Summertime...Barbeques, Grills & Smokers!

Smoked at 230 deg F. Took about 2 hours to get to 135 deg F, which is medium rare. It was a 3 lb tri tip roast. I basted it a few times while smoking with a bourbon, brown sugar, soy sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, worcestershire, and olive oil basting sauce. The rub was a basic salt, pepper, brown sugar, paprika, red pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder combination.

 

Thank you! I'll give it a try. Looks great.

 

I see by your profile - you live in California. You should be able to find tri tip roast locally. For some reason this cut of meat is popular on the west coast but hard to find back east. Try to get at least a 2.5 pounder - it will do better in the smoker than a smaller one. I buy mine at COSTCO. There is also a lot of youtube videos showing different ways to smoke tri tip.

 

Thanks. I have been cooking Tri-Tip since the early eighties on the BBQ. This will be my first time smoking it. Looking forward to it.

 

The nice thing about being retired I can smoke all day long. No - not that type of smoking - I mean smoking meats, cheese, fish et cetera. Below is today's adventure in smoking. I got a very nice fillet of steelhead (a member of the salmon family) which is abundant here in the northwest rivers. Got up at 5 a.m. to dry brine the fillets (I cut them into about 4 inch strips). Brine = 4 cups brown sugar mixed with 1 cup kosher salt, 1 tablespoon of ground black pepper and 1 tablespoon of granulated garlic. Cover and let sit in the refrigerator for about 6 hours, air dry to form a pellicle for about 2 hours, and then smoke at 180 deg F for about 3 hours until internal temperature of the thickest parts reaches 140 deg F. Used only apple wood for the smoke and a light brushing of honey mixed with bourbon during the last 30 minutes. Photo 1 is the end of the air drying with the pellicle formed on the surface. Photo 2 is the smoker smoking away. Photo 3 is the finished product. Now to vacuum seal and put in the freezer - except for one fillet that doesn't really exist anymore.

 

Looks good. I'm going to use your recipe. Thanks!

 

Don't need summer to grill. I had some NY strips on the grill Sunday night. I like to get a bottom round roast, coat in Olive oil, then rub garlic powder, onion powder, old bay, and Stubbs BBQ rub on it, then put it on the smoker at 240ish° far away from the heat. Let it sit in there until the internal temp is ~145. Wrap in tin foil and put in the fridge for a couple hours. Then thin slice it for roast beef sandwiches.

Edit: I've grilled in the middle of a snow storm. I haven't used gas in many a years, and I will take the time to start the coals to throw a steak on for 10 minutes. Love the rare steak.

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Some advice: For the dry brine part - use a glass 9x13 inch dish (pyrex/corning ware or something like it). You do not want to use a metal pan. Spread a portion of the brine mixture on the bottom then lay the fillets flesh side down - cover with more of the mixture and lay the rest of the fillets on top, again flesh side down. Then cover with the remaining mixture. I leave the skin on - makes for a more moist smoked fish. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours - you could actually do this part before going to bed and let it brine overnight. Then you don't have to get up at 5 a.m. Don't let it go more than 10 to 12 hours. You will find that the brine mixture has sucked (technical term) much of the moisture out of the fillets. The fillets will be much more firm than they were before the brining process. That's what you want. Wash the fillets off with cold water to remove the brine mixture and pat dry before air drying. A small fan will speed up the formation of the pellicle (a tacky firm surface to the touch is what you want). For the smoking part - I apply smoke just for the first two hours - salmon takes up the smoke flavor rather quickly and you don't want to over smoke it. The last hour or so is just the heat. There are a hundred youtube videos on how to smoke salmon - but this is my way and it always works.

p.s. If you vacuum seal the fillets, once they have come to room temperature - they will stay in the freezer for several months without a problem.

 

Thank you for the pointers. I will follow your recipe to the letter. Sounds great.

 

I couldn't pass up the deal on ribeye steaks at the local butcher.

 

Beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Thank you. It was delicious. I only used salt and pepper and cooked at 600F for a total of 5 minutes for a fantastic rare. Served with some roasted red potatoes.

 

Good to hear the rare . I prefer medium rare. I hate to see an excellent cut of beef over cooked.

 

Best cut of meat - especially with the bone in.

 

Then you'd hate my wife lol. When I cook streaks, my son and I like ours right off the cow rare, daughters like medium rare, and the wife likes charcoal. I put my steak on after hers has been on for 20 minutes, it's horrible.

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That's too bad.

 

Oh nooooo

 

NOOOOOO! I'm sure your wife is a nice lady - but why does she even bother eating steak?

 

I don't know. I cook her a very small portion so I can have more for myself. What she doesn't know is she usually ends up with medium, I usually just wait until the fat looks well.

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Mmmmm, love me some roasted red potatoes!