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Wagyu Tri-Tip - Never Go to a Steakhouse Again


DonRocks

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This 36-ounce Wagyu tri-tip was $19.99 a pound, and the entire cut was about $45. It was rich and filling enough for easily five people (four hungry men, three NFL linebackers) to stuff themselves silly (with the right sides, you could even go to six or seven people) - with this available at retail, there is never again a reason to go to a steakhouse and drop $80 on a 12-ounce piece of meat.

The Organic Butcher will dry-rub it for you if you call in advance (or they'll do it while you're there in about five minutes) - I've had this exact cut on two different occasions this week (<_<), and haven't had steak this good in years.

This picture doesn't show just how massive this cut of meat was (that knife and fork are what you'd carve a turkey with) - it was seared in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet, and was flopping over the edge a little bit. Some slices had already been cut off - just picture 2 1/4 pounds of meat, and you'll get the idea. This is also much richer and more filling than Angus beef - it isn't "marbled" in the Kobe sense, but it's super-juicy and fatty at a microscopic level: This spectacular beef is very filling - you think you'll be able to plow through a lot of it, but you find yourself getting full surprisingly quickly.

Wagyu.JPG

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Organic Butcher (DonRocks)

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2 hours ago, jandres374 said:

Is this something they typically carry on a weekend or do I need to special order ahead of time. Thinking of throwing one of these on the Big Green Egg this weekend.

I would call and ask - they'll hold one for you. (Also, please let us know the answer.)

Beware when cooking: This thing is probably 1 1/2 inches-thick in parts.

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So I e-mailed them last Friday morning with my order, requesting a pick-up on Saturday. Received a confirmation within an hour. Picked the meat up on Saturday with plans to cook it on Sunday.

Cooked it on the Big Green Egg. Seasoned it myself. Cooked it for a few minutes at 550-600 degrees and then dropped the temperature down to 375 or so to finish it off. It came out a perfect medium rare.

Unfortunately, the meat was extremely chewy despite slicing it fairly thin and across the grain. Not exactly sure went wrong but I highly suspect operator error on my part. I will have to give it another try.

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I cook tri tip a lot, in part because it reminds me a lot of the west coast. I also use a Big Green Egg, seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Mesquite chips for smoke.Typically when cooking I'll got at a lower temperature (more around 350), for slightly longer, and will cook it to about medium. It's an extremely flavorful cut, but I think it benefits from a bit more cooking. 

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11 hours ago, jandres374 said:

Unfortunately, the meat was extremely chewy despite slicing it fairly thin and across the grain. Not exactly sure went wrong but I highly suspect operator error on my part. I will have to give it another try.

I'm taking personal responsibility for your misfotune.

I asked both cooks how they made it:

1) Seared both sides on the grill, and then turned the heat way down.

2) Pan-seared both sides at very high heat in a cast-iron skillet, and then finished it on low heat in the oven (it initially came out a bit rare, so was cooked a bit longer - it was perfect at medium-rare). 

My guess is that there's something about the way the fat is distributed in a Wagyu tri-tip that demands low-and-slow cooking, but only after you've developed a two-sided shield to keep the juices inside the meat - I remember while carving it, a lot of juice ran off the cutting board.

In both cases, I would say the meat was "fibrous," but not "chewy" at all  (just the opposite - it almost melted in your mouth) - when it first came out slightly underdone, it was chewy.

The thing I can't reconcile is that this is pretty much exactly what it sounds like you did - I would consider calling the folks at Organic Butcher and asking them what they think happened. I'm telling you, these were the most awesome steaks I've had in years, and I want you to try it again - hell, I'll pay for it.

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On 1/25/2018 at 8:50 AM, jandres374 said:

Unfortunately, the meat was extremely chewy despite slicing it fairly thin and across the grain. Not exactly sure went wrong but I highly suspect operator error on my part. I will have to give it another try.

I was just there, and they have Angus tri-tip as well as Wagyu - is there any chance you got the Angus?

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On 1/28/2018 at 5:13 PM, jandres374 said:

No, it was definitely Wagyu. I confirmed when I picked it up.

Well, guess what? I think I've finally reconciled the impossible.

For a *third* time, I went back and got a Wagyu tri-tip. I called on the way, and asked for it be dry-rubbed - they were crowded, it took them awhile after I got there, and they told me I got "the last one."

Unlike last time, the steak came vacuum-wrapped in plastic, as opposed to hand-wrapped in paper, and it definitely had some juices sloshing around in the bag - I was a bit leery as soon as I saw it, as it looked *nothing* like this marbled piece-of-beauty that I saw before.

The steak was prepared *exactly* the same way, by the exact same cook, as the one in the first picture up above, with the exception that it was left in the oven a few minutes longer (that steak up above was a bit underdone at first, and needed to be cooked for another five minutes).

