sous vide tri tip

ericp

Ive smoked and grilled hundreds of tri tips but never water bathed one. Marinated this overnight and in the bath at 135.5 for 2 hours. Seared in my cast iron pan amd served. Excellent taste and texture. Missing the smome flavor a little. Next time going to cold smoke a little then water bath

Little Steven

Looks great! You know you can go lower than 131* if your time is less than four hours right?

ericp

Yes but i like medium best. Thought 4 hours might make meat mushy. Any tips would be great

Little Steven

Hey I'm no expert but I think tri tip would stand up to six hours or more. If you compare it to flank it is about that. I just like rare stuff.

ericp

I think im going to give it a shot. Thanks

BREWnQ

On thanksgiving I did 2 tri tips for about 4 hours at 125 then finished them in the fryer. Buddies and I were a little buzzed and let them go long but it still finished at mid-well and was awesome!

ericp

Ok. I thought I cooked tri tip every way possible but I have never fried. I bet after a water bath and a good rest you can fry up a good crust. Going to have to try that one also. I have a good deep fryer. Thanks for the tip

Skiddymarker

Tri tip is nice with a bit of smoke, the SV bubbler doesn't result in the taste I like so have always gone the low and slow route, followed by a sear. Must try the fryer, sounds and looks like it produced a great crust. 

The cold smoke followed by the "tres bubblay" might just be the answer, @ericp let me know how that works. 

ericp

Doing one tomorrow night. Will let you know

Skiddymarker

Thanks, have a couple in the fridge that we picked up at Costco yesterday. Be great if i could use the cold smoke, the "tres bubblay" and the egg to sear - nice to get a bunch of the toys in on one cook. 

ericp

I want to sear on the egg but just changed my gasket today so I have to let it sit a little for that hot of a cook. This time im going with the classic dry rub instaed if marinating. Going to put a light smoke then rub about 2 hours before it goes in the bath. Will let you know. Hoping this is more of a bbq taste. First one was more elegant restaurant type (if that makes any sense)

Little Steven

When I got my sous vide unit it came with a smoke pistol that is supposed to add a lot of flavor. You smoke for a minute or so when it comes out of the bath. I haven't used it yet but it's the polyscience one.

pantsypants

do you need a Sous Vide machine to do this ?

Little Steven

Yes you do! Hehehehe

ericp

I am going to order one of those. Been looking at it. For today I am going to put a small piece of lump in my charcoal chimney and put some dry chips over it and place the tri tip on top and cover with a cooler over the whole thing. I know it sounds crazy but I have done it with salmon with very good results and it doesn't get hot enough to do anything.

ericp

I was thinking over doing it before the bath assuming the meat can absorb more of the smoke

ericp

@pantsypants no you don't need the machine and there are a lot of DIY videos on you tube but it makes it a lot easier with one.

caliking

Nice cook. SV n00b and yet to try tri tip. What was the IT of the meat after the sear, and how long did you sear for?

Lit

I do not like my tri tips done to temp in the sous vide. I put my sous vide at 108 like the hot tub method for about an hour then sear each side a minute or two then throw some wood in and cook raised direct or indirect depending on how the crust is and pull between 125-128 and foil for 5-10 minutes. This reduces the cooking time so it doesn't dry out and still gives you time to get the egg flavor.

Skiddymarker

@lit - thanks, must try that, soumds interesting.

ericp

The tri tip is incredibly tender done at 135. After sear it was only at 137 internal because the sear doesn't penetrate much. The tenderness is far greater than smoking or grilling. Seared 90 seconds per side.