I volunteered to smoke meat for the company Christmas party tomorrow, done it many times before. We have a new manager, however, who bought the meat and brought it to work this afternoon. It's a tri-tip, but it's already sliced into portion sizes. All I can think to do is smoke the slices for a couple hours at 165 degrees or so, then wrap it in foil and bake it in the oven for a few hours. Is that too hot for meat that thin? Does this sound like a good plan?
Thanks for any advice,
Steve.
Not sure if you are talking about taking the meat to an internal temperature of 165 or using a box temp of 165. I would not take a tri-tip to 165. 135 deg to 140 deg would do it for me. It is a tender beast and doesnt need to be slow roasted to bread down tissue. You could use a box temp of 200 for your smoke. Since it is already smoked, is it already cooked?
Quote from: Gizmo on December 20, 2007, 08:26:51 PM
Since it is already smoked, is it already cooked?
Not pre-smoked, just pre-sliced. And yes, I meant box temp. I thought tri-tip was a tougher meat, akin to brisket. If it doesn't need tenderizing, I suppose I can let it smoke at a higher temp and can brown it a little more. Thanks for the reply, Gizmo.
I think I would tie it with butcher twine and proceed as if it were one piece. Just my $0.02 for what its worth.
I didn't know you could buy sliced raw meat. I have no suggestion for ya, no clue how that will turn out. I also was under the impression that tri tip is tough meat similar to brisket. I recall seeing it a lot in CA and it was often chewy. I have never cooked it though. You might search the internet for more cooking info tri tip to make sure its not in need of long slow cooking.
Quote from: sherlock on December 21, 2007, 05:16:55 AM
I think I would tie it with butcher twine and proceed as if it were one piece. Just my $0.02 for what its worth.
Huh. If I would have thought of that or read it, I would have tried it. That's basically what I wanted to accomplish.
So- final results. I went with my original plan, more or less, and it turned out GREAT! I marinated the meat for 10 hours in Italian dressing. Then I smoked it for 2 hours at 200 degrees box temp with mesquite. I took it off the smoker and wrapped it in foil in one big bulk roll, and cooked it at 225 degrees for 5 more hours. Everybody at work decided they needed to buy smokers, and raved over the meat. I wasn't sure how it turned out until I was unwrapping it for the meal, but happy to say the smoker gods smiled on me today ;D.
Thanks for the replies, and happy smoking.
Steve.
GREAT
Glad everything came out good. I have found that almost everything I have tried came out excellent. My only "failure" to date was ribs that I used ten times too much of a hot spicy rub on them. Even though they required extensive remediation, (soaking, boiling, soaking some more, LOL). they ended up being eaten and enjoyed and was a lesson learned for the next time.
Nathan