Smoked Tri-tip with Whiskey Reduction
Thank you to my husband for this amazing recipe. The tri-tip becomes so juicy and tender after it comes off the grill, and I would happily drizzle this sauce over every meat that comes through our house. When my husband asked me what special meal I would like for my birthday, this is what I asked for.
I typically do not include in-progress pictures within my recipes, attempting to keep everything as short and sweet as possible, but if you would like to confirm your grill setup, I will have pictures after the main recipe block. (Would you like more of my recipes to have in-progress photos? Let me know!)
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Smoked Tri-tip with Whiskey Reduction
Equipment
- kamado style grill
- small saucepan
Ingredients
Meat Preparation
- 3 lb tri-tip
- meat rub your preferred flavor/brand
Whiskey Reduction
- ½ c whiskey
- ⅓ c brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp cider vinegar
- 3 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
Instructions
On the Grill
- Prepare your grill for indirect heat (see picture in notes). Raise and hold heat between 250°F
- While the grill is coming up to temperature, trim and pat dry your tri-tip, and rub with your preferred spice rub for beef.
- Place the tri-tip in the grill and cook on indirect heat for approximately 1 hour depending on size of your meat. During this time, prepare the whiskey reduction. Cook the steak to an internal temperature of 115°F. Remove from heat and wrap in foil to keep warm while bringing your grill up to searing temperature (500°-600°F). Sear for one minute on each side.
- Allow to steak to rest for 15 minutes before serving. Slice against the grain into thin strips and drizzle with a small amount of the whiskey reduction.
Whiskey Reduction
- Mix the sauce ingredients in a small sauce pot and start to simmer.
- With a long lighter, flambe the sauce to burn off the alcohol (See notes). Simmer over low heat until the volume of the sauce is about half of the starting volume. Remove from heat until time to serve.
Notes
- See the following photo for the indirect heat configuration. A heat stone should be placed under the meat, with the other side open. If possible on your grill lower the other side grate for more direct heat during the searing phase.
- To flambe is to light the alcohol in your whiskey reduction on fire. Note that the warmer your sauce is prior to lighting, the more volatile alcohol will be in the air, so as you’re lighting it, be cautious as it won’t take direct contact of flame to light your sauce. If you are uncomfortable with flambe, you can simply simmer until the sauce is thickened sufficiently.
- DO NOT PUT OUT A KITCHEN FIRE WITH WATER. Keep a pan or lid nearby to smother the flame should it get out of hand. Always be careful with fire.
- The flame will go out on its own once the alcohol is burned off; due to the amount of whiskey in this recipe it will take a few minutes. If preferred you can flambe for 30 seconds and then put out the fire with the pot lid.
