Doing a beef tri-tip in the kamado tonight, at 250f to 140f done. Seasoned with the Big Bad Beef rub recipe. The tri-tip seems to be a west coast thing I read many don't know what it is. In the U.S., the tri-tip has the meat-cutting classification NAMP 185D. I have Sacramento Valley white oak, leaves good mild smoke flavor.Ccentral coast red oak is probably different than east coast red oak, but to get an idea, is white oak very different than red oak smoking meats? Santa Maria barbecue uses California central coast native red oak. the native white valley oak I have is pretty good.
Yea, I had never heard of that cut of meat until about 2 years ago. Great little cut of meat... Looks good Mr. A and cooked just right.
Tri-tip is very much a west coast cut, I very rarely see it in the butcher case here. I'd stick with the white oak for smoking, seems to give a better flavor in beef. Red Oak is good for more of a grilling application or getting it to coal form. I tried smoking with some and it is a bit too pungent for my tastes ( almost bitter)
Looks great. Trader Joe is the only place you can get Tri-Tip in these parts. I caught onto it several years ago.
The kamado is the best you can get. Air tight and precise temperature control, I can smoke low and slow for 12 hours on a load of lump. Being made of clay, it absorbs heat and distributes the heat evenly throughout the cook. It is a an awesome little smoker. Even better, I can open it up and quickly get a 700+ degree fire going to sear a steak. I read that since it is air tight, the meats stay moist, less air in the cooker to dry it out, without a water pan. This has been my experience also. Everything just comes out better. The one I have is at least dated to 1980 when they stopped making them in Japan. They can last a lifetime.
Santa Maria style, the grill is raised and lowered directly over the heat, not really smoked like in a smoker, it's open, has no top enclosure. Guess it would be hard to do without that type of grill.
I love clay for cooking. It's crazy how the temps stay steady for so long. You've got a rockin' smoker there.
The cheap kingsford grill the GF bought me has the adjustable coal rack - it allows me to vary the heat to meat. Not the greatest of grills but for $100 and 2 years left outside uncovered - can't complain.
Oh man, does that look mouth watering , you cooked tha just right. And then the seasoning. You sure know how to cook good.
actually, I don't know how to cook at all, I just follow directions, follow recipes, note what works and what doesn't, for me, then practice a few times. It does help build some experience to take on other recipes and directions, and after a while combine a few that you like., maybe add a few things, make it your own. Temperature control is the best barbecue principle you can learn along with using indirect heat setups for whatever type of device you use. Low and slow.
lean pork cuts - loins in particular, with some white oak has gotten my attention, ~1hr smoke @275-300 wrap and remove @130 internal. Fattier cuts - ribs, boston butt, country style ribs I mix white oak and hickory....depends on what I'm feeling like during the cook. Did some babybacks on pure white oak a while back, and they were tasty as well, not hickory smoke tasty, but milder even keel I like a cherry smoke on boston butt as well - but it can a bit overwhelming, so it's a another one I'll mix oak with. Planning on a muscadine smoked beer can chicken this weekend - provided I don't get called into work again
[Planning on a muscadine smoked beer can chicken this weekend - provided I don't get called into work again[/QUOTE] Grape vine is said to be very good, I haven't tried it myself., yet. Gives me a great idea, thanks. I'm an hour drive from Napa, an hour from Lodi, lotsa grape vines available.
HI I got lots of oak scrap wood for sale fall offs from manufacturing funiture nice wood no bark no chemicals on this wood
