First Thermapen cook - Santa Maria Tri Tip

This cook was a great workout for my new Thermapen. Tri Tips (choice) were on sale at Ralph's so I got a couple. Cooked in the Santa Maria style. For the rub I used kosher salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder, oregano, and thyme. As my prime rib on Christmas came out great with the reverse sear method I used it for the second time on these. Cooked at about 275 degrees indirect with oak chips for smoke. When the first one hit 119 degrees internal I pulled it. The second one took a bit longer and I pulled it about 10 minutes later at 115 degrees internal. I let them rest for about twenty minutes, removed the plate setter, opened the vents, and prepared for the sear. I only seared for about five minutes total but it got the job done. During the sear the dome temp jumped to over 700. As I've been taught well on this site, I carefully burped and tried to open slowly before removing the roast. Probably not slowly enough as I still got a pretty good fireball. Pretty exciting. At any rate I let rest a bit longer. The first roast was 128 degrees internal when I carved. It came out really good. Medium rare except at the very edges. The other one was a bit rarer as expected but also great. These pics should help tell the story.

When I was done and my sons were devouring the tri tip I threw on a few chicken breasts that I rubbed with some left over rib rub and brushed with Stubb's original. I also had a well deserved Cuba Libre in my complimentary Bacardi insulated glass.