Tri-tip okay to eat or not???

stemc33

I've been saving my last grass-finished tri-tip for when my son comes to visit. Last summer I got hooked on buying grass-finished beef at the farmers market weekly. Our local butcher will carry their beef when it's available. I got this one from the butcher. The rancher states they dry-age for 14 days. I've read a few posts from some of you that dry-age and realize you wouldn't consider 14 days dry-aged. Anyway, my questions are about the tri-tip pictured below. 

1. Will discoloring happen like this at 14 days? (Meat smells good)
2. Is it okay if that discoloring extends into the meat like pics below? 
3. I think they hang primals when aging and am assuming that's why the inside and outside are different textures/colors. Thinking inside is not exposed to air until butchered. Is this correct? 
4. After reading a few threads, I assuming hard fat is okay. Is it? Usually the meat I get from these people has harder fat than store bought. 

I've got so many questions, but basically I want to know what you dry-agers think of the pictured tri-tip. Eat or Do not eat???

@stike, @nolaegghead, @RRP, @DMW, any thoughts. I started seasoning before snapping pic of inside of it trimmed,  but realized it before covering completely. 

DMW

It looks OK to me. If the discoloration is green, I would trim. Deep dark brown, no worries. I do usually trim all hard fat and remove the silver skin from tri-tip before cooking.

RRP

The nose test in this case would be my guide. As long as the meat was not punctured thus driving any bacteria inside it should be fine, but I would trim the ugly stuff and here's why - when I age my meat I know what it looked like starting and how I had it stored for the 60 days as for temperature and sanitary environment. Not sure where or how your "Farmer Brown" hung his meat for those 14 days. In some commercial aging room pictures I have seen raw meat sitting on racks and the sub-primals clearly have mold growing on them. Again - that's ON them - not IN them and again those are in controlled environments. 

stemc33

Thanks @DMW and @RRP.  Smell test is good. I'm not exactly sure how the rancher ages the meat Ron. I just assumed they hung it because of the volume. It won't be long until the farmer market starts and I'll  find out more. This is the last of my grass-finished beef. Their beef is so flavorful compared to anything else I get in town. Not to mention it's priced well. I only paid $7.99lb. from the butcher. 

SGH

@stemc33- Brother D and brother P beat me to the punch above. But I fully agree with what they said. 

buzd504

Yep, I'd eat it.  I did a tritip last night, and it's quickly becoming my favorite cut. 

Thatgrimguy

I don't know squat about dry aging... But I'd eat it!

stemc33

buzd504 said:

Yep, I'd eat it.  I did a tritip last night, and it's quickly becoming my favorite cut. 

It's definitely my favorite. @McStew posted a tri-tip from Snake River Farms a week or so ago.  When I get back from Alaska, I'm going to order one of theirs. 

Legume

Live in Wyoming, vacation in Alaska. Nope, not jealous at all.  Do you need me to come up and watch your egg while you're gone?

stemc33

Legume said:

Live in Wyoming, vacation in Alaska. Nope, not jealous at all.  Do you need me to come up and watch your egg while you're gone?

Egg should be good, but your more than welcome to come watch the dogs. Lol. We're staying at the Air Force base in Anchorage. When you breakdown the cost per person and the cost per dog, it's more expensive to board the dogs. Go figure. 

Black_Badger

Agree with all above; cook it, shoot it, eat it, post it. Hope it turns out great!


Cheers -
B_B


P.S. - it was mentioned above but tri-tip does have a thick(ish), very tough and unpalatable membrane that should be trimmed before cooking!

stemc33

Finished. Tasted great.
 Thanks @RRP, @DMW, @SGH, @buzd504, and @Black_Badger for the advice. Just needed a little confidence, sometimes what looks bad is good and what looks good is bad. 
Cooked direct at standard grid height. Flipped about every 2-3 minutes. Not the best pics, but they're pics to prove it happened. 

theyolksonyou

That's a fine lookin tip!

DMW

Nice! I haven't had tri-tip since last summer when I cooked one at my in-laws in CA.

SGH

It sure looks like a slam dunk to me brother stem. Great job.

Zmokin

stemc33 said:

Finished. Tasted great.
 Thanks @RRP, @DMW, @SGH, @buzd504, and @Black_Badger for the advice. Just needed a little confidence, sometimes what looks bad is good and what looks good is bad. 
Cooked direct at standard grid height. Flipped about every 2-3 minutes. Not the best pics, but they're pics to prove it happened. 

Your pics look great, no apology required.

And the cook looks great too, can I come over and have a taste, my computer monitor didn't transfer the taste very well.

RRP

Looks like you rocked tonight! 

johnmitchell

Wow it turned out great..I was following your post to see the end result.. Fantastic as always pics beyond awesome..

pgprescott

Top notch! Good thing you didn't pitch it! Well done sir!

buzd504

That looks awesome.  Yum.

Black_Badger

NICE!

Congrats.

B_B

Jeepster47

Very nice ...

JohnnyTarheel

Man than looks awesome.. Great cook.. ENJOY!

stemc33

Thanks guys. Just got a chance to look at your posts.
 It's been a busy day(not really). Started the first leg of our vaca today and drove 700 miles. Long drive today will make for an easy drive into Seattle tomorrow. Not to mention it's much cheaper to stay on military bases, so the extra windshield time was worth it. Staying in a very nice 2bdr. Suite at Fairchild Air Force base.