How To Cook Tri-Tip On The Big Green Egg- BBQ Tips
There are many cuts of beef that you can get from cattle and one of the best cuts is the Tri-tip. Here, we will be showing you how to cook tri-tip on the Big Green Egg.
The Big Green Egg is perhaps the most common Kamado-style grill in the market. The grills that they produce are powerful and are very easy to use so you can cook anything in it.
It is very important to know how you should cook a particular cut of beef on a particular type of grill. Tri-tip is the closest cut of meat that is compared to the brisket when it comes to taste and texture.
That does not mean that they are cooked the same way. The process of preparing and cooking tri-tip is not that hard, you just need to follow specific instructions and procedures to make the best of it.
When it comes to the Big Green Egg, you will also need to follow the instructions from their guide to set it up properly. This is not like the common grills that you have, so do as the guide says.
This post will let you know the basics of the procedures when cooking tri-tip. Once you have mastered the basics, you can then alter the recipe or the guide according to your preferences.
The fun part here is that you will also be discovering another way of cooking instead of the typical sear and smoked finish or grill when you usually have a thick piece of meat.
Before we go to the guide, let us see what makes tri-tip a bit different from other cuts of meat.
Tri-tip
Tri-tip is found on the back of the cow on its lower sirloin. Just like the brisket, it is cut from the belly area of the cow which means that it contains a lot of other parts aside from the meat alone.
You see since the Tri-tip is at the bottom part of the cow, all the weight is supported by the tri-tip so it develops a lot of muscles. Since a small piece of meat needs to support a lot of weight, it also contains a lot of tensor muscles.
Tri-tip usually weighs at around 3 to 4 pounds so it really is not that big. It is a bit leaner and more tender than the brisket and it also does not have as many fat caps as the brisket.
Usually, there is not much to remove or trim off of tri-tip. This gives the piece of meat a nice char when it is seared under direct flames which also gives a little bit of a sour taste.
So How Do You Cook Tri-tip On The Big Green Egg?
It is pretty simple and you only need to follow these instructions. You need to prepare the grill first since it will need time to conduct the heat on all of its surfaces to make sure it does not take long to cook it.
Fire up the grill
Depending on the model that you have, the Big Green Egg will take a lot of time to reach high temperatures and long to cook the beef. So before anything else, load the Big Green Egg with fuel and fire it up.
Unlike most instructional guides you find on the internet, you will not need to set up the fire on one side of the firebox since the Big Green Egg has a heat deflector for indirect cooking.
You can choose to set indirect cooking but it would not be an advantage when you are using a Big Green Egg. So start the fire and close that lid of the grill until it preheats properly.
When the Big Green Egg is preheated properly, all its surfaces should be hot and the temperature inside it should be even. Let it reach a temperature of 275 degrees Fahrenheit.
Let the Tri-tip Rest
While waiting for the Big Green Egg to reach the desired temperature, let the tri-tip rest until it reaches room temperature. This way, it will absorb more flavor and the center will not be raw.
If you buy it in the supermarket, the tri-tip will most likely be frozen. So you need to either refrigerate it or let it warm by resting it on a table at room temperature.
Prepare the Rub
In this recipe, salt and pepper will do or your homemade chimichurri. However, if you want to add more flavors in your rub, then you can add ingredients such as herbs and other spices that you like to put in your steak.
I like using chimichurri in my steak or larger cuts of meat as the chimichurri really adds that healthy flavor to the meat. Using BBQ sauce later on is also a great addition to this recipe.
Mix all the ingredients that you want for your steak rub and then smear it generously on the tri-tip. Make sure that you rub the tri-tip on all sides to let it absorb the rub.
Let the tri-tip rest for at least an hour. This way, the flavors from the rub will seep in the meat and it will be more flavorful the longer you let the tri-tip rest.
Smoke
Place the heat deflector of the Big Green Egg once it reaches the set temperature. This will block the flames from directly searing the tri-tip instead of slow cooking it.
Smoking the tri-tip first on the Big Green Egg will be more practical because it is easier to get the temperature of the grill hotter than to make it go lower.
