First tri-tip... a couple of questions.

cep55

Hi, all! As some of you known from my first/previous post, I became a proud new LBGE owner on Tuesday. First cook, spatchcock chicken, went off without a hitch. It was maybe a touch aggressive on the smoke flavor, but from what I've read here I think that was because I had a firebox full of new charcoal and only let it burn for about 35-40 minutes before putting the bird on. (The smoke was clear when I put it on, but there was a lot of white smoke thereafter. This time I plan to let it burn at temp for at least an hour before cooking. Also will probably try some WW for milder smoke. I DO like some pronounced smoke on my brisket, pork butt, etc, but this was a little too much on the chicken).

So... I know there is some debate about keeping the first 3-4 cooks under 400, but my BGE dealer (a competitive BBQ guy and a great BGE resource whose advice I trust) recommended it so that's what I'm going to do. (Killing me because high-temp steaks and pizza are my favorite things!) So I have a pork butt in the plans for Sunday. But tonight I am thinking of going for tri-tip, keeping it below 400 on the BGE and then searing it off at the end for a minute or two in my in my 1650F infrared broiler. Sooo... I would love your recommendations on temp/time/technique (should I go indirect and use a drip pan, etc).

Thanks so much for your help, I so much appreciate all the generous sharing of knowledge on this site!

Christina

nolaegghead

So many ways to cook a tri-tip.....  First, season with rub, or salt n pepper or whatever turns you on.  Then let it warm up for an hour or two if you have the time on the counter.  I'd put it on direct or indirect low heat with some pecan chunks at 250 until the internal temp is 120, pull it off and let it rest for 5 minutes, then do the reverse sear with your IR boiler.  That'll give you, depending on how long you broil it, rare to medium rare.  Figure you'll get about 5-8 F rise on the rest and broil.

You could also cook hotter, but I personally don't like the medium well ring around my rare steak.   It's hard to screw up a tri-tip - I over cooked the first one I made to medium, but it was still delicious.

HavasuTom

A recipe from Foodnetwork.com - Santa Maria Style Tri-tip

(3 pound) tri-tip roasts-

Basting Sauce

Seasoning Salt Mixture: ( Rub)

2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

2 teaspoons white pepper

2 teaspoons cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon onion powder

4 tablespoons granulated garlic

6 tablespoons salt

Mix together all ingredients in a small bowl

Basting Sauce:

½ cup red wine vinegar

½ cup garlic-infused vegetable oil

Whisk together vinegar and oil in a small bowl.

Coat both sides of the tri-tip roasts with the seasoning mixture, rubbing it in as you would a dry rub. Let the seasoned tri-tip rest for at least 30 minutes at room temperature.

Sear each side of the tri-tip at 600 to 700 degrees for 3 to 4 minutes each. Remove seared tri-tip from the BGE, cover it with foil and let it rest while bringing the BGE temperature down to 350 to 400 degrees. During this cool down period I usually toss in a couple of oak chunks. Put tri-tip back in the BGE and cook to an internal temperature of 126 degrees for medium rare, basting with the sauce every 5 to 10 minutes. Remove tri-tip from the BGE, cover it with foil and let it rest 15 minutes. Cut into ½” slices against the grain.

This recipe is from Foodnetwork.com’s website. It is titled “Santa Maria Style BBQ” Oakwood Grilled Tri-tip. It is as close to authentic Santa Maria tri-tip as I have been able to find.

I usually cook this on a XLarge BGE and find it takes 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Mickey

Chicken/Turkey can over smoke so easy. Very little, very litte wood.

chuff

In my experience cooking a chicken direct ALWAYS produces a lot of white smoke coming out of your cooker - even if you're using gas. There's just a ton of fat rendering out of it. As far as the tri-tip I personally cook them at 250-275° indirect until the interior temp is just ready to kiss 120° then I sear the outside.

R2Egg2Q

As stated earlier, many ways to cook tr-tip but since you appear to be steering towards a reverse sear, here's how I do mine: http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/comment/1209806#Comment_1209806

Now I shoot for a pull temp of 128-130 with a peak temp during the rest of 133-135 for the upper end of med-rare. You'd want to adjust for how cooked you like steak but at the really high searing temp you stated, I wouldn't sear for more than 1 minute per side or you'll fly right by your target finish temp.