We have made this a few times lately and it turns out real good. It is a fairly lean cut of beef with plenty of flavor. We call our local butcher and have him cut us a roast because they usually do not have them cut. They generally run 2.5- 3.75lbs depending on the cow it was cut from. Your market may vary. I leave the fat on the one side. I coat the meat in olive oil, kosher salt and crushed black pepper. I let it sit on the counter for about an hour before I throw it on the fire.


In this case I used my Weber kettle grill with 4lbs of Kingsford briquets. I got a hot fire in the grill and placed the roast directly over the hot coals. I kept it on the hot part of the fire for 5 minutes a side to sear the outside. I then kept turning it every few minutes for a total of 30 minutes on the fire. 40 minutes will give you a nice medium roast if that is what you prefer. I removed the roast and let it sit on a cutting board for 5-10 minutes before I cut into it.


Cut against the grain to the desired thickness. Serve with a green salad, potatoes and red wine. This is a very easy roast to make and the leftovers are awesome for sandwiches.

That looks awesome!

Looks great!

in california tri tip is the equivelant of a rib eye. id never had it till i met my wife. boy what a good cut of meat.

Interesting indeed. I think I may be trying this in the near future.

Those pictures got me interested. I just called Albertsons and asked them to cut me one. I'll give it a shot this weekend. Thanks for the idea!

i grill it up till its 135 in the middle then i take it off and let it sit for 20 minutes then i slice it. it cant be beat.

As promised, I gave the tri-tip a shot this evening. My wife is pregnant so I cooked it a little longer than I would have preferred, but it was good nevertheless. I seared it on each side over high heat for about 3 minutes/side and then cooked it over indirect heat for about 10 minutes/side until the internal temperature was 135. I put it on a cutting board, put a few slabs of butter on top, and wrapped it in saran wrap for about 20 minutes. After that, I sliced it against the grain. I got a 3-lb. roast from Albertson's for $6.99/lb.

A BIG thanks to thegrouse for the idea.

Awesome. That looks like your first one came out great. Leftovers are great for sandwiches. Thanks for posting results.

Tell you what. You keep posting great recipes/ideas and I'll keep posting results Thanks again!

In Texas I think we call em briskets

I just wanted to bring this back to the top. I hadn't ever heard of a tri-tip before this thread, but I bet I've cooked half a dozen of them since August. I have been getting them for $4.99/lb at Albertson's in Abilene. You all should seriously give this a try.

Definitely not a brisket.