It will also let the meat heat up slowly making it slow cook all the way through instead of burning the outer parts of the tri-tip and leaving the middle cold and raw.
Let the tri-tip be smoked in the Big Green Egg for at least an hour or until it reaches an internal temperature of 130 degrees. So you will need to get a meat probe to get the exact internal temperature of the tri-tip.
Usually, the recommended temperature to determine the doneness of the tri-tip would be around 135 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. But we will need it to go lower since there is still second cooking.
Let the tri-tip rest once it reaches 130 degrees Fahrenheit. Wrap it with tin foil and then let it rest for 10 minutes on a table to let it continue cooking all the way through before reverse searing it.
Searing
Turn the heat up on the Big Green Egg. add more fuel and then close the lid to let it heat up until it reaches a temperature of 500 degrees Fahrenheit.
Remove the heat deflector by using clamps. The heat deflector will be extremely hot so make sure that you put on some gloves and a long gripper to remove it from the grill.
Put the tri-tip directly on the grates of the grill and let it reverse sear. One minute on each side and on the edges will do, you can go longer if you want the tri-tip to cook more.
I prefer using the cast-iron grill grates to really get that searing mark. There are also other grills that have cast-iron grates but you can buy the cast-iron on the BGE easily.
This reverse searing process will also give the tri-tip a nice char. It will also continue to cook the meat and marble the small fats and tensor muscles to make it softer.
Place the meat probe in the middle of the tri-tip to measure the temperature of the meat. If it reaches 140 degrees Fahrenheit, that means that the tri-tip is around medium-rare to medium.
160 degrees Fahrenheit is the temperature of the meat if you want it to be well done. So after searing, measure the temperature of the meat and then let it rest before serving.
Serving
After the tri-tip has reached the doneness that you want, let it rest for about 20 minutes. This will continue to tenderize the fats and other tense muscles on the tri-tip to make it softer.
You can slice it and serve it with potatoes, veggies, and eggs, or just shred it and put it in your sandwich. Either way, the soft texture, and beefy taste will be great with both choices.
Serving tri-tips and eggs might not be the most common way to do it but having veggies and eggs with the meat is actually really good and you should definitely try it.
You might also want to use a BBQ or Barbecue sauce on the tri-tip. The BBQ/Barbecue sauce can enhance the smoke flavor on the meat and will give you that familiar BBQ/Barbecue taste.
Notes
1. You can use a searing pan if you want but the direct exposure of the meat to the flames will give it a better char. The searing pan is recommended when you want to add more flavors like garlic and thyme.
2. Choose your own preferred ingredients for the rub. You can go for your favorite flavors or just put a simple combination of salt and pepper on the tri-tip and it will still turn out great.
The weight and thickness of the meat will also determine how long to cook it so make sure that even the indirect heat is enough to cook the meat if you do it.
You can also experiment this type of cooking on Kamado grills. Grilling or smoking on Kamado grills is also possible if you do the same process above.
There are differences on Kamado grills in terms of the features but the cooking process itself is almost identical. Your medium-rare tri-tip will be ready with other medium-rare steaks.
Conclusion
Tri-tip is one of the most delicious pieces of meat from cattle. It is a shame that it was not recognized earlier, but it is slowly gaining popularity and is being sought-after by many.
It is one of the beefiest parts of the cow in terms of taste and texture, perfect for corned beef. When cooked properly, it also has a distinct taste and texture that no other cut of meat can match.
The Big Green Egg is the perfect tool to slow cook the tri-tip in. it provides enough power for the searing and the accuracy for when you want smoked meat.
It is a very versatile grill so if you want to cook the tri-tip in any way that you want, we assure you that the Big Green Egg will have a way to do it. It also gives the meat additional flavor.
See, the Big Green Egg uses charcoal as fuel. This produces a lot of smoke and when the tri-tip is cooked in it, it absorbs the flavor from the smoke which makes it even more delicious.
So if you really want to make the perfect finish on the tri-tip that you have, set up the Big Green Egg right away and follow the simple instructions above to make the best tri-tip recipe that you will ever have.
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