A first for me....

Here's Morro Bay Rich's from the Foodnetwork.

Santa Maria Style Tri-tip
Richard Miller aka Morro Bay Rich
Morro Bay, CA

 
2 (3 pound) tri-tip roasts
Basting Sauce, recipe follows
Seasoning Salt Mixture: recipe follows

Seasoning Salt Mixture:
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons white pepper
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon onion powder
4 tablespoons granulated garlic
2 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 Large BGE and find it take 1 hour and 10 minutes from the time I strike the match to taking the tri-tip out of the BGE.

Thanks Cen Tex I will give it a try. Haven't had a bad meal yet on the egg so expect this to be great no matter how I cook it. I will post the proof of cook later tonight.

Whats the average size of tri tip? I stumbled across one at a specialty shop and brought it home. The one I got is on 1.2lbs labeled as beef tri tip. What did I buy?

Its grain slightly resembles brisket......sorry for the lousy pic.

If you like tri-tips, you'll love whole top sirloins.

A whole top sirlion has 2 parts. The cap is the part that has the outside fat on it. You can separate the two by a natural seam between them. Just pulling and slicing along the seam. When you trim up the cap, you get a piece that's similar in size and shape of a tri-tip and you cook the same way as a tri-tip. I think it is more flavorful than the tri-tip, also at Costo you can get whole USDA Choice top sirloins in the low $3.00 per lb. range, while tri-tips are usually in the $4.79 per lb. range.

The next question is what to do with the rest of the top sirloin? I slice both ends to square up the piece and trim this meat for stroggie, fajitas or stir fry. Then, depending on the size of the piece, I'll cut 2 or 3 pieces about 3" thick for roasts and cook these the same way as a tri-tip. I'll also get 1 or 2 steaks about 1 to 1-1/4" thick.

 

The whole USDA Choice top sirloins are in the 15 lb. range. I paid $2.99 for the last one I bought at Costo and had about 5 lbs. of waste, so my finished cost for 10 lbs. of usable meat was $4.50 per lb. Choice tri-tips that day were going for $4.79/lb.

 

Cook the top sirloin roasts with some SusieQ Santa Maria Rub, DP Cowlick, Raising the Steaks or Red Eye Express. If you can get some red oak chunks, use it and you'll never use anything else on these again.

 

 

 

Better flavor, cheaper price, can't beat that!