Cooking Lesson- Tri-Tip, part one

This is the first class in the cooking class series. It will be broken up into several parts over the next few days. Enjoy!

I'm careful with the word barbecue. I use it most often as noun, occasionally as a verb and as an adjective only when modifying a noun that would otherwise be correctly described more generally as "barbecue". We'll get into that another day, and yes, we actually will. But for now, I thought I would would begin the cooking class series on the simplest of the barbecue endeavors, tri-tip. I'm taking the liberty of labeling the method below as barbecue, because it involves an open flame, indirect cooking and a lot of smoke; also, the 30-40 minutes cooking time is about the longest time advisable for a cut of this size and tenderness.

Tri-tip

The tri-tip comes from the bottom potion of the sirloin and is triangular in shape. It is fattier than the rest of the sirloin, but also a bit more tough. There are only two tri-tips per cow, which meant it historically was not a commercial cut, and would usually be ground and sold as hamburger. Today, nearly all the tri-tips are gathered and sent west to states like California, where they are plentiful. In the rest of the country, they are nearly impossible to find, so call around. Most butchers in the know keep a few around. When prepared correctly, it has a steak-like taste and texture, but with many flavor traits of slow-cooked cuts like smoked brisket.

This lesson assumes the use of a charcoal grill, but gas-grill methods will be offered. I tried my best to simulate barbecue conditions for years on gas grills, so my alternative methods are real-world tested. In the interests of full disclosure, my agenda is that of a charcoal evangelist. I strongly advocate a decent, sensible charcoal pit to complement your gas grill. But for now, come as you are!