I think maybe once or twice on this blog that I have mentioned that I love smoked foods.  I wrote a post about 10 Foods to Smoke with Your Electric Smoker and a post with directions on how to make Seasoned Smoked Almonds.  Today, I am sharing my favorite smoker recipe to make Smoked Tri Tip.

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Our first experience with Smoked Tri Tip was almost an accident.  As I have discussed in several posts about Meal Planning, I like to shop Sunday mornings before church (around 8:00–nothing crazy).  On a Sunday in October, I was getting ready to leave and I either asked my husband what he wanted for dinner or if he had any requests.  He said, “It’s supposed to be a beautiful day and perhaps the last good grilling day.  Get some steak to grill.”  Because Jim is a hunter, steak usually means venison.  However, that day, he meant beef.

Here’s, perhaps, a shocking little secret.  Before I met my husband, I was a vegetarian.  I did it for healthy eating reasons rather than for some philosophical one.  At some point early in our relationship, he convinced me to try venison with rationale that there is nothing more organic than wild harvest deer meat.  And, I’ve never looked back.  I tell that story because it explains why I know NOTHING about buying a cut of beef.

Growing up, we didn’t eat much beef beyond ground beef.  So, I feel lost in the meat department of the supermarket when I am not looking at cuts of chicken or whole turkeys.  I wandered back and forth picking up different cuts of beef.  And finally, I decided to go with a tri tip roast that was reduced for quick sale.  It looked like a nice piece of meat. And it had good marbling which is perhaps the only thing I know about buying beef.

Smoked Tri Tip

With anticipation, my husband asked, “What did you get for dinner?”  “I got this.”  And handed him the roast.  “What’s this?”  “I don’t know.  You sent a former vegetarian to buy beef.  It was marked down.  And, it has good marbling.”

He did what any modern man would do.  An internet search.  His search resulted in an understanding that tri tip is actually a roast.  So, low and slow.  “I think we should smoke it.”

Smoked Tri Tip Rub

So, if we’ve learned anything about smoking meat since we started about six months ago, it’s that our kids like smoked foods.  But, they don’t like spicy.  Most commercial rubs have quite a kick to them.  In fact, the first few times we smoked meat, I ended up cutting the edges away, so that the kids could eat the middles without the heat.

I knew that the only solution to this would be to create my own rub without all the black pepper, red pepper and cayenne that most rubs call for.  So this rub is a nice combination of Kosher salt, garlic, onion, paprika and hidden in it are dry mustard, chili powder and some black pepper, but not enough to sting the tongues of those with sensitive pallets.  And, Semiconservative Granola Girl Dry Rub was born.

Preparing Smoked Tri Tip

Use Semiconservative Granola Girl Dry Rub or a dry rub of your choice to generously coat the roast.  Let the roast sit with the rub on it for two to three hours.  Add more rub throughout the sitting time until you create a light crust.

Preheat the smoker to 225° F.  (We use a Masterbuilt Electric Smoker <–affiliate link.)  Get a nice head of smoke going.  Place your meat on the middle rack (this can be done before it comes up to temperature as long as the smoker is filled with smoke).  Smoke until desired done-ness.  We usually smoke to an internal temperature of 145° F.  A two pound roast will take about two hours.

The great thing about this recipe is that it is both Whole30 and Paleo.  You can read about our adventures in Going Whole30 here.  This was the perfect meal to serve with roasted potatoes and green beans for my father’s birthday the first weekend we were fully immersed in the Whole30 lifestyle.

Thanks for stopping by.  We hope you will give our Tri tip recipe a try and especially give the Semiconservative Granola Girl Dry Rub a go.  Let us know what you think in the comments below.