Smoked Tri-Tip Sandwich - Hickory smoked tri-tip sandwiches are a pure delicacy that everyone should have the pleasure of enjoying as often as possible. If you've been following my Blog then you know that this is the 6th of 12 USDA Prime Peeled Tri-Tip Roasts I bought at Costco a while back. I've been having fun experimenting with these Tri-Tip roasts trying all sorts of different ways to cook and/or smoke them. This time I chose to enjoy a couple delicious hickory smoked medium-rare Tri-Tip Sandwiches with all the trimmings. Start with an ample amount of thinly sliced smoked Tri-Tip served on a soft roll with your favorite toppings. I chose mayonnaise, horseradish, tomatoes, red onions, smoked aged cheddar cheese, lettuce, and sliced kosher dill pickles. Admit it ... that's one bodacious sandwich fit for a king or queen!!

Start by trimming any silver skin and excess fat from the peeled tri-tip roast. Rub the tri-tip on all sides with extra virgin olive oil before applying a liberal amount of Pete's Western Rub found in my new cookbook or your favorite beef rub/seasoning. Wrap the seasoned tri-tip with plastic and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat your wood pellet smoker-grill to 235ºF with Hickory BBQ wood pellets and smoke the tri-tip roast until the internal temperature reaches 145ºF (approximately 2 hours - time is for planning purposes only - always cook to internal temperatures). Rest the smoked tri-tip roast loosely under a foil tent for 15 minutes before slicing thinly against the grain.

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Round or Brisket Corned Beef - Last night's dinner is one of my favorite! - A good old fashioned New England boiled dinner consisting of corned beef, cabbage, red potatoes, carrots, onions, with a side of horseradish. Does it get any better than this? I've learned that most people either love corned beef or not - no middle road. I happen to love corned beef!!!

Corned Beef traditionally is a brisket cured in a brine solution of curing salts, regular salt, and pickling spices. Over the years I didn't think much about it - I just bought a Corned Beef at a store. Then I learned that a brisket corned beef can be the point or the flat. The point is fattier than the flat but then many believe that it has better flavor. Either way, a brisket corned beef is delicious boiled, roasted, or cooked low and slow.

A while back I picked up a corned beef at Costco without paying much attention to the cut. It turned out to be a USDA Choice Round Corned Beef. No big deal right?

A brisket corned beef and a round corned beef are from different ends of the steer. As you can see from the image below the Brisket is in the front and the Round is in the rear. Both cuts are the toughest parts of the steer since that's the muscles that get used the most. It's my understanding that the round corned beef is leaner than the brisket and is often used when making pastrami. All I know is that I prefer the round corned beef as it slices beautifully and tastes scrumptious.

Started with a 4.26 lb Costco Premium Shenson Butcher's Cut USDA choice Corned Beef Round roast in my largest pot with ample water to cover the Corned Beef. Brought the Corned Beef to a hard boil before covering and turning down the temperature to ensure a hard simmer. Simmered the Corned Beef Round for approximately 3 hours until the internal temperature reached 210ºF. Removed the Corned Beef Round, wrapped in foil, and set aside.

Used the same large pot and water used for boiling the Corned Beef Round to boil quartered cabbage, carrots, celery, and white onions. I used to also add potatoes to the same pot but have since been steaming my red potatoes in a separate pot. Simple meal but a very satisfying comfort food option ... Enjoy!!

Grilled Tri-Tip Steaks - What per se are tri-tip steaks you ask? They are steaks cut to a thickness of 1 inch from a tri-tip roast. Unless you have access to a Costco or a Good Sam Club there's a good chance you've never seen any tri-tip steaks. Heck, if you don't live in the Western part of the Country you've probably never seen a tri-tip roast at your local grocery store or butcher shop either. Blogs, Forums, and the internet run rampid with pictures, cooks, and recipes of tri-tip roasts so most people have at least heard of tri-tip roasts but you don't often see anything about tri-tip steaks.

By now you're aware that I started with 12 USDA Prime peeled tri-tip roasts that I picked up at Costco and this will be the 5th of 12 cooks. For three of the previous cooks I smoked the tri-tip roasts at various temperatures and they were all taken to an internal temperature of 145ºF. The fourth tri-tip cook was my "TRISKET" cook where the roast was smoked for 2 hours and then cooked like a Brisket to an internal temperature of 200ºF. All the prime tri-tip roast cooks to date have been exquisite! To change things up a bit this time I decided to take a prime tri-tip roast and cut it into 1" thick steaks and grilling them at 450ºF using a direct cooking method until the internal temperature of the steaks reached a medium-rare temperature of 135ºF.

If your wood pellet smoker-grill has the capability of direct cooking configuration like the MAK 2 Star then configure your grill for direct cooking. For best results use searing grates on direct or indirect pit configuration. Whether you're carving a cooked tri-tip roast or cutting a raw roast into steaks care must be taken to ensure you're performing the task against the grain. The grain on different portions of the tri-tip run opposite of each other. For more tri-tip grain information check out this great article and video at the bottom of The Virtual Weber Bullet webpage.

• Cut your tri-tip roast into 1 inch thick steaks paying attention to cut against the grain
• Trim away any excess fat leaving a quarter inch
• Lightly rub the tri-tip steaks with extra virgin olive oil on all sides
• Season tri-tip steaks with salt and pepper or your favorite steak seasoning/rub
  • I prefer using Pete's Western Rub or Fagundes Seasoning
• While your wood pellet smoker-grill is preheating allow your tri-tip steaks to come to room temperature

• Configure your wood pellet smoker-grill for direct cooking if like a MAK 2 Star it has that capability
• Use searing grates if you have them for best results in direct or indirect cooking mode
• Preheat the pellet grill to 450ºF plus
• Grill the steaks on one side for 2 minutes before turning the steaks 90 degrees for those beautiful cross grill marks
• Grill an additional 2 minutes before flipping the steaks
• Take the tri-tip steaks to an internal temperature of 135ºF for medium-rare
• Rest the tri-tip steaks for 5 minutes and serve