Smokey Lew
Head Chef
Picked up a three pound tri-tip at the grocery store yesterday and decided to grill it the authentic Santa Maria style.
Santa Maria is in central California and is known for their particular style of cooking tri-tip cuts of beef. The basic method is to use a combination of granulated garlic, course black pepper, paprika, kosher salt and parsley flakes for the rub and to cook it directly over a bed of hot red oak coals.
For my cook, I first trimmed all the fat off the tri-tip and then smeared the tri-tip with yellow mustard to help bind the dry rub to the meat. The coals were a combination of Stubb's briquets and mesquite lump coal with some red oak added for smoke.
After searing the tri-tip for about 3 minutes on each side, I moved it to the upper rack directly over the coals. Once on the top rack, I closed the pit and let it cook, turning over the tri-tip about every ten minutes. It only takes a short amount of time to cook so you have to monitor it closely. After a half hour the internal temperature was 130 degrees and it was done.
The tri-tip rested with some loose foil on top for about 12 minutes before slicing. It was very tender with a lot of juice and a spicy flavor. It was plated with some asparagus, baked mac & cheese and a green salad. The sliced tri-tip in the plated picture was cooked to medium-rare but it looks darker because I drenched each slice in the juice prior to plating.
Fat trimmed off tri-tip.
Tri-tip with Santa Maria style rub.
Searing the tri-tip.
Tri-tip on upper rack directly over the coals.
Plated tri-tip. Yum, yum!
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Santa Maria is in central California and is known for their particular style of cooking tri-tip cuts of beef. The basic method is to use a combination of granulated garlic, course black pepper, paprika, kosher salt and parsley flakes for the rub and to cook it directly over a bed of hot red oak coals.
For my cook, I first trimmed all the fat off the tri-tip and then smeared the tri-tip with yellow mustard to help bind the dry rub to the meat. The coals were a combination of Stubb's briquets and mesquite lump coal with some red oak added for smoke.
After searing the tri-tip for about 3 minutes on each side, I moved it to the upper rack directly over the coals. Once on the top rack, I closed the pit and let it cook, turning over the tri-tip about every ten minutes. It only takes a short amount of time to cook so you have to monitor it closely. After a half hour the internal temperature was 130 degrees and it was done.
The tri-tip rested with some loose foil on top for about 12 minutes before slicing. It was very tender with a lot of juice and a spicy flavor. It was plated with some asparagus, baked mac & cheese and a green salad. The sliced tri-tip in the plated picture was cooked to medium-rare but it looks darker because I drenched each slice in the juice prior to plating.
Fat trimmed off tri-tip.
Tri-tip with Santa Maria style rub.
Searing the tri-tip.
Tri-tip on upper rack directly over the coals.
Plated tri-tip. Yum, yum!
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
