I grilled this tri-tip on the Weber Jumbo Joe with the help of a GrillGrate. You don’t have to use a GrillGrate for tri-tip but it does make it easy to get great grill marks and cook with medium direct heat.
This tri-tip weighed 2.2 pounds and was seasoned with kosher salt, black pepper and granulated garlic. One reason I like tri-tip is the thickness of the cut; it lets you grill long enough to get great grill marks without over cooking the steak.
I let the seasoned tri-tip rest on the counter for 45 minutes and while it was hanging out I fired up the Weber Jumbo Joe. I wanted to use direct medium heat so the approach was to use about two thirds of a chimney of lit briquettes placed directly underneath one GrillGrate panel.
I let the panel heat up for about five minutes then added the tri-tip and listened to the sizzle!
I closed the led and let it grill for seven minutes then rotated the meat by about 45 degrees. After another seven minutes I turned the tri-tip over and basted the grilled side with some Italian dressing.
I closed the lid and let the tri-tip cook another 20 minutes until it hit an internal temperature of 142F. The steak was rested for ten minutes…it was a long wait….then sliced thin and devoured.
If you don’t have GrillGrates you can grill this over direct heat for about five minutes and then move the tri-tip to the indirect side of the grill for the remainder of the cook. Using this approach would probably increase the cook time by 10 -15 minutes.