| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 1 hr 35 min |
| Prep: | 15 min |
| Inactive: | 40 min |
| Cook: | 40 min |
| Yield: | 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 (3-pound) tri-tip roasts
- Basting Sauce, recipe follows
- Seasoning Salt Mixture, recipe follows
- 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons white pepper
- 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 4 tablespoons granulated garlic
- 6 tablespoons salt
- 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup garlic-infused vegetable oil
Instructions
- Heat a grill to low.
- Coat both sides of the tri-tips with half of the seasoning mixture, rubbing it in as you would a dry rub. Let rest for 30 minutes at room temperature. Place the tri-tips over a low temperature fire, 1 with fat side up, and the other with fat side down. Turn as the first side gets crispy, approximately 6 to 8 minutes. Be careful of flare-ups, as the dripping fat will fuel the fire. Turn the tri-tips before the heat pushes juices out the top, and continue to turn using this timing method throughout the cooking process. After turning, baste with sauce and season lightly, 4 times per side. Continue turning until the tri-tips are cooked to your liking. Remove from fire and let rest for 10 minutes before cutting into 1/2-inch slices against the grain.
- Mix together all ingredients in a small bowl.
- Whisk together vinegar and oil in a small bowl.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 6 servings |
| Calories | 971 |
| Total Fat | 61 g |
| Saturated Fat | 17 g |
| Carbohydrates | 6 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Sugar | 0 g |
| Protein | 93 g |
| Cholesterol | 302 mg |
| Sodium | 1166 mg |
Reviews
Ive been rockin this recipe for a few years now and it is my ultimate fall back. This is for sure a crowd pleaser. Ive made a few top secret tweaks that have made it my World Famous and how you cook it is most important. I shoot for medium rare and on a gas infrared grill. Perfect every time. Roll Tide.
Got one of these on my Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker right now. (No water in the pan and four nice hunks of red oak on top of the coals.
Regarding the seasoning, just make your own. I use a mix of salt, garlic powder, and MSG as a base. (Just like Susie. Next I add a little cayenne and ground cumin to taste. (I season mine well and let it sit at room temp for about an hour.
BTW, to the person saying 6 Tbs of salt is too much: yeah, it is. It is a rub mixture to be used only as much as makes sense. I find 2Tbs is plenty for a large roast. I also re-season after slicing. The baste is optional, but tasty.
Tonight we’re going kicked-up torta style sandwiches. Garlic butter on french bread roll, a schmear of refried beans, homemade pico de gallo, guacamole, and a few nice slices of tri-tip. MMmmmmmm…
This is an awesome recipe, Frank Ostini has been Bbqing forever in the Santa Maria area, I have had his BBQ before and it’s awesome. If your from the area then you know there are 20-30 different groups of people bbqing in some parking lot in Santa Maria any given weekend. Santa Maria style is not one specific recipe, it is a style. If you buy franks seasoning it says on the label to experiment with the recipe and if you find seething you like better to use that. So try his to start and if you think a little tweak would be better try it. I personally use beer instead of red wine vinegar and real garlic with olive oil instead of an infused oil. Good luck. Never put holes in your tri tip, turn it with tongs and let it rest for 10+ minutes after you grill. Oak is best, red oak if you can get it.
I use this recipe now every time I cook Tri Tip. Surprised all of the “locals” wasted good beef on this recipe when they have their own style perfected. Unless they didn’t actually try the recipe before they trashed it. Naw, that would not be cool.
Santa Maria Style is really about the red oak. Back when tri-tip was only available in Santa Maria, we only crusted the meat with margarita salt. Over the years Lawry’s Season Salt was common, and then Susie Q. The beer was to drink and put out flare ups. Tri-tip wasn’t trimmed back in the day, so flare up was common. I have found that a trimmed tri-tip will cook to perfection in 28 minutes if you start fat side down and flip it every 7 minutes. Don’t shy away from the salt just slice it thin across the grain.
Susie Q’s seasoning blend and oak wood is Santa Maria Style
Over red oak, Well OK if you cant do that . But no basting.
Salt Garlic salt maybe onion powder and pepper. Med Hi grill temp
Med rare. umm good. Plus cook fat side up at first.
Salt Garlic salt maybe onion powder and pepper. Med Hi grill temp
Med rare. umm good. Plus cook fat side up at first.
Good recipe and the basting sauce is a good idea. I’ve had plenty of “authentic” tri-tip that was too dry or stringy, so no worries about adding a little moisture. Don’t worry too much about the “authentic” part–real Santa Maria BBQ folks don’t. It is just a way to cook outdoors for a crowd that is quick, easy, and inexpensive compared to say, Texas-style brisket.I did cut down on the salt also. The Santa Maria style is more about relaxed outdoor dining on long, beautiful California evenings than strict recipes and there are many variations on the theme.
6 teable spoons of salt?? I cut to 3 teablespoons and it was horrible…
Im from Santa Maria and have been eating SM style BBQ my whole life. This recipe is wrong on so many levels. We only use Susie Q’s seasoning on tri tip, no marinade or basting liquid. Cooked only over an oak wood fire. So many people try to imitate Santa Maria style BBQ’ing and so many people get it wrong. So sad.