Tri Tip Technique
Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2012 12:16 pm
I love it when the tri tip enters the conversation here on the blog, cause I have had such good luck with it. I write a little internal email periodical for guys in my firm around the country on ocassional Fridays (because I enjoy aggravating them), and thought I would share same from last Friday's, hope you guys enjoy it (SAFETY NOTE - There is material risk in the use of highly flammable accelerants in performing the flambe technique I describe to follow. Just noting this so that if you burn yourself to a crisp, it will be yer own dern fault and you can't sue me):
"This week’s column is on something I did a few weeks ago after studying up all year on the Santa Maria barbecue method from California – an open pit method from the days of the large Ranchos there, particularly in the Central Coast, which in some aspects resembles the West Texas open pit method. While differing in the critical aspect of cooking hotter and faster than the WT method, the technology and the methods share a lot of similarities. In short – it’s ranch cookin’. It has a certain beauty to it, however, for being pretty fast and cracklin’ good. I did “Boots” it up a bit beyond the traditional method by using a bit of a flambe’, however, as explained later.
Simply put, this is type of grilling versus smoking, and it went like this:
1. Select Choice grade Tri-Tip roast from the grocery (Tri-tip is evidently the staple of Santa Maria barbecue, and is part of the Sirloin structure of the ‘ol bovine).
2. Second, rub said bovine with a combination of a good smoker type rub (I used John Henry’s Old Bob Hickory and Mojave Garlic Pepper Gold and Sucklebuster’s Hoochie Mama is a 1 part /1 part / 1part mix). Rest in fridge for several hours to let the rubs absorb in.
3. About 30 minutes before grill time, warm up about 1 cup of Kentucky straight bourbon of a good but not outstanding quality (used Buffalo Trace) to about 120-140 degrees, about enough to make your finger uncomfortable when you stick it in but not burn yourself. Then melt in about a ½ to a full stick of real butter, depending upon your cholesterol count and whether that matters to you or not. Carry it out to the grill and keep it just warm.
4. Fire up grill to about the temperature of the surface of the Sun. You want that puppy barkin’ hot. If you happen to have an infrared gas burner that trots along at about 1400 degrees, this is your sweet spot. You could also do it traditionally over a good, hot wood or charcoal fire burned down to deep red coals. Using that method, you will want to have a “cool” side prepared where you have blocked off from the coals or simply have a small amount of heat if possible.
5. If you don’t own any barbecue cooker at all, you can forestall Step 6 to follow and simply pitch yourself out the 4th floor window of the Carnegie library down the street because you are decidedly un-American and wimpy, and the less beef you eat, the more for the rest of us. Do us a favor though, make sure your aim is decent and don’t land on a passing jogger or postal carrier. Marquis of Queensbury rules, harrumph. Street mimes and jugglers would, however, make EXCELLENT targets.
6. Optimally, you have enough whiskey mixture from Step 3 above to cover the bottom of a shallow pan well. Do that. Then plop that Tri-tip into it and roll it around real good. Let it swim in it, do the backstroke a bit. You want it to soak that bourbon in a little. Then WITH LONG TONGS AND KEEPING MOST OF YOUR BODY AT ARMS LENGTH FROM THE GRILL drop it right onto the hot fire. The effect should look at little like the photo below (Figure 1). Just be sure you DO NOT use that bottle of Ripple that you’ve had hiding in the cabinet from the wife for about 15 years as a souvenir from one of your old fraternity parties, the proof level in that stuff will have risen to the point that it would be better used by the Army to fuel Patriot missles and will not work well (or safely) in this particular application.
7. After about 2 minutes, the torch effect will begin to burn off a bit, and you can roll it to the other side. It should look a little like this (Figure 2):
8. After about 4-5 minutes the fire should burn down completely. Now, much like the little blue pill, if the flame should stay up for 3-4 hours, you may want to phone a doctor or the fire department as undesirable side effects have occurred.
9. Again using the LONG TONGS, move your meat (Figure 3) over the other side of your gas cooker where you have set your fire level to about medium low, or to the fringe of the grate if using a wood or charcoal fire. Slam shut the cooker lid.
10. Continue roasting the bovine on the “cool” side until you check the internal temp with a good probe thermometer and you have achieved approximately 135-140 degrees, which should be about medium-rare for this cut of meat, the optimal cooking level for any steak like beefer. If you do not have a good probe thermometer, refer back to Step 5.
11. Having completed Step 10 without having to divert back to Step 5, you are ready to pull off the meat. Place same, again using the LONG TONGS, on a cutting board and rest about 5 minutes. Slice part into long medallions, and leave the rest intact. Place the sliced meat on a WARMED platter for serving, preferably with some good garlic smashed potatoes, some brown Jager gravy, a nice winter vegetable like butternut or acorn squash, some ranch beans with roasted red and green peppers in them, fresh jalapeno cornbread, and maybe some asparagus with a healthy Hollandaise sauce if you’re into the greens kind of thing. If you can’t do the sides on your own, refer back to Step 5, this is a barbecue PSA and I don’t have time to teach sides to the blind and lame (Figure 4)."
P.S. My next door neighbor musta been out for the holidays because I didn't hear a peep outta him the whole time I was cooking the tri tip, no whining, no wailing, no gnashing of teeth, no wife beating him over the head with her rose embroidered flappy house slippers because he can't cook. I swear, it kind of took away from the whole cooking experience for me that he didn't come rubbernecking over the fence like he usually does. The ungrateful boob. The least he coulda done was hire a stand in to do it for him while he was gone, like the teenage stoner from down the street I found sleeping up on the jungle jim in the park last year behind my house about 6 am one Sunday morning. Wait until 'ol neighbor gets back, I think I will do a prime rib and really lay it on thick and make him suffer for not delivering the propers on my cooking.
