuming a nicely marbled roast. My usual method, at home cooking only 1 or 2, is a slow reverse sear to 115 before putting the sear on it. Just looking to make life easier cooking 6 of them on a crappy gasser.

[bbqLuv]

Be sure to tenderize it first. I really like the blade tenderized tri-tip from Costco.
I also have an OXO tenderizer. Works great.

Amazon.com: OXO Good Grips Easy-Clean Bladed Meat Tenderizer, White: Home & Kitchen
Have fun.

The time it takes to kill off pathogens depends on the temperature and the type of meat. The USDA standard for pasteurization of meat is a kill rate of 7D or 10 to the 7th power or one cell in 10,000,000. Pathogens start keeling over at about 130°F. But at that temp, it takes at least two hours to kill them to 7D. The time gets lower as the temperature goes higher. So beef at 140°F degrees will get to a 7D kill rate in just 12 minutes, while at 160°F degrees, pathogens are destroyed in just 7.3 seconds, hence the USDA guidelines for the consumer.

fzxdoc I have never had a problem, I cook steaks to 135-140 degrees (MR - M) and rest for 10-15 minutes before slicing.

Ground meat gets cooked well done

Chicken, I cook to 150-155*F internally with no problem as of yet.

Vinegar and water, yes, vinegar and water can be used to sanitize steak surfaces. It can kill bacteria and viruses.

I thought I would do a little research on Jaccard meat tenderizer.
According to Consumer Reports, grocery stores began labeling their mechanically tenderized beef in 2012 after an E. coli outbreak in Canada was linked to its blade-tenderized steaks. The main issue with blade tenderizing is that it makes the muscle no longer sterile. At steak temps, this isn’t safe. However, chances are you can eat rare blade-tenderized steaks every day and never get sick.

[fzxdoc]

For food safety concerns, you may want to read Meathead's review/warning on the free side before using a jaccard type of meat tenderizer on meat that will be cooked to temps lower than 160°.

https://amazingribs.com/jaccard-blade-tenderizers/

They're such a tempting gadget to use, and for meats smoked to high temps (above 160°), I know some people who like using them.

Apparently Costco has a food-safe way of blade tenderizing their meats. There's a topic here somewhere about that.

Kathryn

[GolfGeezer]

I love SV'd tri-tip with homemade chimichurri. SV a trimmed one at 130* for 6.5 hours, remove and let cool a bit while cranking up my IR burner on my gasser. then sear. I used to put Santa Maria style rub on before bagging, but I found that the SV made more of a mess that way. So, now I put the rub on after SV, just before searing. This is more like treating it like a good steak.

They always come out very tender and flavorful. The chimichurri can be mild or spicy given how easy it is to make, so the "hotness" is totally up to you.

[RobertC]

I've done SVQ tri-tip for 17 people. I didn't remove all the surface fat, but I brought it down to around 1/4", and removed all silver skin. Salted, but not seasoned. SV at 130F for 8ish hours the day before, then ice-shocked and into the fridge. Day of the party, started the charcoal in the drum cooker. Fished the tri-tips out of their bags, blotted them dry, seasoned with salt-free rub, hung them until internal temp was 120F (bit less than 1 hr) then moved them to the pre-heated gas grill. My gas grill is also kinda anemic, so about 10 minutes before the transfer I pre-heated it with aluminum foil over the grates to concentrate the pre-heating. Removed the foil and placed the tri-tips on the super hot grates, maybe 3 minutes per side. Didn't have to let it rest, so sliced immediately. People seemed happy. I guess I could've skipped the drum smoker and used the anemic gas grill.

[fzxdoc]

Using the drum smoker to take the chill off probably gave it a bit of a smoky flavor. I think it's a good idea. I bet it was delicious.

[Robinalexis]

There was a video I saw with Meathead and the Chef Steps chefs discussing tri tip grill/smoker vs sous vide. It also mentioned an injectable marinade....Has anyone see this video and tell me where to find it? I've scoured you tube and this web site. Any help would be great

[Rob whatever]

I liked your comment for the sole reason that you became a member in 2017 but it took 6 years to make your first post. That is some serious lurking, coming from a guy who takes his lurking seriously. Well done. And welcome to the Pit.

Rob

[RobertC]

Could you be talking about the video of a discussion between Meathead and Grant Crilly here: https://amazingribs.com/bbq-techniqu...sous-vide-que/

[SierraBBQGuy]

I decided to pre cook the Tri tips, all done with Sous Vide now. I frequently do Tri tip this way, but always finished out of the tub, not next day or later. Just wasn’t sure if there was any advantage.

I figure I can get it to eating temp more quickly and will be far more forgiving if I over or under shoot a bit no big deal, it’s cooked already.

[RobertC]

How'd they turn out?

[SierraBBQGuy]

Came out great, just gave them a quick sear, kept warm in foil/cooler till dinner time. Didn’t have to tend the grill nearly as long as cooking from raw.