Santa Maria Grilled Tri-Tip Steak

This recipe will make you a real "pit-boss". Done right this cut of meat is so flavorful it will please even the most picky beef eaters.

It starts with a good cut of meat. Find a goood butcher or use Wild Fork (online) and get a prime tri-tip. The cut is called this due to the three distinct "tips" of the cut. The tri-tip comes from the bottom tip of the sirloin.

The tricky part is the grain. If you do not cut it corectly it will be chewy and tough. Cutting correctly involves finding the grain and cutting perpindicular across the grain. The dotted line is where the halves meet, blue lines indicate slices. Many thanks to BBQ Brethren for this diagram.

Approximately half of the steak contains fibers that run vertically, while the other half contains fibers that run horizontally. Once you’ve located these two distinct sections, cut the steak in half along the dotted line where the two muscle grains intersect. That way, you’ll have one half of a steak with muscle fibers all running vertically, and a separate half with muscle fibers all running horizontally. Finally, slice perpendicular (blue lines) to the grain on each half. Thinner slices will also be better, cutting about 1/4 to 3/8 in thick. This will make for the most tender slices!