Try the tri-tip on the grill for great summer meal
The grill is such a welcomed friend during the summer months, when all you want to do is be outside.
Like many, we use ours year-round, but I love being near it as the smell of grilled food permeates the evening air. Lately, that food has been tri-tip.
If you aren’t familiar with this particular cut of beef, you need to be. It is aptly named thanks to the shape of the cut, which is triangular with a bit of a curved tip. It is a cut of beef from the bottom sirloin butt.
Tri-tip became very popular on the West Coast before spreading east. It was a specialty in California and was first mass marketed in the 1950s out of Oakland.
It is one of my favorite beef cuts and is scrumptious.
Untrimmed and whole, the cut can be up to 5 pounds, but typically it is sold trimmed and around half that size. Or it can be cut into individual steaks of around 6 ounces.
It is boneless and averages close to an inch thick with a good amount of marbling. Whenever I see it on sale, I grab several packages because it freezes well for up to a year.
The catch and key to success for tritip is time. Thanks to where it comes from, this cut greatly benefits from marinating to make it nice and tender. So make sure you allow a good soaking time of around 8 hours for maximum enjoyment.
When cooking, take extra care not to overcook this cut because it will become quite tough. I cook mine to medium at most. It greatly benefits from resting at least five minutes after cooking. This allows the juices to reabsorb into the meat. Just like flank steak, slice it against the grain.