A great alternative to brisket is the smoked tri-tip. It has more protein and less fat but still tastes tender and juicy. It passes almost all the brisket finger tests. It has the perfect smoke rings and crusty bark. These flavors aren’t suitable for tri-tip beef.
It could be an interesting experiment to do when you’re trying not to feed as many people or restrict your food intake after holidays. You could also learn to super smoke tri-tip recipe for brisket.
I’ll walk you through each step, from cooking the tri-tip to wrapping it, resting, and then slicing.
Table of Contents
What Is A Tri-tip Steak, You Ask?
Tri-tip steaks are made from the bottom sirloin, i.e. the belly is towards the back. Tri-tip is a great smoke flavor choice for budget cuts of beef. It’s flavorful and marbled well. You can cook it tenderly if you don’t overcook.
- Related article: Steak Cuts Ranked from Best to Worst
How To Season A Tri-Tip
Because I couldn’t find any other, I bought pre-seasoned tri-tip. This beef shortage is serious! I trust Historic BBQ sauce Black as a basic beef seasoning rub. It is made with lots of spices, including onion powder, garlic powder, brown sugar, and gluten-free ingredients.
Tri-tip roast can be marinated in Plain Chicken’s Best Ever Steak Marinade. It’s hard to match it! (She is a great friend, and she made the steak for me!)
What Is The Best Way To Smoke A Tri-Tip In Your Traeger
Smoking is a wonderful way to slow cook your tri-tip and get the tenderness you are looking for. This involves a reverse sear, which is where we smoke first on our Traeger tri-tip steak pellet grill charcoal grill and then finish on the grill grate at high heat. Here’s how it works:
- Set Traeger temperature at 225°F when you are ready to cook and then preheat the pan with the lid closed for 15 min.
- Season tri-tip with your favorite rub. I use Historic Barbecue.
- For tri-tip weighing 1.5-2 lb, place it directly on the grill grates. Cook tri-tip for 60 minutes.
- Make sure you use your digital thermometer. This is the best way to determine how cooked your meat is without having to guess.
- Once the tri-tip reaches 120°F, remove the grill from heat and wrap it in aluminum foil.
- Turn the Traeger to 500°F. Then, heat the Traeger and close the lid for 15 minutes. We’re moving from Smoke to Grill.
- Once the grill is at temperature, take a tri-tip off the foil and sear smoked tri-tip on each side for about 4-6 minutes.
- Tri-Tip should be cooked at 130-135°F for medium-rare. Do not overcook this steak.
- Take the grill off and let it rest for about 10 to 15 minutes. To serve, slice tri-tip against the grain.
Making the Brisket Rub
A prime tri-tip roast is the best choice. You should try to find a prime tri-tip roast. Trim the excess fat cap, fat caps, and skin from the tri-tip.
To make the brisket rub, combine salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, and cayenne pepper in a bowl. Rub the mixture all over the tri-tip roast until it is completely coated.
Raise the temperature of your oven to 350°F, and then place the tri-tip roast on a baking sheet or roasting pan. Roast for 2-3 hours or until the meat reaches an internal temperature of 165°F.
Remove the brisket from the oven and let it rest for 10-15 minutes before slicing and serving. Enjoy your delicious and tender Traeger smoked brisket!
Homemade Brisket Rub
I created a rub to mimic the taste of Valentina’s TexMex barbecue, which is also sold here. This mix includes chili powder, sugar, garlic, and other ingredients.
Ground coffee is also required for the rub. This is a wonderful addition to the beef rub, and it adds a lot of flavors. A brisket rub that you already have can be used.
Smoking a Tri-Tip
The Tri-Tip is an original way to cook. Smoking low and slow the smoker creates a magical final product.
Start by heating the tri-tip to 250°F for 15 minutes. Leave the tri-tip on the smoker for at least 3-4 hours.
Once you reach this stage, wrap the smoked tri-tip in foil and close the oven.
Foil and Butcher Paper
Foil was my favorite method but you can also use butcher papers
This Traeger article on how you wrap brisket gives more information about bark formation.
Matt covered his smoked tri-tip in butter. This helps keep the sandwich’s delicate texture moist. I used beef tenderloin to wrap it, instead of butter, which Franklin BBQ is said to be fond of.
As long as you are using prime tri-tip, you can live with extra fat.
Wrapping the tri-tip should take between 90 to 120 minutes at 250°F to complete cooking. Tri-tip should be cooked to a temperature of 203°F just like brisket.
To remove the foil wrapping bark texture, place the tri-tip back onto a smoker for 5-10 minutes.
Smoked Tri-Tip is similar to brisket because it takes time for the meat to rest before being grilled again. The foil can be kept covered for up to 30 minutes to allow the proteins to relax.
Tri-Tip Cutting
The tri-tip recipe grain pattern is in two directions. This makes it difficult for you to cut of beef properly.
This graphic will show you how to carve smoked tri-tip.
Double-check that you’re moving in the correct direction. If muscle fibers are moving in the same direction, you should adjust your course.
Use thin slices for best results. The slice perpendicular below, for example, is too thick.
This is how the cookie breaks down.
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