Mind if I share the most tender tri-tip I've smoked yet?

Ok this is a 2 parter. I wanted to show off my new Ink Bird Wi-Fi probe thermometer (IBBQ-4T) and somehow made the most amazingly tender tri-tip I've ever tasted let-alone made!!

My brand new toy. I'm STOKED I can go to the store and STILL monitor temps with this baby :biggrin1::biggrin1::biggrin1:
Also small detail, but huge for me IT COMES WITH 2 ambient temperature clips :shocked:

Here is the cook ... I'll get into more details below.
Smoke:


Wrap in foil @ 130ºF - 135ºF internal till ~ 150ºF:


Server after 2 and a half hour rest in foil:



The details:
______________________________
Prep
Trim, Mustard, Salt n' Peppa

Start
Used some cheap, twice frozen (at least), choice tri-tips from Smart N' Final.
I'm running out of wood so I smoked in a mixture of Pecan, Post Oak and Hickory.
Started out pretty hot about 300ºF to get the wood smoking then down low to 225º - 250º for the rest of the cook.

2 Hours In @ 130ºF - 135ºF Internal
Opened the smoker to wrap aaaaaaaaaand ... my head dropped. The tri-tip looked like a dry piece of beef jerky. BUT I went to pick it up and oh man the tips sagged and I knew something was WAY right!!
I wrapped them in foil an put it back in the smoker.

3 Hours In @ 145ºF - 150ºF Internal
Turned smoker off and let the tri-tips rest for 2 and a half hours.

5 and a half hours In
Sliced that baby open and OMG I immediately knew it was gonna be something special.

I'll be honest I DON'T like rare or even medium cooked tri-tip. It's always chewy, you have to rip the meat when you bite and the meat oxidizes as soon as you cut it.

This cook was perfect. All the juices stayed in the tri-tip. There wasn't a bunch of red running everywhere. The flavor was perfect and the texture amazing. I think the long 3 hour cook / 2.5 hour rest really changed things up.

kevinstaggs said:

Looks super good. Do you normally rest tri-tip for 2.5 hrs? Think that had something to do with the results?

Click to expand...

YES!!! I cannot express how much the rest makes a difference! this year I've learned after YEARS OF FRUSTRATION to ALWAYS let my tri-tip rest for 1 or 2 hours. I'm no scientist, but I just know it's waaaaay more tender with a very long rest. I normally cook it to about 155ºF on the Pit Barrel Cooker, wrap in foil and then let it rest for a couple hours. I was pretty proud of it that way, but nothing compared to yesterday's cook.

This time I actually measured the temp of the rest to 125ºF before I unwrapped and sliced. I'm thinking the extra rest, lower cook temp and early wrap all helped. It stayed tender all night no matter how cold it got (the meat just got darker). I'll have to cook a few more just to be sure ... you know ... for science ... not cause I want more tri-tip. :wink: