I love tri tip. Haven’t made one in a while. They seem to be a little hit or miss to me compared to a ribeye or something, I always make them the same way, but sometimes they can be a little tougher or stringier than others.
It’s always been fun to me to do this as close to Santa Maria style as possible. The vaqueros out there used to season it with coarse salt, fresh ground black pepper, and garlic, then cook it over red oak fire and serve with pinquito beans and fresh salsa. I used to have local access to California red oak but now I use post oak or whatever seasoned oak I can get my hands on.
I cook it on an old half barrel Oklahoma Joe open top grill. I use about half charcoal half wood and let it burn down enough so that it doesn’t have a bunch of open flame. Then I put most of the coals at one end of the grill and a little at the other end. I cook it over the high heat end until it has the crust I’m looking for, then transfer it down to the low heat end and tent some foil over it to hold the heat, then take it off when it hits about 130*.
This is the recipe I use for the salsa. It’s life changing.
https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/santa-maria-style-salsa-5dfbc8e7e02edd0008557ca4
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