What's for dinner?

[hueytaxi]

Originally Posted by Corky

Grilled Tri Tip with special beef rub
Seasoned Larrys chopped into chunks and grilled in foil in Olive Oil.
Grilled red, yellow, and orange peppers.

So what's with this please?

[Corky]

Originally Posted by hueytaxi

So what's with this please?

Snider's Prime Rib and Roast Seasoning. Amazing stuff.

[hueytaxi]

Originally Posted by Corky

Snider's Prime Rib and Roast Seasoning. Amazing stuff.

1/2 the answer....what is Tri tip my friend?

[fyrftrjim]

Had a Pork tenderloin, with mash potatoes, and corn.

[slim pickens]

Originally Posted by hueytaxi

1/2 the answer....what is Tri tip my friend?

tri-tip is a bottom round roast. Kind of a triangular shape, hence the name!

[Corky]

Originally Posted by hueytaxi

1/2 the answer....what is Tri tip my friend?

Beef...It Satisfies!

Here ya go:

Tri-Tip

Originally posted: 10/14/1999
Last updated: 04/11/2009

Summary

* Choose well-trimmed, USDA Choice tri-tip roasts.
* Season with a simple salt, garlic, and pepper rub shortly before cooking.
* Use oak smoke wood.
* Cook at 350-375°F to an internal temperature of 125-135°F, depending on desired doneness.
* Finish directly over hot coals for 5 minutes to sear the meat.
* Remove to a foil-covered platter, let rest 10 minutes, and slice across the grain.

Tri-Tip Location

Tri-tip is a roast cut from the bottom of the sirloin primal. There is only one tri-tip per side of beef, a total of two per animal.



Tri-tip also goes by the name "bottom sirloin butt" and "triangle roast", due to its triangular shape. In many parts of the country, your butcher will look at you funny if you ask for tri-tip...they have no idea what you're talking about. Try taking this document titled Cuts From The Bottom Sirloin to your butcher and asking them to order or cut a tri-tip for you.

Tri-tip is nicely marbled, tender, and one of the most flavorful cuts of beef you'll find. As a whole, untrimmed roast, tri-tip may weigh about 5 pounds (Photo 1). The tri-tips you're likely to find at the supermarket will weigh just 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 pounds and be 2-3" thick (Photo 2).

Whole, untrimmed tri-tip roast

Tri-tip after fat and culotte steaks are removed


Photo 1. Whole, untrimmed tri-tip roast


Photo 2. Tri-tip from the supermarket

In The Complete Meat Cookbook, authors Bruce Aidells and Denis Kelly write, "In the old days, when butchers cut their meat from the whole beef, they cut sirloins with the bone in, and the tri-tip portion, a triangular chunk of bottom sirloin, ended up as a nondescript part of sirloin steak. Nowadays the sirloin is boned out whole at the packing plant, and the two tri-tips are separated, boned, and sold to butchers whole, thereby creating a new and tender cut."


The Oregon Beef Council tells a slightly different story: "Tri-tip was seldom marketed when carcass beef or beef hind quarters were delivered to retail markets because there is only one per hind quarter. This meant that there was not enough for a case display, so the butcher would grind or cube it. Today, most stores receive boneless boxed beef. If you don't see tri-tip in the meat case, ask for it. Tri-tip roasts can be ordered separately if your butcher knows there is a demand."

Most tri-tip is shipped to the Western U.S. where it is very popular with consumers. Tri-tip is even included in many West Coast barbecue competitions as an optional category. It is often associated with California's central coast region and the Santa Maria Valley in particular, where "Santa Maria-style" tri-tip is the meat of choice. In a tradition going back to the days of Spanish rancheros, the meat is heavily seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic, cooked slowly over a red oak fire, then sliced across the grain and served with fresh salsa, cooked pinquito beans, guacamole and warm tortillas.

I originally published this article in 1999, but have updated it based on a cook of two USDA Choice tri-tip roasts I did on August 29, 2003.


Tri-tip roasts in Cryovac packaging



Example of a typical tri-tip roast

Prepping The Tri-Tips

Picture 1 above shows a Cryovac of USDA Choice tri-tip roasts from a wholesale warehouse store. This package contained 7 roasts totaling 15.57 pounds. I cooked two roasts and vacuum-packed and froze the others.

Picture 2 above shows a typical tri-tip roast. If you look carefully, you'll notice that on the shorter side of the roast, the grain of the meat runs straight up and down, but on the longer side, the grain runs at an angle to the rest of the roast. You need to take this change of direction into account when slicing a tri-tip roast across the grain for serving.

