Delicious Guide to Smoke Tri Tip

July 5, 2024

If you are a fan of tender, juicy and flavorful meat or a fan of smoking, smoking tri tip is a best way to improve smoking skills dramatically and to enjoy delicious smoking results with friends and family. Here is the delicious guide to help us smoke delicious and perfect tri tip.

TRI TIP CHOOSING

Choosing the right trip tip is the premise to enjoy a successful smoking journey. The right trip tip steak we should choose is well-marbled with a good amount of fat, which will help us result in a moist and flavorful steak. By the way, the weight of the trip tip should be around 2 or 3 pounds.

CHOOSE THE RIGHT WOOD FOR SMOKING TRI TIP

We suggest to using charcoal smoker to smoke trip tip and we need to choose the right wood for smoking trip tip. The best wood for smoking tri tip is hickory, oak or mesquite, which can offer rich and smoky flavor for the tri tip.

MARINATE THE TRI TIP BEFORE SMOKING

We prepare marinating the tri tip before smoking; by doing so, we can add extra flavor and moisture to the steak. But we need to choose the right marinating ingredients. We suggest to use a mixture of olive oil, garlic, herbs, and spices to marinate the tri tip.

HOW LONG TO MARINATE THE TRI TIP BEFORE SMOKING IT?

We had better marinate the tri tip for at least 4-6 hours or preferably the whole night before smoking it.

SMOKE TRI TIP WITH THE RIGHT INTERNAL TEMPERATURE

The wrong internal temperature of smoking trip tip is a disaster. Here are the right internal temperatures to smoke a delicious and perfect tri tip:

an internal temperature of 130-135°F for medium-rare;
an internal temperature of 140-145°F for medium;

It’s crucial to use a reliable meat thermometer to ensure the tri-tip reaches the desired doneness without overcooking or under cooking.

Please pay attention that we need to check if its internal temperature rather than its surface grilling temperature, so those non-contact infrared thermometers cannot be used for the internal grilling temperature checking.

JIMUTO instant read thermometer IRT-10 is highly recommended for its solid quality and super easy-to-use features:

arc design, fast & accurate temp reading, out of box, large LED display & easy temp reading, lock reading temp, max & min records, calibration, 2 placing methods, IPX7, eco-friendly, bottle opener.

HOW LONG TO SMOKE A TRI TIP

Generally, we can think that the following factors decide the smoking time of a tri tip:

Its size;
Its thickness;
Its internal temperature;

So, we cannot offer a specific smoking time for all. But generally, if we set the aimed internal smoking temperature for 225-250°F, we need to smoke it for about 1.5 to 2 hours.

SEAR THR TRI TIP AFTER DONE SMOKING

It is a popular way to sear the two sides of the tri tip after done smoking to create a flavorful crust on the exterior.

HOW TO SEAR THE TRI TIP

We can sear it on a hot grill or in a cast-iron skillet or the like for 2 or 3 minutes for both sides to get a more delicious caramelized steak.

we suggest us all to use a reliable kitchen timer or digital timer to monitor the searing time rather than by counting it in mind. And we do not recommend to using our smart cellphone as the timer because it will offer endless distraction for its endless notifications and cellphone tasks, we neither suggest to use those mechanical timers for its big timing errors.