How long can cooked tri tip sit out for once cooked?

[foshizzle]

I'll be going camping and want to cook up some tri tips the morning I'm leaving and then eat them for dinner at camp about 8 hours later and serve about 20 plus people. If I wrap in foil after smoking and then put in a cooler will it be OK to eat and not refrigerate if we're eating 8 hours later? This is my preferred method because I know it'll turn out good.

Other option I'm thinking about is to smoke night before and pull meat about 20-25* before done and then finish off at camp on the picnic type BBQ's or possibly over the open fire at the camp site (not sure if there's grates over the fire). Just wondering if it's as good when reheating this way or it might get dried out.

Suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.


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[iCARRY]

Food safety issue there. If the meat goes below 140 for 2 hours, you are in the danger zone. You won't be able to see or smell the bacteria, but it's there and starting to grow.

Best bet is to bring the grill with you and cook on site, or cook at home, ice bath it, seal in food saver bags, and heat up in a Dutch oven of boiling water, cut bags open and serve juicy meat.


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[foshizzle]

Food safety issue there. If the meat goes below 140 for 2 hours, you are in the danger zone. You won't be able to see or smell the bacteria, but it's there and starting to grow.

Best bet is to bring the grill with you and cook on site, or cook at home, ice bath it, seal in food saver bags, and heat up in a Dutch oven of boiling water, cut bags open and serve juicy meat.


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Got it.  I like the Dutch oven reheat idea. I would like to bring up my WSM but it's really high bear activity where I'm going and the smells that are in my WSM will drive a bear crazy.
So another question if you've done this before. Do I cook the meat to full temp at home or slightly under cook it?  Is there some way when reheating in the boiling water to know when it's done and not over cook or I guess I can bring my meat temp probe and open the top of the food saver bag that's not under water to monitor the meat temp?   

Thanks for your input.


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[iCARRY]

You can cut a little hole, use a binder clip to hold the bag and hole above the water line and check temp.
What's the plan for the beef? Pulled? Sliced?


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[foshizzle]

Tri tip will be cooked to Med rare and then sliced.


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[foshizzle]

Maybe slice at home before sealing in food saver bags?


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[iCARRY]

Personally, I have never done that with beef, especially at Med-rare, I have done it with pulled pork, I would slice it, single layer in vacuum sealed bags, will only take a few minutes to get up to serving temp. Make sure you pack it with the juice. Maybe even add a little beef broth.

Hopefully some others with experience will chime in.


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[demosthenes9]

Boil the water then remove it from the heat.  Put a temp probe in and wait for the water temp to drop dowm top 145-150ish.  Then put your bagged tritip in the water to reheat.  Monitor water temp.  If it drops below 120ish, put it back on the heat for a bit to warm back up.

Basically, sous vide style.

Then again, you could just redneck sous vide it from the get go then sear it off to finish.



One question comes to mind though, why not just take a Weber grate with you and grill it there ?

[foshizzle]

I think I'll smoke it to about 115* (normally I pull at 132*), cool it down and then vacuum seal. Once I get up to the campsite I'll either heat it up in the boiling water (Sous vide style) or just use the picnic type BBQ's. 

Good question about why not just cooking it up there but I want to make it comes out good since people are expecting good smoked BBQ from me.  I'm not sure I can pull it off Cooking that many tri tips at camp with grills I'm not familiar with. I think it's just better to smoke the meat mostly done at home on equipment I know then take it up there to finish it off. Less chance of messing it up.

Thanks for you suggestions.



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[iCARRY]

Sounds like you got a good plan. I have learned over time, most people have no idea what good food is. Just a little effort and people are amazed by what I produce. Or they are just lying to me.


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[varekai]

Sounds like you got a good plan. I have learned over time, most people have no idea what good food is. Just a little effort and people are amazed by what I produce. Or they are just lying to me.


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When people tell me how good it is, i tell them, dont lie or you'll just keep getting crappy food....

[foshizzle]

Did the trip last weekend.
At home smoked the tri tip to about 20* lower then my usual finish temp. Wrapped in foil and let it cool. Once the meat cooled I vacuum sealed.  Probably not a great idea to do that because a lot of juices were sucked out. Wouldn't vacuum seal next time until after the meat has been really cooled down in the refrigerator.
Once up at the campsite I saw they put in new fire rings and cooking grates and decided to finish up the meat on open fire.  As soon as I started getting the fire ready, other people just started pulling out their side dishes way before I was ready because some of the kids were really hungry.  The kids parents were pushing me to hurry up during the cook because everything else was already to go and people were really hungry.  To keep the peace I relented and added a little more hot coals then I would've wanted and overshot my target temp by 10 or so degrees.  I also couldn't let the meat rest as long as it should have.
It was not the finished product I wanted to serve but was OK but really worked out good for steak and eggs the next morning.
The overall camping trip was awesome. 




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[iCARRY]

Sorry to hear it wasn't perfect. I never let anyone rush my food. If you want to eat, you will wait. Also you are probably your biggest critic. I am sure they were great.


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[Mr.CPHo]

Great learning opportunity.   Thanks for sharing your results, and I bet you'll nail it perfectly next time!


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[Big Dawg]

Sounds like you did Yeoman's Job, @foshizzle, under less than ideal conditions.

I agree with @iCARRY, we are all our own worst critics, and many of us even go out of the way to point out (to our diners) what we think are the flaws in our cook ! ! !





BD