"This week’s column is on something I did a few weeks ago after studying up all year on the Santa Maria barbecue method from California – an open pit method from the days of the large Ranchos there, particularly in the Central Coast, which in some aspects resembles the West Texas open pit method. While differing in the critical aspect of cooking hotter and faster than the WT method, the technology and the methods share a lot of similarities. In short – it’s ranch cookin’. It has a certain beauty to it, however, for being pretty fast and cracklin’ good. I did “Boots” it up a bit beyond the traditional method by using a bit of a flambe’, however, as explained later.
Simply put, this is type of grilling versus smoking, and it went like this:
1. Select Choice grade Tri-Tip roast from the grocery (Tri-tip is evidently the staple of Santa Maria barbecue, and is part of the Sirloin structure of the ‘ol bovine).
2. Second, rub said bovine with a combination of a good smoker type rub (I used John Henry’s Old Bob Hickory and Mojave Garlic Pepper Gold and Sucklebuster’s Hoochie Mama is a 1 part /1 part / 1part mix). Rest in fridge for several hours to let the rubs absorb in.
3. About 30 minutes before grill time, warm up about 1 cup of Kentucky straight bourbon of a good but not outstanding quality (used Buffalo Trace) to about 120-140 degrees, about enough to make your finger uncomfortable when you stick it in but not burn yourself. Then melt in about a ½ to a full stick of real butter, depending upon your cholesterol count and whether that matters to you or not. Carry it out to the grill and keep it just warm.
4. Fire up grill to about the temperature of the surface of the Sun. You want that puppy barkin’ hot. If you happen to have an infrared gas burner that trots along at about 1400 degrees, this is your sweet spot. You could also do it traditionally over a good, hot wood or charcoal fire burned down to deep red coals. Using that method, you will want to have a “cool” side prepared where you have blocked off from the coals or simply have a small amount of heat if possible.
5. If you don’t own any barbecue cooker at all, you can forestall Step 6 to follow and simply pitch yourself out the 4th floor window of the Carnegie library down the street because you are decidedly un-American and wimpy, and the less beef you eat, the more for the rest of us. Do us a favor though, make sure your aim is decent and don’t land on a passing jogger or postal carrier. Marquis of Queensbury rules, harrumph. Street mimes and jugglers would, however, make EXCELLENT targets.
6. Optimally, you have enough whiskey mixture from Step 3 above to cover the bottom of a shallow pan well. Do that. Then plop that Tri-tip into it and roll it around real good. Let it swim in it, do the backstroke a bit. You want it to soak that bourbon in a little. Then WITH LONG TONGS AND KEEPING MOST OF YOUR BODY AT ARMS LENGTH FROM THE GRILL drop it right onto the hot fire. The effect should look at little like the photo below (Figure 1). Just be sure you DO NOT use that bottle of Ripple that you’ve had hiding in the cabinet from the wife for about 15 years as a souvenir from one of your old fraternity parties, the proof level in that stuff will have risen to the point that it would be better used by the Army to fuel Patriot missles and will not work well (or safely) in this particular application.
7. After about 2 minutes, the torch effect will begin to burn off a bit, and you can roll it to the other side. It should look a little like this (Figure 2):
8. After about 4-5 minutes the fire should burn down completely. Now, much like the little blue pill, if the flame should stay up for 3-4 hours, you may want to phone a doctor or the fire department as undesirable side effects have occurred.
9. Again using the LONG TONGS, move your meat (Figure 3) over the other side of your gas cooker where you have set your fire level to about medium low, or to the fringe of the grate if using a wood or charcoal fire. Slam shut the cooker lid.
10. Continue roasting the bovine on the “cool” side until you check the internal temp with a good probe thermometer and you have achieved approximately 135-140 degrees, which should be about medium-rare for this cut of meat, the optimal cooking level for any steak like beefer. If you do not have a good probe thermometer, refer back to Step 5.
11. Having completed Step 10 without having to divert back to Step 5, you are ready to pull off the meat. Place same, again using the LONG TONGS, on a cutting board and rest about 5 minutes. Slice part into long medallions, and leave the rest intact. Place the sliced meat on a WARMED platter for serving, preferably with some good garlic smashed potatoes, some brown Jager gravy, a nice winter vegetable like butternut or acorn squash, some ranch beans with roasted red and green peppers in them, fresh jalapeno cornbread, and maybe some asparagus with a healthy Hollandaise sauce if you’re into the greens kind of thing. If you can’t do the sides on your own, refer back to Step 5, this is a barbecue PSA and I don’t have time to teach sides to the blind and lame (Figure 4)."
P.S. My next door neighbor musta been out for the holidays because I didn't hear a peep outta him the whole time I was cooking the tri tip, no whining, no wailing, no gnashing of teeth, no wife beating him over the head with her rose embroidered flappy house slippers because he can't cook. I swear, it kind of took away from the whole cooking experience for me that he didn't come rubbernecking over the fence like he usually does. The ungrateful boob. The least he coulda done was hire a stand in to do it for him while he was gone, like the teenage stoner from down the street I found sleeping up on the jungle jim in the park last year behind my house about 6 am one Sunday morning. Wait until 'ol neighbor gets back, I think I will do a prime rib and really lay it on thick and make him suffer for not delivering the propers on my cooking.