As you can see, these roasts come well-trimmed right out of the Cryovac, just the way I like them. They don't require much, if any, prep. Simply trim off anything that doesn't look appetizing and pat dry with paper towels.

A lot of tri-tip recipes call for an untrimmed roast with a thick fat layer on one side, and there's the question of whether to start the roast fat-side up or fat-side down. Not only can untrimmed roasts be hard to find, but frankly I don't think the fat adds anything to the cooking process. Tri-tip is not like brisket--it's a naturally tender cut of meat that doesn't require "low and slow" cooking and doesn't need the protection of a fat cap. Since you're just going to trim away the fat before serving, I think you're better off using a well-trimmed roast.

If your tri-tips come with the fat layer intact, you can leave it as-is, or trim it to 1/4" thick, or trim most of it off as you see here. If you leave the fat on, the only differences will be the length of cooking time and the amount of trimming you'll have to do before slicing. And frankly, I don't think it matters whether you start it fat-side up or down.

My favorite tri-tip seasoning is Susie-Q's Santa Maria Style Seasoning, a blend of salt, garlic, black pepper, MSG, and parsley. If you can't find this seasoning, make a simple rub using the same ingredients.

Tri-Tip Seasoning
3 tablespoons non-iodized table salt
1 tablespoon granulated garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
1/4 teaspoon black pepper, medium grind
1/4 teaspoon Accent (MSG)
Chop the parsley or crush it between your fingers to make it small enough to mix well with the other ingredients. Combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Pat the tri-tip dry with paper towels and apply a heavy sprinkling of seasoning all over the meat. There's no need to do this hours before cooking--season right after you start the fire in the cooker and let the meat sit at room temperature until you're ready to cook.

Oak Is The Smoke Wood Of Choice

Tri-tip is traditionally cooked over red oak, but any variety of oak is an acceptable alternative.

My white oak chunks were kind of puny, so I used 2 handfuls, thinking that this would be equivalent to 2 large chunks.

There's no need to soak the wood before putting it in the cooker.

Firing-Up The Weber Bullet

Start a chimney full of Kingsford charcoal briquettes. When they're good and hot, spread them out in the charcoal chamber and add another 1/2 chimney of unlit coals on top.

When all the coals are covered with gray ash, put the smoke wood on the coals and assemble the cooker. Do not put the water pan into the cooker.

Open the top vent fully and leave it that way during the entire cook. Start out with all three bottom vents closed, but open them later as much as needed to maintain a cooking temperature of 350-375°F.

Allow smoke to billow from the cooker for about 15 minutes, then place the meat in the cooker.
Raw, seasoned tri-tip roasts go into WSM

Tri-tip at 125°F internal temperature

Searing tri-tip roasts over hot coals

Cooking Process Described

Picture 1 shows two seasoned tri-tips on the upper grate. Note that the larger one has a Polder probe thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the roast.


Adjust the bottom vents to maintain a cooking temperature of 350-375°F. Cook the meat on one side for about 20 minutes, then turn it over and cook to an internal temperature of 125-135°F, depending on the doneness you prefer. (Picture 2).


When the meat hits the target temperature, place the grate right over the hot coals in the charcoal bowl and sear the roasts for about 5 minutes, turning several times to ensure even browning (Picture 3).


After searing, remove the meat to a platter, cover with foil, and allow to rest for 10 minutes before slicing thin across the grain. See Letting Meat Rest After Cooking to understand the importance of this step.

I wanted these roasts to end up medium-rare, so I chose 125°F as my target internal temperature. After a 5 minute sear and a 10 minute rest, they would achieve 135°F, smack-dab in the middle of the medium-rare range.

If you're cooking two or more tri-tip roasts, it's likely that the weight and thickness of each roast is different. Remember that smaller, thinner roasts will cook faster than larger, thicker ones. Check the internal temp in the thickest part of each roast and remove to a foil-covered platter those that hit the target temperature. Let sit at room temperature until the larger roasts are done, then reunite all the roasts to sear over the hot coals.

If cooking on both the top and bottom grates, the roasts on the bottom will cook faster because they're closer to the fire. Put the larger, thicker roasts on the bottom grate, the smaller, thinner ones on top. Monitor the bottom roasts carefully to avoid burning. As described above, check the internal temp of each roast and remove those that hit the target temperature early, then reunite all the roasts over the hot coals at the end.

