In article >,
"jmcquown" > wrote:

> Bob (this one) wrote:
> > jmcquown wrote:

> >> Oh, uh, Andy... I think you need a slightly fattier roast and hotter
> >> than oven 250F an internal temp 135F for a tri-tip. With a tri-tip
> >> we aren't talking about a roast you can do rare to medium rare and
> >> still have quite tender. Sorry, dude. Won't happen. You should
> >> really POT roast this and cook it all the way through. You can
> >> still use the juices but it won't be au jus.
> >
> > Jill, I have to disagree with you here. Tri-tip is a fine piece of
> > meat
> > to grill or roast. Cooked to medium or less, it's a good bit of
> > eating.
> > In many parts of the country, tri-tips are specifically marketed as
> > grilling steaks.

> All I can say is the tri-tip roast I bought and roasted to medium-rare was
> tough as shoe leather. It was hard as nails to slice and while tasty, was
> very tough. Too lean, IMO. Might have been better if I'd draped slices of
> streaky bacon over the top to give it some fat.


Sorry to hear about your bad experience. Tri tip is very popular around
here. It's a very tasty cut of beef, but it's probably about the
toughest cut of beef that you'll see grilled or roasted. It's not only
tough, but usually is sold around here trimmed of almost all fat, and so
it is quite lean. It's often served in very thin slices (the commercial
places use an automatic slicer like you see in the deli) and always
across the grain.

Like Sheldon, I'm suspicious that they slipped you chuck. There's quite
a bit of stir-fried chuck sold around here also. It's referred to as
Carne Asada. It is cut very thin and heavily marinated, then cooked
quickly so it doesn't toughen too much.