Tri-Tip Marinade

I never had tri-tip until I moved to California.  Not really sure why I didn't have it in MN, just didn't.  My friends introduced it to me at a barbeque one day and I've been in love ever since.  The way they prepared it on the BBQ was amazing.  So tender and juicy - how could you not like it?  It's a relatively cheap meat that you can use in a bunch of different ways.  I usually like to cut it up for a salad or a sandwich.  It's a great option to make as a side or main dish when you have a lot of people over.  There are a lot of different things you can do with tri-tip when preparing it.  I make a couple of different styles of marinade when I cook tri-tip.  Sometimes I'll make a dry rub, but for this time I chose a marinade in which I used orange juice.

Every cut of meat is different in shape and weight.  Therefore, your grilling technique will need to adapt to the cut of meat you get (keep that in mind when buying the meat).  Tri-tip usualy has "tips", hence the name.  The center is thick and the ends are thin, this leads to the ends cooking faster than the center.  You may want to adjust your temperature/doneness depending on the thickness between center and ends.

I went to Henry's to get all the ingredients for the marinade and wanted to check the meat.  My initial instinct was to get the tri-tip at Whole Foods.  I saw the tri-tip at Henry's for $6/lb which is a good price.  I thought I'd call WF to see how much theirs was.  The tri-tip at Whole Foods was six dollars a pound more than the tri-tip at Henry's.  I was quite shocked at the difference and was glad I checked.

Ingredients:
- 7 Garlic cloves
- 1/2 Yellow onion
- 1 Cup Cilantro
- Mix of Von Hanson's seasoning, cumin and salt
- 2 cups of Simply Orange juice (high pulp)
- 2 lbs of Tri-Tip

**This if the first or second of many times I will mention Von Hanson's seasoning.  Von Hanson's is a meat market in MN (one in AZ) and a damn good one.  I can't get their meat and jerkey out here but I do get their "Von Hanson Seasoning" shipped out via my grandma or parents whenever I need a new supply.  It has a lot of the normal rub ingredients.  It has everything you would want to in an all-in-one spice.  I use it 90% of the time when cooking meat.**

If you have a bag big enough to fit everything in, I recommend using a bag to marinate the meat.  Otherwise, a tupperware container will work.  Cut up all the ingredients, except the meat, of course.  When cutting up the ingredients I like to leave them in bigger pieces.  I don't know if there is any truth to it but if you leave the garlic and onions bigger it will have more flavor to give off longer.  I rub the meat with the spices first, then I put all the veggies in the bag or tupperware before adding the meat.  I pour the OJ in last over the meat.  Put the bag or tupperware in the refrigerator to soak up the goodness.  I let the meat marinate for about 30 hours before I threw it on the grill, so you'll want to be thinking about a meal at least a day in advance.  You can let it marinate the meat per your schedule but length of time directly affects flavor and tenderness.  I would recommend letting it marinate for at least one hour at the minimum and a max of 48 hours.

About six months ago I was lucky enought to get a new grill.  I now have the pleasure of using a Weber Spirit Gas Barbeque (or grill, depending on your preference).  In my opinion Weber makes the best grills around.  Although they're usually on the spendy side, they have a remarkable product with excellent customer service.  The grills also seem to last forever.  So when you're ready to start grilling, begin by preheating the grill to 300 degrees.  I heat the grill up hotter than that initially to clean it and then turn the grill down.  I spray a little weber grilling spray on before I put the meat on.  When cooking a meat for this long it's best to use indirect heating.  Indirect heating is exactly what it sounds like.  There is no real searing or direct heat on the meat because the meat goes in the middle of the grill where the burner is turned off, and the heat basically circulates around the grill and cooks the meat slower and evenly.  Plan to cook the tri-tip for 45 minutes to an hour depending on the weight of the meat (more or less than 2lbs).  I have a nice Maverick digital thermometer that I used to keep an eye on the meat.  It's a pretty nice thermometer for the price ($40).  You preset the type of meat and the doneness you want.  It beeps once it hits the target temperature.  I wanted to cook my tri-tip to medium, medium-well, which is about 160 degrees.  I only turned the meat once, after 30 minutes, and the meat was around 140 degrees.  I took the meat off at 154 degrees and brought it inside to sit for another five to ten minutes.  While it was sitting I made a quick Asian salad.  Just some lettuce, cabbage, carrot slices, chow mein noodles and a little onion.  It's a nice contrast to have the warm meat and a nice cool salad on a hot day.  Here is the end result...

Now nicely cut up

Little Salad and Tri-Tip