Tri-tip is an odd cut from the bottom sirloin. It is famous as the cut of beef used for Santa Maria Style Barbecue, which is made with tri-tip rubbed with salt, pepper, and garlic salt, and cooked over a red oak fire. That recipe has been copyrighted by the Santa Maria Chamber of Commerce, to make sure it is always "the real thing". The official recipe is here: Santa Maria Barbecue (pdf), and check out this video which shows the ingenious grill grate elevators they use: Santa Maria Style Barbecue Video.
*That is, if you can tear yourself away from watching the chef's moustache. My goodness.
Now, I don't want to get the Santa Maria Chamber of Commerce mad at me, so I'm not going to call this Santa Maria Barbecue. Santa Maria is a long way from here, so I have to take a few shortcuts.
*For the longest time, I couldn't find tri-tip roasts here in Akron. They were a California thing, and not readily available; I had to make do with top sirloin roasts. Â Times have changed - over the last couple of years, I can regularly find tri-tip roasts at my local grocery store.
I use my rotisserie to get the same beautifully seared results that come from their elevator grills, and some oak smoking wood with charcoal instead of burning down red oak logs to make the coals.  The results are well worth it.  Now, if I can only come up with an excuse to go to Santa Maria to try out the original...
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📖 Recipe Card
Rotisserie Tri-Tip
- Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
Description
Santa Maria-inspired tri-tip, seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic, spit-roasted over oak-smoked charcoal, and served thin-sliced on garlic-buttered grilled bread.
Ingredients
Tri-Tip
- 2 pound tri-tip roast
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder (or 1 teaspoon garlic salt, and cut back on the kosher salt)
- 1 fist-sized chunk smoking wood (oak is traditional)
Garlic Bread
- 1 loaf French bread
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
- Pinch of salt and pepper
Instructions
- Season the tri-tip: 1 to 2 hours before cooking, sprinkle the tri-tip evenly with the salt, pepper and garlic powder. Skewer it on the rotisserie spit, and let it rest at room temperature.
- Prepare the bread: Split the bread lengthwise, then cut crosswise into sandwich-size pieces (3 to 4 per loaf). Microwave the butter, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper in a small bowl for 1 minute, until the butter melts and the garlic starts to sizzle.
- Prepare the grill: Set up the grill for indirect high heat, with a drip pan in the middle. For a charcoal grill, light a full chimney of charcoal, and when it is covered with ash, pour it into two equal piles on either side of the drip pan. (See my rotisserie basic technique for more setup details.)
- Cook the tri-tip: Put the wood chunk on the coals. Put the spit on the grill, start the motor, and cook with the lid closed for 20 to 25 minutes, until the thickest part of the roast is 120°F to 125°F for medium-rare. Remove from the spit, and rest for at least 10 minutes.
- Toast the bread: Brush the cut side of the bread with the garlic butter. Grill cut side down over the coals (they should be down to medium heat by now) for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until just browned, then flip and toast the crust side for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Watch carefully - the bread burns fast.
- Serve: Slice the tri-tip across the grain as thin as possible, and serve on the toasted bread.
Notes
Equipment: A grill with a rotisserie (I use a Weber kettle with the Weber kettle rotisserie), a foil drip pan, a basting brush, and a chimney starter.
Doneness: 115°F for rare, 120°F to 125°F for medium-rare, 130°F for medium. Keep the thermometer away from the spit, which can throw off the reading.
Gas grill: Use indirect high heat, and turn the burners down to medium before toasting the bread.
Grilled bread goes from toasted to burnt very quickly. Toast one piece first, checking every 10 to 15 seconds, then use that time for the rest.
Traditionally, the sandwiches get pico de gallo salsa, with pinquito beans and a green salad on the side.
One baguette is just enough for dinner, with leftover tri-tip for sandwiches during the week. But my kids love the toasted bread, so now I make at least two.
Adapted from the Santa Maria Chamber of Commerce's Santa Maria Barbecue recipe.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Dry brine: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
What do you think? Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.
Related Posts:
Click here for my other rotisserie recipes.
Adapted from:
Santa Maria Chamber of Commerce Barbecue (pdf)
 Check out my cookbook, Rotisserie Grilling.
Everything you could ask about the rotisserie, It's a Kindle e-book, so you can download it and start reading immediately! |
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Susan Tate says
Wow nice to know OH finally has Tri Tip I looked for one when back there 2007 no go but I love tri tipon Cali and have been to Santa Maria.cooking one now on my inside vintage farberware rotisserie... thanks for the temp tips!
Mike V @ DadCooksDinner says
I’ve heard from readers that my recipes work with indoor rotisseries. I’ve never tried it, but it should work.
Janice McCutcheon says
Can you do this with an indoor rotisserie? We don't have a grill, so the outdoor rotisserie isn't an option for us.
Mike V @ DadCooksDinner says
Thanks for sharing your first hand experience!
Tim says
Great, these tri tips are bullet proof, you can't mess them up. Couple ways we do these in California is over live burning logs, not just coals, but actually in hot flames moving to indirect heat to rest every few minutes. You can also cook them directly on the coals with no grate at all.
These cook up as nice steaks also if you cut them thick. The salsa is overrated.
Mike V @ DadCooksDinner says
Great! Thank you for letting me know how it went.
Bill says
Update on tri-tip question: 450 degrees does the trick... family says best ever!
Bill says
Thanks Mike, much appreciated!
Mike V @ DadCooksDinner says
In the recipe, when I say I want indirect high heat, I want about 450*F. Indirect Medium-High is 400*F, Indirect Medium is 350*F.
Good luck, and let me know how it goes!
Bill says
Mike,
Just got a rotisserie for Weber Genesis. Your blog was a great discovery for me. I have a lot to learn!The picture of your kettle on this tri-tip recipe shows the temperature at 450. Is that the temperature you cook at with gas, too?Do you cook different meats at different temperatures?
MikeV @ DadCooksDinner says
@RedSkyGrillGuy:
Thank you! Starting the bread oiled side up sounds like a good tip - I'll give it a try.
RedSkyGrillGuy says
Great article about tri-tip on the rotisserie. One tip I use when grilling bread is to olive oil and season the french bread and place it crust side down. The oil and seasonings will penetrate the bread. Flip the bread and the sesoned side will cook more evenly and the oil will help moderate the burning.
gale robbins says
for a better tasting bread i use butter
John K. says
I've never tired tri-tip, but I'd like to. You'll have to let me know where you find it here -- I don't recall seeing it. I know the folks in Santa Maria are picky about their BBQ. I saw a website where a woman posted her version...there were many comments from people who were from, or had been to SM -- "that's not how it's done!" I kind of chuckled at how protective they are over their BBQ. I guess as long as you don't use the name, they will leave you alone...
MikeV @ DadCooksDinner says
@John K:
I got my Tri-tip at Acme, but I know you can order it at West Point Market as well.
We'll see about the "don't use the name and they'll leave you alone" concept...few things get cooks as riled up as someone else messing with their barbecue.