If you cooked tri-tip roasts with the thick fat layer intact, trim off the fat before slicing.

Medium-rare tri-tip roast


Tri-tip sandwich


After a 10 minute rest, the meat measured 135°F, a perfect medium-rare. The exterior color of the tri-tip was reddish-brown with good grill marks. I sliced the roast across the grain and found juicy, tender pink meat with just a slight smoke ring. The meat had a medium smoky flavor that complimented the garlic and pepper flavor of the rub.

You can slice tri-tip and serve it on a plate with side dishes, but my favorite way to enjoy tri-tip is on a sandwich. Spread garlic butter on a sweet French roll and toast it under the broiler. Slice the tri-tip thinly across the grain, pile it high on the roll, and drizzle with a favorite barbecue sauce. Those are some good eats!

What About Cooking "Low & Slow"?

You can cook tri-tip "low & slow" at 225-250°F, if you prefer. Cook to the same internal temperature of 125-135°F and finish directly over the hot coals to sear the meat, as described above. It may take two hours or more for the meat to reach your target internal temp.

[fyrftrjim]

Grilled some steaks, green beans, and pasta salad.

[Corky]

Brisket and sausages on the smoker. 8.5 hours in on the brisket and its up to 171 degrees! Getting there - we are past the plateau!

[hueytaxi]

Team Mom made her traditional spaghetti tonight and it was great the first time (I normally like the sauce better after freezing and re spicing.) A glass or more of Sutter's Home blush to set the flavor.

[Chaz]

Hungry Howies pizza..

[wingedwheel]

Totino's pizza

[EatEmUpTigers711]

Couple of Coney Dogs & some Cheese Fries

[toadhunter911]

Making chicken chili tonight, with fresh whole wheat bread.

[hueytaxi]

TM's meatloaf and I'll add corn and cut green beans.

[wingedwheel]

Quesadillas

[Corky]

Here is an interesting way to do steak:

Steak: How to Turn Cheap “Choice” Steak into Gucci “Prime” Steak Recipe*|*Steamy Kitchen

Gonna try this out soon!

Steak: How to Turn Cheap “Choice” Steak into Gucci “Prime” Steak

Submitted by SteamyKitchen on August 28, 2007 – 11:13 pm 600 Comments

Grilled Filet Mignon Steak - a recipe that I created and photographed for client Palm Beach Prime

If you are a steak-lover, I hope that the title of this post + luscious photo is enticing enough for you to read though the entire article. Because I promise you that it’s worth it. Even if you don’t eat steak, this is a must-read…as you can impress the hell outta your carnivorean friends. (and sometimes, when you’re a vegetarian in a herd of carnivores…it would just be nice to have that extra, “dude….you didn’t know that about steak???!” in your pocket.)
My entire family (including the 2 yr old kid) just adores any type of steak recipe…you could probably classify us as professional steak-eaters. In fact, it is my husband’s life-long quest to hone his grilling technique so that our steaks at home turn out charred crusty on the outside and perfectly medium-rare on the inside. With grill marks for show, of course. Seriously, we are too cheap to eat out and would rather cook a nice steak recipe at home. For the past 4 months, we have been experimenting with how to get full, juicy, beefy flavor of a ribeye with butter-knife tenderness of a filet mignon without paying up-the-butt for Prime cuts. And after 4 months of eating steak 2x a week, I think we’ve figured it out. So, my friends, I am offering you a very juicy secret, one that will turn an ordinary “Choice” cut of steak into a gucci “Prime” cut.
Do you know the joy of buying Choice and eating Prime? It’s like buying a Hyundai and getting a free mail-in rebate for a BMW upgrade!!!

Steak Recipe: Massively salt your steaks 15 min - 1 hour before grilling.

Notice that I didn’t say, “sprinkle liberally” or even “season generously.” I’m talking about literally coating your meat until you can’t see red. It should resemble a salt lick.

Let that meat be totally overwhelmed with the salt for 1 hour or less. Rinse, pat dry dry dry and then you’re ready to grill. Before y’all throw a hissy fit, just hear me out. I first learned of this technique from Judy Rodgers’ The Zuni Cafe Cookbook: A Compendium of Recipes and Cooking Lessons from San Francisco’s Beloved Restaurant. Judy massively salts her chicken before roasting, and I’ve adapted the practice to steaks. Thanks to a couple of other books (McGee’s On Food and Cooking and Alton Brown’s I’m Just Here For the Food), and a few fellow bloggers, I have an explanation of how it works.
Oh, and if the drawings look like a 3rd grader did it, too bad….YOU try drawing with a laptop touch-pad and a glass of bourbon on the rocks.
How Salting Works


All of you who season JUST before grilling - this is what you are really doing to the meat. Did you know that? All the water comes to the surface and if you don’t pat super-dry, you’re basically STEAMING the meat. Plus, your salt just sits on the surface of the steak, leaving the interior tasteless.

