Best way to roast a tri-tip?

[Greg Who Cooks]

I've had a tri-tip mouldering in my freezer for a few months so I decided to cook it today. It's 2.66 pounds and cost $10 and change, I bought it when it was a really good deal! I've thawed it all day to room temperature...

I've cooked 'em lots of times before but I forgot how I used to do them. The general principle is to rub them with salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder... Put the roast on a wire rack over a broiler pan, pre-heat your oven to X degrees, and of course insert a remote reading thermometer probe.

Then my big mistake: I Googled it. The answers were all over the spectrum. Some recipes finished your roast in 30-40 minutes, others took 3-4 hours, preheat to all different temperatures...

I decided to go real time with Discuss Cooking and hope somebody can give me some feedback... My oven is pre-heating to 450 at this very minute (450 was an average between PH 424 low 475 high). Note that I am using a convection oven. (Love it!!!)

So the plan is to put the roast in at 450F, wait 10 minutes, then reduce the temperature... to what? I'm dithering between 325 and 350..., tending towards 325. My guess is that the main differenece between 325 and 350 will be cooking time--but there must/might be a difference between lower and longer or shorter and higher...

I haven't decided whether to cook it at 325 or 350F. But my Bible is the temperature probe I stabbed it with. Irrespective of anything else, when it's the right internal temperature it is time to take it out of the oven, cover it, and let it sit to reabsorb the juices and ... whatever it does when you let it rest that 10-15 minutes.

And to what final temperature? Realizing that even after you take your roast out of the oven and tent it with foil the internal temperature will increase. That's because when you're roasting it the outside is hotter and you're reading internal temperature, so after you take it out the hot meat on the outside continues to supply heat to the inside even after it's been moved to room temperature.

So I'm tending towards either 325 or 350 after the initial 10 minute 450 sear (probably 325) and then continuing to an internal temperature of 135F, expecting that the after removal heat rise will take it up to the 145F "safe temperature," the magical number that will kill practically all bacteria.

It's 5:20 PM PDT and my roast just went into a 450F oven. I'll reduce the temperature to either 325 or 350 in 10 minutes.

Your advice?

 

[Andy M.]

Take it out at an internal temp of 128ºF-138ºF and tent it with foil. It will continue to cook and rise four to eight degrees more.

The only risk of bacterial contamination is on the surface of the meat, not the interior.

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

Thanks Andy. Everything you said agrees with my own understanding. That's why I dislike ground meat: with a roast all the contamination is on the outside. Grinding it embeds the contamination throughout the entire product.

I just did 450F for 10 minutes and reduced to 325F for however long it takes to reach about 130-135. Not sure yet where in that range...

I wish I had a formula for how many minutes per pound (2-2/3 pounds) but my internal thermometer is my bible. And when you get down to it I don't really care when I eat tonight. I got no company, I got plenty of nibbles, I got cable TV and the Internet.

I'll probably get up in a bit and make a salad...

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

Well after an hour at 325F my tri-tip internal temperature has reached 134F and I have removed it from the oven and entombed it in a shroud of aluminum foil.

Note: 6:18 PM PDT now internal temperature 137F as roast sits wrapped in foil outside the oven.

 

[Cheryl J]

Hi Greg. Tri tips are a wonderful cut of meat, aren't they? You got a really good deal on yours. Just thought I'd reply, based on my own experiences with tri tips.

Most cuts of tri tip are close to the same size, around 2 pounds (give or take a few ounces). I just season, preheat the oven to 425, put it in a roasting pan and let it roast. I don't mess with lowering the heat. Just let 'er roast for about 40 minutes, and you should have a tri tip that is nicely crusted on the outside and medium rare on the inside.

This pic is the only one I could find of one of my tri tips, and is a few years old so it's not the greatest pic. And it's a little more well done than I usually like - but you will get the best results if you put 'er in a high heat oven and just leave it, rather than messing with lowering the heat.

By the way....I see you are in Valencia! What a beautiful city. My daughter and her family live there too, up Copper Hill Road area.

 

[roadfix]

Hope your tri tip came out to your liking.
I've never done tri tip in the oven. I've always treated them as large hunks of steak, therefore, grilled them, hot and fast, over live coals.

