I ate Tri-Tip Beef for first time. What Hve I Bn Missing?

January 5 2020 | Lee Martell

[lee martell]

I am semi-retired. Meaning that I still work part time. I don't have to, but I do mainly to stay involved with other people's lives and as a healthy distraction. My job as a caregiver for disabled adults means I make them dinner, dispense medications, listen to concerns, etc. Yesterday, there was a surprise on the menu; Tri-Tip Steak. Of course I'd heard of it, but I had never eaten any. At about $13.00 a pound, my family would never have been buying it years ago, even when adjusted for inflation. Most of the staff know that I like to cook. I like trying new things with food. I call these 'my experiments'. So one of the staff left this big hunk of raw meat in a bowl. It had been marinating.

I googled "Roasting Tri-Tip Beef in the oven". I got loads of recipes. The actual cooking was simple, it was all the prep work that could take time. I kept it really simple. Place meat, fat side up on a rack. Place a metal tray one shelf down to catch any dripping grease. Set oven at 425'. Roast for 30 minutes, or about 15 min per pound. Then turn oven down to 350 or less for 30 to 40 minutes. I don't generally use a meat thermometer. And that's pretty much it.

I could see from the appearance that it was well roasted. Even carmelized in some areas. The very ends were sort of blackened, so I sliced those away. The sliced pieces looked good, some color variation, some pinkish areas, but nothing that still looked raw. That made it safe for me to serve this to other people.

I tried a slice. Wow! It was everything you could ever want a piece of roast beef to be. Tender and with a rich flavor. Not gamey. I had never tasted anything quite like it before, and I've had some good beef. It was so good, that I didn't even need ketchup, A-1 or Worstershire Sauce. So, the next time I have a spare $30.00 to experiment, I'll be buying some for myself. I'll need to learn if you must marinate it or not.

[CaptainPhilFan]

Good questions!

1) I’ve not had the problem of any meat absorbing odors from the fridge BUT I don’t keep anything in the fridge that smells. Just about everything here is made from scratch and any leftovers are well sealed. It might be a problem if there’s something really stinky?? I guess each kitchen and cook being different it would be a bit of trial and error :)

2) Minimum poundage? I’ve dried small steaks and pork chops, chicken breasts ..... the smaller the meat the fewer days dried.

Anything smaller than a pound don’t go over 2 days - that’s a good place to start until you learn the particulars of your kitchen and fridge and habits and what it can bear.

[who knows what evil?]

UPDATE: Scored tri-tip for $3.78/lb in WNC yesterday!!! Felt like a government employee stealing it for that price!