Description
Smoked tri-tip is cooked low and slow in about 2 hours on a grill or smoker. The marinade gives a great herbal note to the beefy flavor and the dry rub creates a wonderful seasoning to each slice.
Ingredients
Scale
- 2–3 pound Tri-Tip (look for lots of marbling)
Tri-Tip Marinade
- 2/3 cup cranberry juice
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon honey or agave syrup
- 4 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1–1/2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, stem removed and leaves minced (1 sprig)
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
Tri-Tip Dry Rub
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons turbinado sugar
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin
Sauce
- Reserved marinade (to equal 1 cup)
- 1 teaspoon beef bouillon
- 1 cup of water
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- Trim fat and silver skin from the tri-tip.
- In a large zip-close bag, combine the marinade ingredients and mix well. Add the tri-tip and seal. Marinate for at least 8 hours to overnight in the refrigerator. (Occasionally rotating the bag so the meat is fully submerged.)
- After the meat has marinated, remove the tri-tip from the bag and pat dry (reserve marinade to use as the base of the sauce. Return the marinade to the refrigerator until ready to prepare the sauce.)
- Using your favorite beef dry rub or combine the rub ingredients above and generously cover all sides of the tri-tip with the rub. Allow the meat to rest and come to room temperature for 30 minutes.
- Soak cherry or hickory wood chips in water and preheat a gas grill for indirect cooking. Test your grill to figure out the best set up to maintain a constant 225°F cooking zone.
- Fill a smoke box or create a foil pouch with the wood chips. (If making a foil pouch remember to poke plenty of holes in the top to let the smoke out.
- Arrange the tri-tip on the grill over the indirect cooking zone and let the meat cook low and slow for about 60-70 minutes until it reaches an internal temperature of 115°F.
- Remove the meat from the grill and cover loosely with foil. Increase the grill temperature to high or 425°F.
- When the grill comes up to temp, sear the tri-tip for 3-4 minutes on each side. Remove when the internal temperature reaches 125-130ºF or your desired doneness.
- Remove meat from the grill and tent loosely with foil. Let the tri-tip rest for 20 minutes.
- In a small saucepan, bring the reserved marinade to a boil for 2 minutes. Add 1 cup of water and 1 teaspoon beef bouillon and stir to combine.
- In a small bowl stir together the cornstarch and water to create a slurry. Whisk the cornstarch slurry into the boiling sauce and stir to thicken. Remove from heat and taste. Adjust seasoning as needed. Transfer sauce to a serving dish.
- Slice the tri-tip against the grain into thin slices and serve warm with the sauce. Pay attention to how the grain runs since it changes direction at the crook of the tri-tip.
Notes
Choose a tri-tip roast with good marbling throughout.
For food safety, make sure the reserved marinade comes to a boil for at least 2 minutes.
See the above diagram for instructions on how to slice the tri-tip.