Here's a recent tri-tip which was a little over done.

 

[Andy M.]

Well after an hour at 325F my tri-tip internal temperature has reached 134F and I have removed it from the oven and entombed it in a shroud of aluminum foil.

Note: 6:18 PM PDT now internal temperature 137F as roast sits wrapped in foil outside the oven.

Update?? Photo??

 

[Kayelle]

Hi Greg. Tri tips are a wonderful cut of meat, aren't they? You got a really good deal on yours. Just thought I'd reply, based on my own experiences with tri tips.

Most cuts of tri tip are close to the same size, around 2 pounds (give or take a few ounces). I just season, preheat the oven to 425, put it in a roasting pan and let it roast. I don't mess with lowering the heat. Just let 'er roast for about 40 minutes, and you should have a tri tip that is nicely crusted on the outside and medium rare on the inside.

This pic is the only one I could find of one of my tri tips, and is a few years old so it's not the greatest pic. And it's a little more well done than I usually like - but you will get the best results if you put 'er in a high heat oven and just leave it, rather than messing with lowering the heat.

By the way....I see you are in Valencia! What a beautiful city. My daughter and her family live there too, up Copper Hill Road area.

View attachment 18743

My never fail method of roasting a tri tip is the same as yours Cheryl. 425 degrees constantly for 35-40 minutes works every time, and gives a crust similar to using a grill. Easy peezie, nuttin to it..

 

[roadfix]

I may start doing it in the oven as well from time to time (now that I have a new oven). The source of heat doesn't really matter, whether done in the oven, gas grill, or over charcoal briquettes.
Although the settle smoke flavor tri tips pick up when cooked in a smoker or grilled over lump may matter to some.

 

[Andy M.]

I may start doing it in the oven as well from time to time (now that I have a new oven). The source of heat doesn't really matter, whether done in the oven, gas grill, or over charcoal briquettes.
Although the settle smoke flavor tri tips pick up when cooked in a smoker or grilled over lump may matter to some.

You could even do it in a pizza oven!

 

[roadfix]

You could even do it in a pizza oven!

Yes, most definitely.

That's not a rodent. It's tri tip...really.

 

[taxlady]

Yes, most definitely.

That's not a rodent. It's tri tip...really.

I believe you. Thousands wouldn't, but I do.

 

[Zagut]

I believe you. Thousands wouldn't, but I do.

Well since I don't see a tail I'll believe you this time too.

 

[roadfix]

First rainy day here since I don't remember when. Therefore, my very first kitchen oven roasted tri-tip for this evening.
Ralphs (Kroger) have choice trimmed tri-tip on sale for $5.99/lb this week so I picked one up this morning. I'm doing the roast and 4 large baked potatoes together. Plus stir fried vegies and some warm sake to go with dinner....

 

[Kayelle]

RF, how did you like your oven roasted tri tip? Sounds like you had a wonderful dinner.

 

[roadfix]

RF, how did you like your oven roasted tri tip? Sounds like you had a wonderful dinner.

I was not quite happy with the way it turned out. At 425F the 2 lb tri tip reached 130F internal temp in just over 30 minutes but it did not form a crust at all. I think my mistake was placing the 4 large potatoes on the same rack, too close to the roast. The potatoes took another 20 minutes or so to finish while the roast was resting, out of the oven, in foil.
The roast itself was tender and tasty, just no crust.

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

My tri-tip came out crappy. It seemed to be composed of a thick layer of fat and then two similar (thickness) layers of meat. This is not what I remembered from when I was a kid and my mom cooked a tri-tip.

Perhaps I left it in the freezer too long (4 months). Whatever, I'm putting tri-tips on the back burner and don't intend to cook any any time soon.

I'll cook it again sometime... I know this is a good roast.

 

[Andy M.]

Sounds more like brisket than tri-tip. Based on the pictures, there is no fat layer or separate layers of meat.

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

Not wanting to contribute to any confusion but I didn't post any pictures. I think I'll divide my tri-tip between sandwiches and sharing with my dog. He never found a meat he didn't like.