Tri tip roasts are very popular here in California. Normally, I cook them with indirect heat on both sides, roast in the middle at ~375 for 45 minutes. I can fit 4 of these on a 22.5" kettle to feed a crowd.
I wanted to try another approach to cooking tri tip using a smoker.
Tri Tip marinated for 24 hours:
Rubbed with honey rib rub:
Topped with bacon:
Wapiti gets the call:
I put the tri tip on the lower rack, and filled the upper rack with more bacon. The drippings basted the roast and the extra bacon gets crumbled and fed to my sous chef:
After the top level bacon was done, I moved the bottom rack to the top. Almost done:
The payoff:
Although this method takes 2-3 hours verses 45 minutes, the smokey flavor and moist meet make it worthwhile. I can see doing 4-6 of these at a time to feed a crowd, starting the cook at 3:00 for a 6:00 dinner.
Winz