I really needed to smoke something tonight. So I decided on some tri-tip. Here is the story (and backstory)...
Backstory: I am a lurker. I am on this site everyday soaking up info. But I am not a big fan of posting. A little shy I guess. But I have learned (and continue to learn) so much from the folks here that I decided that I finally had to post something. So here goes...
Story: I had a crappy day at work today. The only thing that kept me going was the thought of throwing something on the smoker when I got home. I had no idea what I would smoke, but I just knew that I had to smoke something to make me feal better. So after getting home and mowing the lawn, I decided on smoking a tri tip. I am from Northern CA so the choice was a little obvious...
I ran to the store at 5:45 pm and picked up a small 2 pound tri tip. When I got home, I was lazy and just threw some Famous Dave's Rib Rub on the meat while I fired up the smoker. The smoker I used tonight was an MES 30" (I also have a Char-Griller side fire box cheapo unit). I love Famous Dave's rub (my family has a cabin on the lake in Hayward WI where Famous Dave started...). For smoke, I used an AMZN dust smoker with hickory sawdust. (Hickory is all I had, I would have rather used some oak to be true to the Santa Maria tri-tip.) Fired up the MES to 225 degrees and threw on the meat.
I have a Maverick thermo and my intention was to put the meat probe in at around 45 minutes into the smoke. Great plan, but it didn't happen. Unfortunately I got tied up on the phone dealing with work stuff. But all the time while I was on the phone the MES and AMZN were plugging along great! Steady 225 degrees and nice TBS. I was finally able to stick the meat thermo in at around 1 hr 20 min into the smoke. To my surprise, the meat was already at 143 degrees. So I immediately fired up my propane grill so I could reverse sear the tri tip. Once the grill was up to max temp, I put the trip tip on for 2 minutes per side to sear. Then I removed and wrapped in foil to rest for 30 minutes.
During the rest period, the meat reached an IT of 158 degrees. A little higher that I would like, but not too bad considering the circumstances...
After the rest period, I sliced up the meat. First cut along the grain splitting the meat in half. Next cut, and all other slices, 90 degrees to the first cut. I haved lived in Northern CA for the last 17 years so slicing up a tri trip should be natural, but I always hesitate when I do it!...
The meat turned out great. Maybe a little bit overdone, but not bad for me (I like it a little bit on the done side...). Served it up to myself with some fresh sour dough bread from the store (still warm when I bought it). It was great. I am not sure which I like better - the smoked meat itself or the fresh bread soaked in the juices. ???? Nothing against the meat - but I think I am leaning towards the soaked bread....
If you are still reading this, thanks for your time!
Thanks,
Shooter
PS: The pics are not the greatest. They are from my phone. And I was more focused on smoking/eating than documenting...
Backstory: I am a lurker. I am on this site everyday soaking up info. But I am not a big fan of posting. A little shy I guess. But I have learned (and continue to learn) so much from the folks here that I decided that I finally had to post something. So here goes...
Story: I had a crappy day at work today. The only thing that kept me going was the thought of throwing something on the smoker when I got home. I had no idea what I would smoke, but I just knew that I had to smoke something to make me feal better. So after getting home and mowing the lawn, I decided on smoking a tri tip. I am from Northern CA so the choice was a little obvious...
I ran to the store at 5:45 pm and picked up a small 2 pound tri tip. When I got home, I was lazy and just threw some Famous Dave's Rib Rub on the meat while I fired up the smoker. The smoker I used tonight was an MES 30" (I also have a Char-Griller side fire box cheapo unit). I love Famous Dave's rub (my family has a cabin on the lake in Hayward WI where Famous Dave started...). For smoke, I used an AMZN dust smoker with hickory sawdust. (Hickory is all I had, I would have rather used some oak to be true to the Santa Maria tri-tip.) Fired up the MES to 225 degrees and threw on the meat.
I have a Maverick thermo and my intention was to put the meat probe in at around 45 minutes into the smoke. Great plan, but it didn't happen. Unfortunately I got tied up on the phone dealing with work stuff. But all the time while I was on the phone the MES and AMZN were plugging along great! Steady 225 degrees and nice TBS. I was finally able to stick the meat thermo in at around 1 hr 20 min into the smoke. To my surprise, the meat was already at 143 degrees. So I immediately fired up my propane grill so I could reverse sear the tri tip. Once the grill was up to max temp, I put the trip tip on for 2 minutes per side to sear. Then I removed and wrapped in foil to rest for 30 minutes.
During the rest period, the meat reached an IT of 158 degrees. A little higher that I would like, but not too bad considering the circumstances...
After the rest period, I sliced up the meat. First cut along the grain splitting the meat in half. Next cut, and all other slices, 90 degrees to the first cut. I haved lived in Northern CA for the last 17 years so slicing up a tri trip should be natural, but I always hesitate when I do it!...
The meat turned out great. Maybe a little bit overdone, but not bad for me (I like it a little bit on the done side...). Served it up to myself with some fresh sour dough bread from the store (still warm when I bought it). It was great. I am not sure which I like better - the smoked meat itself or the fresh bread soaked in the juices. ???? Nothing against the meat - but I think I am leaning towards the soaked bread....
If you are still reading this, thanks for your time!
Thanks,
Shooter
PS: The pics are not the greatest. They are from my phone. And I was more focused on smoking/eating than documenting...