Smoked USDA PRIME Tri-Tip Roast
Time to smoke my first Costco USDA PRIME grade Tri-Tip Roast. Found a killer deal at Costco where the peeled Tri-Tips were a mere $5.19 a pound. Got me a total of 12 roasts which will allow me to smoke/cook one roast a week for the next 3 months if I choose to do so.
Oh My Goodness ... I must admit that the results were simply scrumptious!! The Tri-Tip roast was smoked to perfection and so juicy and tender you could cut it with a fork. I prefer taking my Tri-Tips to an internal temperature of 145ºF but by all means cook it to your preferred temp - lower or higher - it's all good.
In the old days I could get Tri-Tips in the $3 range for Choice grade (which is now around $7 to $9 a pound here in California). So the $5.19 per pound for Prime was a steal. In case you've not heard of the term 'peeled' before it means that the fat cap has been trimmed off before packaging. I've always been able to find cheaper Tri-Tip roasts but with the fat cap intact which negates the cheaper price cause you're paying for the fat cap. The only thing left for me to do with a peeled Tri-Tip is to trim off any silver skin that might be present.
If you've read my Blog over the years you know that the style/method that I developed is to rub the meat with roasted garlic extra virgin olive oil before using a rub and/or seasoning. Rubbed the Prime grade Tri-Tip roast with the olive oil and seasoned liberally with Pete's Western Rub. Wrapped the seasoned roast with plastic and refrigerated overnight. The recipe for Pete's Western Rub can be found in my new book "The Wood Pellet Smoker & Grill Cookbook".
Preheat your wood pellet smoker-grill (I prefer using a MAK 2 Start General) to 225ºF using Hickory or your favorite wood pellet flavor for beef. Oak wood pellets are a good choice also. Mesquite is also favored by many pitmasters.
Smoke the Tri-Tip roast at 225ºF for approximately 2 hours until the internal temperature reaches 145ºF. Rest the smoked roast loosely under a foil tent for 15 minutes before slicing against the grain on the bias at a 45º angle.
Replenishing my Meat Stash
Needed to replenish my meat stash so I took a trip to Costco. Spent a few bucks and got Tri Tip roasts, pork butts, pork loins, St Louis Ribs, Chicken thighs, Shrimp, Brats, Hamburger, and a Corned Beef. This should keep me busy for a few months since there's only the two of us. Time to clean out my MAK 2 Star wood pellet smoker-grill and do some smokin'.
My wife pointed out a killer deal I just couldn't pass up. Cryovac USDA PRIME Beef Loin Tri Tip whole Peeled roasts for $5.19 a pound!! Picked up 2 bags - each one had 6 roasts in them. Choice Tri Tips were around $8/lb. I noted that the Prime roasts were only available for a couple of days cause my local Costco no longer carries cryovac PRIME Tri Tips. Timing is everything! Gonna be smokin me a PRIME Tri Tip every week for the next 12 weeks ... doesn't get any better than that.
Needless to say you really need to invest in a decent food vacuum sealer.
Hickory Smoked Chicken Quarters & Brats
Hickory Smoked Chicken Quarters & Brats at first might seem like an odd combination but as the pitmaster you need some Hors d'Oeuvre now and then! Like the chicken quarters, the Johnsonville Brats absorb the hickory smoke like a sponge. Have you ever seen a smoke ring on a brat? It's a thing of beauty ... yes, I know a smoke ring does not enhance a product's flavor but it sure makes it real purdy! Smokin' the chicken and brats before cranking up the pit temp to finish off the cook works out perfect cause I take the brats to an internal temperature of 170ºF and the chicken dark meat to 180ºF which means the brats will be ready for munching while the chicken comes to temp.
When I found chicken quarters at my local grocery store on sale for 88¢ a pound I couldn't pass them up. We love dark meat so I bought a few packages and vacuum sealed the rest for future use. You can't go wrong with Johnsonville Brats. There are so many ways to cook them up but once you taste a smoked brat you'll be hard pressed to fix them any other way!
- Trim excess fat and skin from chicken quarters
- Carefully peel back chicken skin and rub roasted garlic extra virgin olive oil under and on the skin
- Season under and on the skin with a light coating of Montreal Chicken Seasoning
- Add a light coating of Fagundes Seasoning on top of the Montreal Chicken Seasoning
- Wrap the seasoned chicken in plastic wrap and fridge for 4 hours
- Preheat your MAK 2 Star or wood pellet smoker-grill of your choice to 180ºF
- Smoke the chicken and brats for an hour at 180ºF
- After an hour bump the pit temp to 350ºF
- Cook the brats to an internal temperature of 170ºF and enjoy!
