Texas Monthly How to Cook Smoked Tri-Tip

Texas Monthly How to Cook Smoked Tri-Tip

A cut popular in California, it comes from the bottom sirloin. As its name suggests, tri-tip is triangular in shape. We’ve shown you how to cook it on a two-zone grill set-up, but I wanted to test out a seasoning method.

A barbecue joint whose name I won’t divulge said that it bloomed its spices, or briefly cooked them in oil to release the flavors, before applying them to the meat. If you’ve ever cooked Indian food or made a chili recipe that instructed you to add the spices directly into the hot oil, you’ll know the importance of blooming, not to mention the aromas that are released.

The ground spices in a barbecue rub are generally applied raw or straight out of the shaker. With a few tri-tips that 44 Farms sent my way, I wanted to try blooming the classic Santa Maria barbecue seasoning combination of garlic powder and ground black pepper before putting it on the meat.