Now - note that only a little of the salt gets to go back into the meat. Don’t worry - you aren’t going to be eating all that salt!

Bourbon does that to me too.

I can hear it now..BUT!!! What of all the water that stayed on the surface of the meat? Aren’t you drawing all the moisture out of the meat? Will it taste like a salt lick? (*%!*%!@#!#!!! I DON’T UNDERSTAND THIS STEAK RECIPE!!!
Pull your pants back on and keep reading…

Verification on Technique


Cook’s Illustrated January 08 issue (and you can also find it on their paid portion of their website. Just search for “Improving Cheap Roast Beef”) They salt a 4lb roast beef (big, fat, thick meat) and they are using 4 tsp kosher salt - therefore their steak recipe recommends salting for 18-24 hrs. It’s all related: thickness of meat : amount of salt : time.
Gucci Steak Recipe Key Points

• Use kosher or sea salt, not table salt <– that is important. It will not work well with tiny tiny grains of table salt. Plus, table salt tastes like ****.
• Use steaks 1″ or thicker.
• Follow my timetable (below)
• If you are Harold McGee, a member of Alton Brown’s research team or Mr. Burke my high school chem teacher…..and think I’m full of B.S…. please let me know. But guys, none of this was in your books. I had to formulate, extrapolate, hypotholate and guesstulate based on your stuff. Highly mental activity.
• I know this sounds awfully like salt-curing, which dries out meat (like beef jerky). But with salt curing, you use A LOT more salt and leave it salting for A LOOOOOONG time. We’re talking about a little tiny nap here - not weeks - just enough to break down the protiens.
• Again, don’t worry about all that salt. Only a bit of it gets absorbed into the meat. Most of it gets washed down the drain when you rinse off. Really.
• I know you’re going to ask…so I’ll answer it for you. Why not brine? You could if you really want water-logged diluted-tasting crappy steak.
• And yes, I know what “Choice” and “Prime” means - it’s the marbling. The salting doesn’t affect fat content - I’m using those terms as a figure of speech.

I understand that this method will cause chaos, confusion and controversy in your household. But I encourage you to experiment: try adding spices, crushed garlic and rosemary sprigs to the salt, which will then act like Christina Aguilera dragging its entourage of flavors with it into the meat. If confusion in the household becomes unbearable, just whack’em with the hunk of salted steak..

Grilled Steak Recipe with Garlic-Herb Butter

Steak Recipe Step 1: Buy a hunk of steak. I like mine 1.25 to 1.5 inches thick. Any cut of meat: Filet, Sirloin, Rib Eye, Porterhouse, T-Bone and NY Strip - they all work. You can do this with steaks less than 1″, just really watch your timing. If your steak is already superbly marbled - cut back on your timing! The fattier (more marbled) the meat is, the faster the salt works its way through the meat.
Steak Recipe Step 2: About 1/2 to 1-1/2 teaspoons of kosher/sea salt per side. Let it sit at room temperature during salting. You’ll begin to see water on the surface of the meat and on your plate. Don’t use anything other than kosher or sea salt, ok?
Here are guidelines….start with this and adjust salt + timing as you experiment.
MEAT SALT/SIDE TIME Less than 1″ 1/2 tsp each side 15 min 1″ thick cut - smallish girly-girl steak, about 4″ across 1/2 tsp each side 30 min 1.25″ -1.5″ (NY Strip, Ribeye) standard thicker steaks can sit longer to let the salt do its work throughout meat 3/4 - 1 tsp each side 45 min 1.25″ - 1.5″ manly-man T-Bone, Porterhouse - more surface area means you use more salt 1-2 tsp each side 45 min >1.5″ Massive ginormous “Barney Rubble” porterhouse - our fav. I get the strip side, husband gets the filet side 1-2 tsp each side 1 hr or more Step 3: Rinse all salt off, pat very dry <- that part is important. Season with fresh ground pepper (no more salt is needed). Grill to your liking. Hint: get yourself a grilling thermometer. Top with Garlic-Herb Butter immediately to let it oooooze and aaaahhze all over the steak.

