Tri-Tip Sous Vide

[CigarNut]

Originally Posted by T.G

Mark, I cook tri-tip sous vide for 4.5-6 hours at 131 then sear on my Santa Maria grill over oak for about 3-4 minutes per side for each of the four or five sides (depends how it trims out) and end up at the high end of medium rare, a little juice leakage, but not much. If I had to guess for my arrangement, I'd say shoot for a few degrees under textbook medium temps, so maybe 138.

I also stopped putting salt on the meat when it goes in the bag. I only add salt before the sear. I've never done two bags at the same time, one with and one without, to compare, but what I remember, I think the ones without salt seem to have less juice in the bag when finished. This might play a factor in how much leakage you get when you cut the final product, or it might not.

Maybe the cast iron will be a bit different than the santa maria pit. Not sure, I've never used cast iron on tri tip.




Hope that helps some.

I have to echo this -- on the three long cooks I have done the two with salt resulted in drier meat.

Like Adam, I only put the salt on before the sear.

For the shorter cooks, like steak, I do use salt -- but less than I would use for the grill - in the bag.