- Cook the chicken quarters to an internal temperature of 180ºF
- Rest the chicken loosely under a foil tent
Took about 1½ hours for the brats and 2 hours for the chicken quarters
St Louis style Hickory smoked ribs
I honestly can't remember the last time I enjoyed St Louis style Hickory smoked ribs. There are so many meats, poultry, and seafood to choose from that before I cycle back to one specific item it's been months. I was in Costco a few days ago and 3 racks of ribs jumped into my shopping cart ... go figure! Who wouldn't enjoy a half rack of the scrumptious beauties pictured above?
I've always favored St Louis spare pork ribs over baby back ribs. Spare ribs are larger and meatier than the baby backs. They're also less expensive than their counter parts. Yes, they tend to have more fat than the baby backs but when you're barbecuing the fat will render itself. Just in case you haven't learned by now - the true definition of barbecue is "low and slow'.
It's been too long since the sweet aroma of Hickory smoke has blessed my olfactory senses - I love the smell of Hickory in the afternoon! Hickory is becoming my go to wood pellet flavor. I find that Hickory works with so many types of proteins. Course I still prefer Alder with seafood.
- Remove the silver skin, excess fat, and the membranes from each St Louis rib rack
- Lightly rub each rib rack with roasted garlic extra virgin olive oil and Jan's Original Dry Rub
- Preheat your wood pellet smoker grill to 180ºF with Hickory wood pellets
- I recommend using a MAK 2 Star wood pellet smoker-grill for all your needs
- Smoke the seasoned rib racks for 1 hour with Hickory at 180ºF
- Bump the pit temperature to 250ºF and continue smoking the ribs for 4 hours
- Sauce 1 or more rib racks with Sweet Baby Rays BBQ Sauce (optional)
- Continue cooking the ribs for another 30 minutes
Serving suggestions: Cole slaw, corn on the cob, green salad, baked beans, corn bread, salad
Smoked GMG Tri-Tip Roast
When on the road RVing my present tailgate wood pellet smoker grill unit of choice is the Green Mountain Grills (GMG) Davy Crocket. The grill area size is perfect for 2 people and/or small cooks. For dinner I decided to have a Smoked GMG Tri-Tip Roast and boy did it ever turn out scrumptious, moist, and tender!
Found a great looking Choice/Prime Tri-Tip roast with marbling to die for at a local butcher shop in Columbia Falls, MT. I asked the butcher what grade the roast was and he informed me that the free range grass fed Angus beef was officially graded as choice but with it's marbling could easily be prime. After trimming the roast I would grade it as prime.
Many backyard pitmasters prefer to keep the fat cap on or trim it down to a ¼ inch before seasoning and smoking their Tri-Tip roasts. But I, for one, like my Tri-Tip roasts peeled. I remember the first time I saw "peeled" on the label. Didn't know what to make of it. A "peeled" Tri-Tip roast is one where the fat cap has been removed by the butcher.
Notice the beautiful marbling on the roast once the small fat cap has been trimmed away. I rubbed the roast with roasted garlic extra virgin olive oil and seasoned it with Pete's Western Rub. The recipe for Pete's Western Rub can be found in my new cookbook The Wood Pellet Smoker and Grill Cookbook. Wrapped the seasoned Tri-Tip roast in plastic and refrigerated for 6 hours before cooking.
Preheated the GMG Davy Crockett tailgater to 200ºF with Hickory pellets and smoked the roast for an hour. As soon as I bumped the pit temperature to 350ºF a weather front moved in with thunder and lightning accompanied with sleet!! I was concerned but the Davy Crockett weathered the storm beautifully. I did cover the pellet hopper and controller with a towel. During the passing weather front the WiFi module really came in handy allowing me to monitor the internal temperature and keep an eye on the pit temp.
Pulled the hickory smoked tri-tip roast when the internal temperature reached 145ºF. Rested the roast under a foil tent for 15 minutes before slicing against the grain. Overall time (preheat, smoke, cook & rest) for planning purposes was 2 hours. Remember -> always cook to internal temperatures.