I love tri-tip! I grill tri-tips more than any other cut of meat. My normal method is just to season with a little salt, pepper and garlic so when I was given the chance to try the “Santa Maria Style” seasoning from “The Rub Co.” I jumped at it.
If you are not familiar with “Santa Maria” style tri-tips you are missing a treat. There are variety of excellent histories on the internet. One of the best can be found at: http://www.lospadrescounty.net/et/smbbq.html
My first impression upon opening the bottle for the first time was that it was loaded with garlic. Maybe too much. I love garlic, as much as the next guy, but the garlic smell was a little overpowering. I ventured forth and seasoned my tri-tip with a good dose of the seasoning. In the end my fear of to much garlic was unfounded. It was perfect
As you can see there are a variety of other seasoning in addition to the garlic, salt and pepper you would normally expect to see. Once it was on the meat and had sat there for a while it because to take on a nice little “crust” for lack of a better term.
I used by new 26 inch Weber kettle with a full chimney of hot coals on one end to give the tri-tip a good sear. I think the sear is vital to pulling out the full range of flavors from both the meat and the seasoning. The “Santa Maria Style” seasoning gave the crisp (burnt) edges a wonderful flavor that screamed grilled perfection.
After searing both sides for about four minutes each I shifted the meat to the far end of the grate and added a couple chunks of almond, if I had oak I would have used it, but I didn’t, where I cooked it indirect until it reach 140 degrees.
I normally like to baste my tri-tips with a little butter during the indrect cooking time so I took a stick of butter and melted it with a heaping tablespoon of the seasoning. What a wonderful flavor this gave the meat.
Once the meat was to the desired temp I stuck it over the hot coals for a minute or so on each side to “crisp” up the butter and then let it rest for 15 minutes.
This was a wonderful way to cook a tri-tip. The new seasoning from The Rub Co., is a welcome addition to an already fully stocked seasoning shelf in the pantry.
If you want to really bring out the flavor your beef products and give it the Santa Maria style treatment then give it a try.
You can purchase all their products direct from www.therubco.com
© 2009, The BBQ Grail. All rights reserved. On republishing this post you must provide link to original post.
Great review Larry, but disappointed you didn’t slice it for us!