Smoked USDA PRIME Tri-Tip Roast

Time to smoke my first Costco USDA PRIME grade Tri-Tip Roast. Found a killer deal at Costco where the peeled Tri-Tips were a mere $5.19 a pound. Got me a total of 12 roasts which will allow me to smoke/cook one roast a week for the next 3 months if I choose to do so.

Oh My Goodness ... I must admit that the results were simply scrumptious!! The Tri-Tip roast was smoked to perfection and so juicy and  tender you could cut it with a fork. I prefer taking my Tri-Tips to an internal temperature of 145ºF but by all means cook it to your preferred temp - lower or higher - it's all good.

In the old days I could get Tri-Tips in the $3 range for Choice grade (which is now around $7 to $9 a pound here in California). So the $5.19 per pound for Prime was a steal. In case you've not heard of the term 'peeled' before it means that the fat cap has been trimmed off before packaging. I've always been able to find cheaper Tri-Tip roasts but with the fat cap intact which negates the cheaper price cause you're paying for the fat cap. The only thing left for me to do with a peeled Tri-Tip is to trim off any silver skin that might be present.

If you've read my Blog over the years you know that the style/method that I developed is to rub the meat with roasted garlic extra virgin olive oil before using a rub and/or seasoning. Rubbed the Prime grade Tri-Tip roast with the olive oil and seasoned liberally with Pete's Western Rub. Wrapped the seasoned roast with plastic and refrigerated overnight. The recipe for Pete's Western Rub can be found in my new book "The Wood Pellet Smoker & Grill  Cookbook".

Preheat your wood pellet smoker-grill (I prefer using a MAK 2 Start General) to 225ºF using Hickory or your favorite wood pellet flavor for beef. Oak wood pellets are a good choice also. Mesquite is also favored by many pitmasters.

Smoke the Tri-Tip roast at 225ºF for approximately 2 hours until the internal temperature reaches 145ºF. Rest the smoked roast loosely under a foil tent for 15 minutes before slicing against the grain on the bias at a 45º angle.