Smoked Tri Tip
I feel that tri tip is a lesser known cut to Americans and is greatly unappreciated. Tri tip is also known as bottom sirloin, as opposed to it’s more popular norther beef muscle, top sirloin. It is significantly richer in flavor from its high marbling fat content than top butt. In my personal opinion, tri tip is equally as tender as a ribeye, strip, and top sirloin. It’s definitely a lot cheaper then your higher end cuts.I purchased a really nice prime tri tip for smoking. This is a good cut to smoke medium rare, so this will take only about 2 hours in the smoker. I brined the tri tip for a day, then dry rubbed it with a blend of white and black peppercorns, fennel seeds, and coriander seeds. Once the desired internal temperature is reached, allow to rest for 10-15 minutes before slicing. I used the sliced tri tip for French dip sandwiches, but it can be eaten as just a regular steak.
Equipment
- gallon sized storage bag
- Spice grinder
- Electric Smoker
- Probe Thermometer
Ingredients
- 1 whole tri tip 2 - 2 1/2lbs
Brine
- 1/2 gallon water
- 1/2 cup sea salt
- 2 tsp black peppercorns
- 2 tsp whole fennel seeds
- 2 tsp coriander seeds
- 4 garlic cloves crushed
- 2 bay leaves
Dry Rub
- 2 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 1 tsp white peppercorns
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
Wood Chips
- oak or mesquite
Instructions
- Trim off any excess fat on your tri tip.
- Mix together the brining ingredients.
- Place the tri tip in a gallon sized storage bag. Pour in the brine. Brine in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
- Take the tri tip out of the brine and pat dry. Grind all of the dry rub ingredients. Rub all over the tri tip and allow to rest in the refrigerator on a rack for 24 hours. Allow to rest at room temp for 2 hours before smoking.
- Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees. Placd the tri tip in the smoker.
- Smoke until the internal temperature reaches 140 degrees with a probe thermometer; about 2 hours.
