Picked up a tri-tip on the way home from work for a reverse sear. Turned out AMAZING!
A little sad we can't get a full tri-tip here, just the center part. But the quality of this one was way too good to pass up. Oh, and I am from the west - from Reno, NV, so I do know what a whole tri-tip looks like. And I can't get that without paying 50 euros or more here. But what I can get is what the commissary cuts - and it is a PORTION of the actual tri-tip. If you look at a tri-tip, it has 3 sections, with 3 different grain directions. Our meat packers here cut off one of those three sections, so the grain is all running in the same direction, and the shape is more triangular. This does not make it "not a tri-tip", it's just not a WHOLE tri-tip. Most importantly, it is DELICIOUS.
Rubbed with kosher salt, pepper, garlic, rosemary, thyme, and sage. Classic Santa Maria flavors! Started about 15 Kingsford blue briquettes, and poured over about 15 unlit for the slow part. No water in the pan, kept the temps around 250-275 (a little time in the 290s while I was dialing it in).
No smoke on this one - just a nice reverse sear. Pure meat flavor, plus what the charcoal itself gives. Oh, and my new Maverick XS-002 silicone gasket worked great! Just room for 2 wires and probes in a 5/16" hole (dabbed with a cotton swab dipped in BBQ paint to prevent rust after I drilled the hole). I really like this mod!
Took the meat off at 110 and filled the basket about 2/3 with lit coals completely covered with ash (lit them around 95 on the meat)
Did the Cold Grate method - but because the meat is so lean, there was not much of a flame up, so it took about 8 minutes total, 1 minute per side. Got a great even sear, though!
A little more done around the edge than ideal, but still a wonderful medium rare throughout - and so juicy and tender. Almost as tender as a sous vide tri-tip. And that's saying something.
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