Grilled Tri-Tip Roast

Tri tip is a crescent shaped muscle from the bottom sirloin - the upper portion of the cow's hip - and has the same great sirloin beef flavor you know and love. Sometimes called Santa Maria steak, tri tip is a little on the lean side but big on beefy flavor. This preparation is all about the natural flavors of the beef. It's not about a secret rub or special sauce. This recipe is all about your skill at the grill.

Tri tip can be challenging to cook evenly because of its irregular shape, but when done right it's so tender, juicy, and delicious. What's the secret? There are a couple of techniques that converge to create the perfect tri tip.

The first technique is called dry brining. That's a fancy way of saying that you salt the meat up to 24 hours in advance. While the meat sits in the refrigerator, the salt penetrates deeply into the muscle fibers, adding flavor and juiciness.

The second method is often called the "reverse sear" because you sear the beef at the end of cooking rather than the beginning. Instead of starting with a sear, you begin with a slow, low-temperature smoky roast. This technique promotes gradual, even heating throughout the meat, yielding a roast that is almost uniformly medium-rare throughout, despite this cut's odd shape.

Finally, it can be helpful to purchase your tri tip roast untrimmed and trim it yourself. Tri tip is often sold trimmed of most of its exterior fat. You still want to take off most of the fat, but leaving one side with a 1/4 inch fat cap really enhances the flavor of the final product.

You will need wood for smoking. Mesquite or hickory will work well for this recipe.