From the Kitchens of Amy & JJ

From a member of the Ag Team at KFGO, this recipe is courtesy of Rusty Halvorson. 

Gaining popularity in various regions around the country, the tri-tip steak or roast is a triangular muscle cut that‘s located on each side of the beef carcass near the bottom sirloin.  The cut is easy to identify in the meat case because it looks like a triangle and has three points. I discovered the tri-tip thanks to my lovely wife Sabrina, who grew up in the Central Valley of California. Legend has it that the tri-tip may have originated with cowboys in California, serving as a versatile cut for steak fajitas or also being tasty enough to stand on its own merits as a center of the plate item. It’s also delicious the next day as leftovers for a steak sandwich when you are on the go!

Some roasts are sold untrimmed, which means a fairly thick layer of fat is left on the muscle on one side. If this exterior “fat cap” is thicker than 1/4 inch, some folks suggest trimming it to a little less than 1/4″ thick.  I don’t bother with that, because it’s all tasty!

I prefer to buy a pre-marinated cut from my local butcher, with a “Santa Maria” flavoring. Most common roasts are 1 ½ to 2 pounds.

California Tri-Tip Steak on the Grill

Preheat your grill to around 500 degrees. Once the grill is heated, leave the burners on one side of the grill on high and leave the other side either low or off to create a direct and indirect source of heat. Fiddle with your settings to maintain a temperature around 375 degrees when the lid is opened and closed.

For starters, I do a really good sear over direct heat, with the fat side up as I begin.  Place roast on grill and sear one side for 6 to 8 minutes, checking for flare-ups. Flip the roast and sear the other side for about the same time. Then lower and maintain your grill temperatures to medium-high.

Turn meat again and cook another 8 to 10 minutes located near a cooler section of the grill. Flip and cook some more. A 2-pound cut usually needs about 20 to 25 minutes total cooking time. I like a rare cut in the middle, so I’d rather err on being a little too rare rather than too done in the middle.

Cook to an internal temperature of 125-130 degrees at the thickest part of the cut, then remove the cut and tent on a cutting board, letting it rest for at least 10 minutes before cutting. Due to the “boomerang” shape of the tri-tip, you’ll want to cut against the grain of the meat in a radial fashion, in ¼ inch cuts.  You can start in the middle, ending up with well-done cuts on the ends, and rare to medium rare cuts in the center.

 It will be juicy, so keep some paper towels handy on the kitchen counter!