[Corky]

Lunch today. I was in Albertson's and cruised by the meat case and they had the day-old stuff from yesterday. With the $3 off sticker on it these two babies were $3.04. Cheaper than a Quarter Pounder with Cheese!

Yummy time!

[whitesox901]

I miss my chums, so Frickers for Wing night with them looks good

[Auburndale Ray]

Turkey Breast Subway Sandwich
Bowl of Chili with Beans
Arizona Diet Green Tea
Watermelon Wedge

[Lousluggage]

Pierogies with marinara sauce and vegetables, plus a piece of Texas toast.

[Corky]

Grilled a Ribeye - seasoned using that new method. Very tasty! Also hit it with garlic butter two minutes before bringing it in from the fire. Baked Larry with butter, sour cream, and bacon bits.

[hueytaxi]

Smoked some country style pork ribs tonight with Bush's beans/onions. Left the ribs on a little too long as they dried more than I wished.

[wingedwheel]

Took the family to Chik-fil-a to take advantage of the free kids meal on Tuesdays.

[hueytaxi]

Smoked sausage and baked mac.

[Corky]

Gonna be spare ribs tonight! Youngest boy and me. Got the rub on them last night.

[CMRivdog]

Looks like it will be a couple of banana popsicles with a MiraLAX chaser.


Guess what I get to do in the morning?

[wingedwheel]

Publix fried chicken
Publix potato salad
Fruit salad
Slice of Cuban bread

[hueytaxi]

Originally Posted by hueytaxi

Smoked sausage and baked mac.

Team Mom brought home Sonny's pulled pork and mac along with slaw for her. Nothing great, but filling.

[toadhunter911]

Seared Sea Scallops w/ a Japanese BBQ sauce, wasabi mashed potatoes, and green beans tonight.

[fyrftrjim]

Ham and Cheese and chips.

[toadhunter911]

Butterflied a boneless chicken breast, cooked on the griddle. Slathered it in Mo Prichetts BBQ sauce, heaped on some sauteed mushrooms and onions, covered with reduced fat provolone, and put on a bakery fresh hogie roll. A handful of Better Made original chips and a Bells amber. Nice...

[Corky]

Ha! You only had a breast! I had the whole chicken!

[wingedwheel]

Homemade cheese sticks.
Homemade pizza for the kids (they love to put their own topping on).
Homemade calzones for my wife and I.
Homemade cinnamon sticks.

Working for four years in a pizza place during college has proven to have some long-lasting benefits.

[Corky]

Originally Posted by wingedwheel

Homemade cheese sticks.
Homemade pizza for the kids (they love to put their own topping on).
Homemade calzones for my wife and I.
Homemade cinnamon sticks.

Working for four years in a pizza place during college has proven to have some long-lasting benefits.

Calzone fold-over secret:

If you use dough that is a big sticky or stretchy roll it out on a Pammed piece of parchment paper. Put the guts on one half and then pick up the top side with the parchment and use that to lift it over and close it. I found that if I tried to pull the dough up by itself it would almost always tear.

Parchment is the best stuff in our kitchen.

[wingedwheel]

Originally Posted by Corky

Calzone fold-over secret:

If you use dough that is a big sticky or stretchy roll it out on a Pammed piece of parchment paper. Put the guts on one half and then pick up the top side with the parchment and use that to lift it over and close it. I found that if I tried to pull the dough up by itself it would almost always tear.

Parchment is the best stuff in our kitchen.

I can't stand sticky dough. That's why I always add little bits of flour as I knead in order to get it to the correct consistency. I need to be able to fling it around in the air. (That always impresses my kids:)

[fyrftrjim]

Boneless buffalo wings & Quasedilla Burger @ Applebees.

[Chaz]

beer!

[fyrftrjim]

Nope no beer, after sitting in the heat at the game didn't feel like drinking tonight.

[toadhunter911]

Originally Posted by Corky

Ha! You only had a breast! I had the whole chicken!

Looks great Corky. However, having the heart issues I do, having chicken with the skin is outa the question, as are lots of other (really good) food.

[Corky]

Originally Posted by toadhunter911

Looks great Corky. However, having the heart issues I do, having chicken with the skin is outa the question, as are lots of other (really good) food.

You can remove the skin before eating but it rally helps it cook up jucier. Same with chicken on the bone - cooks way nicer than boneless.