I've been correcting my process as I go. I had in the past smoked the tri-tip to an internal temp (upper 120's) but they were done too fast. I smoked these at 180 for 11 hours. And that's kind of outside the normal process. They were pretty much done in the first few hours. They just kind of rested in the pit all day with just the residual heat in the pit. I never took the internal temp this time so I was pleasantly surprised how it came out.
Nothing beats a smoked tri-tip sandwich with a ton of horseradish shmagged on it.
11 hours! What was the texture like compared to grilling ? I've seen the sign at Lucille's bbq saying something like 7hrs in the smoker,. I have been reluctant to try this in fear of a dried out tri tip. I do like the texture and flavor of tri tip at Lucile's smokehouse .
I did a tri tip last weekend on my smoker. I injected it with Minors beef au jus and beef broth. Let it sit overnight in the fridge. Applied Dillo rub and let sweat for 2 hours. Put it on the smoker at 250 with the thermometer in and cooked to 128. Pulled and let rest for 1 hour. OMG?. juices were running as I sliced the meat.
It's all about long long resting at the finish temp. No drying out. Half way through the cook the meat has finished benefiting from the smoke. I wrap the tips in foil and just let it sit in the cooling pit for the whole day.
Grilling tritips is an art I haven's mastered. They come out tough even when very rare. If I were to try it again I would grill the meat under done, wrap it in foil and put it on the top shelf on low for hours. Just don't overcook it.
When I prepare the finished tritip I slice it up in a glass dish and pour a little canned beef stock over it. For some reason there's a reaction between the smoke and the broth. Just a little broth and the flavor greatly intensifies. Bang! Perhaps I bought broth with MSG in it of something.
I like to get some rolls and shmag a ton of horseradish on it.