Tony Zentgraf
Salant Family Ranch is a local Angus Simmental Cattle breeder who I met at the Rogue Valley Growers and Crafters Market in Medford, Oregon. The care he gives in raising his cattle definitely comes through in the final product.
The video interview is at the bottom of the recipe or follow the link for Exploring the Source Interview with Salant Family Ranch to read the blog post as well.
Exploring the Source
I picked up the Tri Tip from Peter Salant and wanted to cook it without too much seasoning or sauce that may take away from the flavors of the meat. He suggested smoking the meat, so I took his advice and decided to do a smoke & reverse sear.
The flavor of the meat with minimal seasoning was amazing, the smoke flavor with the reverse sear gave a nice crust with the smokey notes coming through. Paired with the Bourbon Shallot & Chive Compound Butter, the delicate flavors paired nicely with the beef.
Reverse Searing – But I don’t have a smoker!
Don’t worry, you don’t need one to do a reverse sear.
The process for reverse searing is relatively simple. You don’t need a smoker to do reverse searing! A smoker does impart a nice smoke flavor from the selected type of wood pellets or chips but you can do a reverse sear without a smoker. You can do the first step in the oven or in a grill without any smoke chips.
Low and Slow
Reverse searing is similar to roasting a prime rib, you roast the meat at a low temperature, in this case 225° for a longer time than you would if you were direct grilling the meat.
The slow roasting or smoking the meat allows the it to slowly rise in temperature to allow for the meat to have the same cooking temperature throughout the meat. Take a look at the picture of the plated Tri Tip, the nice medium rare color is throughout the meat without much of a color variation to the edge.
Pull the meat from the oven or smoker at about 10-15 degrees below your desired final temperature and let rest before searing on the grill or in a cast iron pan. This will give you time to get your grill up to a searing temperature of 500 plus degrees.
Sear the meat on both sides to build a nice crust on the outside. Monitor the temperature of the meat to not exceed your desired final cooking temperature. Because you rested the meat between slow roasting or smoking and searing the meat should have sufficiently rested to retain the juices.
Slice the meat against the grain and serve with the Bourbon Shallot & Chive Compound Butter.
Enjoy!
Reverse Seared Tri Tip from Salant Family Ranch with Compound Butter
Print RecipeRecipe Multiplier
- 1 ea 2.5 – 3.5 lb Tri Tip trimmed fat to ⅛ – ¼"
Seasoning Mix
- 1 tsp Kosher Salt
- 1 tsp Black Pepper
- ½ tsp Granulated Garlic
- ½ tsp Granulated Onion
Compound Butter
Instructions
Making the Compound Butter
- Follow recipe to make and chill compound butter. Make in advance to ensure the butter gets chilled completely.
Seasoning the Tri Tip
- Mix the spice blend and season the Tri Tip to your liking.
- Leave the Tri Tip at room temperature to allow the meat to slowly come to room temp. Approximately 1 hour.
Smoking the Tri Tip
- Preheat your smoker to 225° You can use a pellet smoker or charcoal smoker. You can do the same process in an oven but it won't be smoked. The steak will be slow roasted then you can sear on a grill or in a cast iron pan.
- Smoke (or oven roast) the Tri Tip approximately 1 hour. The Tri Tip will slowly rise in temperature allowing the meat to stay tender and juicy.
- When the Tri Tip reaches a temperature of 115° to 125°. My desired temperature for the Tri Tip was medium rare. Remove the Tri Tip from the smoker (or oven) and let rest for 15 minutes. *Remember that you will still cook the beef again on direct heat. You want to pull the meat 10 – 15° below your desired final temperature desired. Temperature ranges for beef – 120-125° for Rare – bright red center 125-130° for Medium Rare – warm red center 135-145° for Medium – warm pink center 145-150° for Medium Well – slightly pink center 150-160° for Well – little to no pink
Searing the Tri Tip
- Heat your grill to high heat.
- Sear the Tri Tip on both sides to get a nice char on the exterior.
- Monitor the internal temperature of the Tri Tip to ensure that the searing does not exceed your final desired doneness.
- Because you rested the meat between the two cooking processes, the meat should be ready to serve when pulled from searing. You can rest the meat again but keep in mind the final temperature of the meat could rise 5° or so. Slice across the grain, serve with Bourbon Shallot Chive Compound Butter Watch the video below to see the Salant Family Ranch and what a day in the life of a rancher looks like!
