You have to try this smoked tri tip.
What is a tri-tip cut of beef anyway? A tri-tip comes from the bottom “tip” of the sirloin and is “triangular” in shape, thus the name “tri”-“tip.” It is a lean cut of meat, yet it is full of beefy flavor and can be very tender if sliced correctly across the grain (see Tips and Tricks below).
And as you smoke the tri-tip low and slow (low heat, smoked, not grilled!), all the flavorful beefiness is intensified and amplified, ready to satisfy your heavenly meat-devouring desires. And to all of this excellence, we include the delightful fruity flavors of Argentina’s (a beef country extraordinaire!) famous meat sauce, chimichurri!
And if you are looking for even more tri-tip ideas check out this cilantro coated version.
Why You Should Try This Offset Smoker Smoked Tri-Tip
- The most important reason to try this recipe is the – INCREDIBLEFLAVOR! Combining the intense beefy smokey essence of the tri-tip and the fruity herbaceous chimichurri is a carnivore’s delight and dream fulfilled!
- Easy to prepare – With only a few ingredients for the rib eye and the chimichurri sauce, prep time is very quick and easy. Both are simple to prep with easy-to-find ingredients and uncomplicated prepping and smoking instructions.
- Easy to smoke – This is literally one of the easiest recipes to smoke with your offset smoker. It takes just 2 hours to smoke a 2-pound tri-tip. No moving around or flipping! It’s so easy; just set it on your grill grate and forget it! REALLY!
Ingredients For Offset Smoker Smoked Tri-Tip
- One – 2 to 2 1/2 pound tri-tip
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon each salt and pepper
Ingredients And Directions For Making Chimichurri
- 1 cup olive oil
- 4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 cup parsley, finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 4 small fresh red chilies, deseeded and finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
Combine all the ingredients together and mix well.
Directions For Making Offset Smoker Smoked Tri-Tip
1. Bring your offset smoker to temperature – You will want to maintain a temperature of roughly 250 degrees throughout the entire smoking process.
2. Prepare the tri-tip – Bring the tri-tip to room temperature. Trim any excess fat and silver skin off the tri-tip. Liberally apply the garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper.
3. Place the tri-tip onto the smoker – Place the tri-tip on the 8” x 10” wire oven rack and place it into your smoker. Smoke until the internal temperature reaches 120 for rare or 130 for medium rare , roughly two hours, depending on the thickness of your tri-tip.
4. Remove the tri-tip from the smoker – Let the tri-tip stand for 10 minutes before carving. Slice the tri-tip against the grain. Serve with the chimichurri sauce spooned on top of the slices.
Variations And Substitutions For Offset Smoker Smoked Tri-Tip
Try using other tri-tip rubs – Onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper is the traditional way to season a tri-tip. But any beef rub, brisket rub, cowboy rub, or your favorite meat rub will do just as well. And because smoking a tri-tip is a straightforward affair (compared to a brisket or pork shoulder), there will be ample time to try different beef rubs on your next tri-tip smoking adventure.
Experiment with other tri-tip sauces – The tri-tip is a perfect cut of meat that allows for other flavors to be added. Although chimichurri or another oil-based herb sauce works well, I would also recommend a blue cheese sauce, herb compound butter, or a red wine reduction sauce as alternatives.
Tips And Tricks For Offset Smoker Smoked Tri-Tip
Use a smaller fire to smoke your tri-tip – Because the tri-tip is a smaller cut of beef, it takes less time on the offset smoker than a larger cut of meat like brisket or a more complicated cut like pork ribs. So, the fire in your firebox that creates the smoke can be substantially smaller and thus easier to handle than a larger fire. You don’t need a giant fire to smoke such a small cut of meat.
How to carve your tri-tip – Slicing your tri-tip correctly is very important, or the meat will be tough and chewy. Thus, it is essential to cut the tri-tip AGAINST the grain (or perpendicular) to it and not cut it with the grain. The tri-tip, however, has one section of grain that runs vertically and one section that runs horizontally. But there is an easy solution here. Find the approximate location where the two sections meet, and cut the tri-tip in half at the section. Then, slice each section against its own grain: a simple and sensible solution.
Using an 8” x 10” wire oven rack and a drip pan – Placing your tri-tip on the wire oven rack ensures that the tri-tip will not sag into and between the grill grates, and it’s much easier to move the tri-tip around and on and off the smoker. Placing an aluminum drip pan under the tri-tip on the ash tray to catch the drippings will help when it comes to clean up. Just toss it away!
Offset Smoker Smoked Tri-Tip
Equipment
- 1 Offset smoker
- 1 Charcoal Chimney Fire Starter
- 1 8”x 10” Wire Oven Rack
- 1 Disposable Aluminum Drip Pan
- 1 BBQ Tongs
Ingredients
- One – 2 to 2 1/2 pound tri-tip
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon each salt and pepper
Ingredients For Chimichurri
- 1 cup olive oil
- 4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 cup parsley, finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 4 small fresh red chilies, deseeded and finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
Directions for Making Chimichurri
- Combine all of the ingredients together and mix well.
Instructions
- Bring your offset smoker to temperature – You will want to maintain a temperature of roughly 250 degrees throughout the entire smoking process.
- Prepare the tri-tip – Bring the tri-tip to room temperature. Trim any excess fat and silver skin off the tri-tip. Liberally apply the garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper.
- Place the tri-tip onto the smoker – Place the tri-tip on the 8” x 10” wire oven rack and place it into your smoker. Smoke until the internal temperature reaches 120 for rare or 130 for medium, roughly two hours, depending on the thickness of your tri-tip.
- Remove the tri-tip from the smoker – Let the tri-tip stand for 10 minutes before carving. Slice the tri-tip against the grain. Serve with the chimichurri sauce spooned on top of the slices.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
