This cook requires very little monitoring.


Season the Tri-Tip with Montreal Steak Seasoning and garlic.  Then vacuum seal and freeze.


Into the 127°F water oven, still frozen, a few days later.

I leave it in there for about 12 hours.  Six hours is probably the minimum.

EDIT:  Plunge it into ice-water for an hour or two to completely chill it then store it in the refrigerator until the day you want to serve it.


Remove it from the vacuum pack and put it into the smoker at ~400°F without patting it dry (try to make plenty of smoke) until the internal temperature reaches 132-135°F.  That should take about 1¼ hours.

Wrap it in foil for about 15 minutes, slice thin and serve.

Looking forward to the results of this as I make it the opposite way - smoke, rest, vac seal, sous vide, rest, slice.

Looking forward to the results of this as I make it the opposite way - smoke, rest, vac seal, sous vide, rest, slice.

That's the way I normally do it also. I tried sous vide first last week and it seemed that the meat was not as moist. I think that the meat gives up some moisture during the sous vide process and during a post grilling it at high temperature may give up even more. Pre grilling is done at such a low temperature (to an IT of 120°) that I don't think much moisture is lost during the process.   

Looking forward to the results of this as I make it the opposite way - smoke, rest, vac seal, sous vide, rest, slice.

We ate it Sunday.  It was fantastic and plenty moist.

I've been doing it like this for years but I'll probably try smoke first some time.

where are the pics?

where are the pics?

No pics of it plated.  I didn't think it was necessary.

Great idea.  I like it because it is simple. Also, seasoning, vacuum sealing and freezing makes it possible to wait and process the rest at a later date.  I can seen see putting several in the freezer for later cooks. Sous vide first makes sense since it is already sealed and ready. No defrost time needed, and after smoking, it is ready to slice in 15 minutes.  Also, after sous vide, if you want, you can put in fridge and smoke at a more convenient time for any meal. What is not to like?  Good work!

Great idea.  I like it because it is simple. Also, seasoning, vacuum sealing and freezing makes it possible to wait and process the rest at a later date.  I can seen see putting several in the freezer for later cooks. Sous vide first makes sense since it is already sealed and ready. No defrost time needed, and after smoking, it is ready to slice in 15 minutes.  Also, after sous vide, if you want, you can put in fridge and smoke at a more convenient time for any meal. What is not to like?  Good work!

You can also smoke, vac seal, freeze, sous vide and is just as simple.  Many ways to do a cook.

If you want to smoke it, why set temp for 400*?  You could set it for 220 or so and get more smoke, --it would just take longer to get to 130* internally.  My RT 590 really puts out the smoke at the 220 range, but not so much at 400. ?

If you want to smoke it, why set temp for 400*?  You could set it for 220 or so and get more smoke, --it would just take longer to get to 130* internally.  My RT 590 really puts out the smoke at the 220 range, but not so much at 400. ?

I smoke them at 180°-200° for a few hours.

If you want to smoke it, why set temp for 400*?  You could set it for 220 or so and get more smoke, --it would just take longer to get to 130* internally.  My RT 590 really puts out the smoke at the 220 range, but not so much at 400. ?

IDK if that was directed to me, but I smoked it at ~400°F because I wanted to brown it a bit on the exterior for the Maillard reaction.  My PG500 will make adequate smoke at that temperature if I make the proper controller adjustments.  So it works out well for me.

For those that are interested, LHt at 15 and HHt at 85 100 was about right.

EDIT:  Looked at my notes and discovered that I had to raise the HHt to 100 to get adequate smoke.  I did that very early on in the cook, probably before I started the FireBoard.

That is cool that you can set the controller to give heat and smoke after you dial in a preferred setting.

I have it in Sous Vide mode at present and will be ready after about 8 hrs.  Will go for the higher heat on the smoker to get some bark on it.  Thanks for the info.  I have a nice 2.4 lb prime trip from Costco. It is loaded with marbling and looked like a wagyu. Will report results. (but was not). 

That is cool that you can set the controller to give heat and smoke after you dial in a preferred setting.

I rather like it.  It's the HHt setting that controls the amount of smoke produced.  That's the length of time the controller drops pellets into the fire when the controller is calling for more fuel because the pit temperature is below the set temperature.  The higher the number, the more pellets dropped per cycle and the more smoke produced. 

But as users set it higher and higher for more and more smoke, they also create larger and larger temperature swings.  So that's the trade-off.  (See the FireBoard graph in the original post.)  But temperature swings generally aren't as important as many BBQers think, and weren't at all important in this smoke-roast cook.

I edited and corrected two of my previous posts in this thread.  In the original post I added the step about chilling the tri-tip after cooking it sous-vide and also corrected the PG500's HHt setting in a subsequent one.

I think my memory is slipping.  Not only that, I also think my memory is slipping.