HELP!!! Smoking sliced meat (update)

[BrisketHound]

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.

[Gizmo]

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?

[BrisketHound]

  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.

[sherlock]

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.

[kiyotei]

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.

[BrisketHound]

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.

[sherlock]

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