Here is how it came out (I'll put it next to the picture up above for comparison):

Wagyu.JPG IMG_3738.JPG

It was brutally salty throughout, absolutely overdone (I hypothesize that a wet marinade had penetrated the meat and was boiling it from the inside-out) and something was really - *really* - wrong. I went back just yesterday and bought a *fourth* tri-tip, showed a couple people on the staff both pictures - one girl looked at the second picture, and her eyes got as wide as saucers. I was told that, just because it was vacuum-packed in plastic doesn't mean it wasn't dry-rubbed - they said it was probably a "different marinade," and I'm not sure what that means, but I think this is one case where pictures speak a thousand words. 

Know what happened to the steak?

The rest of it was used to make stir-fry, and then *chili*. Hoisin sauce beat back the salt, making the stir-fry the best of the three presentations. Oh, we ate a couple of pieces when it was first cooked, and it didn't seem or smell rancid, but it wasn't even in the same universe as the two I had before it - it honestly wasn't any better than something you'd get at a school cafeteria (you can see that, right?) The one I bought yesterday looked really, really good, too (and you can hear the sandy dry rub sliding around inside the paper), so make sure you're there to actually see what you buy (and don't be *too* tempted by those $39.99/lb Wagyu ribeyes, because they look incredible).

If you go, make *sure* to ask for Wagyu tri-tip, dry-rubbed, and wrapped in paper (that way, there's no way they can marinate it, or sell you something pre-wrapped (they have a display case full of pre-wrapped items)).

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I was working in McLean today and stopped by Organic Butcher on the way home to try the tri-trip on your advice.  I've never (knowingly) had this cut before.  I didn't call in advance, just saw it sitting unwrapped in the case and bought about a pound of it, adding some dry rub myself at home, pan searing it then leaving it in a 375 degree oven for about 11-12 minutes.  Here's what it looked like after resting.  I thought it was good, but maybe prefer the (to me) meatier flavor of hanger cut by a hair.

There's a lot of beautiful product in this store.  I also bought some blood sausage and bacon...I'm eating a lot of meat these days doing my low carb thing, can't wait to go back. Thanks for the heads up about this place!

IMG_5614.JPG

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On 1/25/2018 at 8:13 PM, DonRocks said:

My guess is that there's something about the way the fat is distributed in a Wagyu tri-tip that demands low-and-slow cooking, but only after you've developed a two-sided shield to keep the juices inside the meat - I remember while carving it, a lot of juice ran off the cutting board.

Dude-- It's a myth! Searing meat does not seal in the juices. And did it rest after cooking? There shouldn't be a bunch of juice.

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17 minutes ago, Al Dente said:

Dude-- It's a myth! Searing meat does not seal in the juices. And did it rest after cooking? There shouldn't be a bunch of juice.

I saw the video, and I'm not sure I buy it. Putting a dry rub on the outside, and then applying high-heat on both sides, can easily form a veneer (certainly at least in theory) - if this occurred, then how could the juices possibly escape?

Yes, it rested after cooking (but how would resting eliminate the juice?) I'm not even sure why, exactly, you're supposed to rest steaks, but I've always done it without questioning why. I actually prefer my steaks served warm, not piping hot (kind of in the Yannick Cam school in the general case - the human palate becomes desensitized with ice-cold drinks and boiling hot soups, for example) - and I don't mind my steaks served barely above room temperature. The second tri-tip (which is pictured up on top) was on a wooden carving board, and I was the carver - there was so much juice spilling out that it ran off the cutting board (it didn't have a moat around the perimeter) and onto the coffee table - I distinctly remember having to wipe it up with a paper towel.

Keep in mind that this is Wagyu, which has a very different pattern of marbling than Angus - I know you understand cooking, and product, much better than I do, but I'm still not sure I buy into this video. Searing *alone* might not do anything (in fact, I don't see how it could), but searing with a rub - or any type of marinade that forms a shield when subjected to high heat - might.

I don't discount the possibility that I'm wrong, btw, but the chemistry and thermodynamics behind this lend credence to it being theoretically possible. It's the same principle, in reverse, as Minibar's Isomalt-encapsulated olive oil.

Damn it, where are Michael Landrum and Wilhelm Wanders when we need them?

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Jan 9, 2013 - "Does Searing Meat Really Seal In Its Juices?" on americastestkitchen.com

Jun, 2013 - "7 Myths about Cooking Steak That Need To Go away" by J. Kenji López-Alt on seriouseats.com

Jan 26, 2010 - "Should You Sear Steak?" on Felicity Cloake on theguardian.com

Oct 31, 2011 - "Harold McGee Debunks the 'Sealing in the Juices' Meat Myth" on chowhound.com

You can't argue with Mcgee.

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1 hour ago, Al Dente said:

You can't argue with Mcgee.

When I was growing up, it was a known fact that Columbus discovered America.

Moon illusion. Truth is: People still don't know why the moon looks larger on the horizon (wasn't it you who brought this up here? [Edit: yes]) - I learned from that discussion, and I still think about it more often than I should.

Having done battle with the medical industry, twice, for almost the past twenty years, it's *astounding* how much medical science doesn't know about things - people would, and should, be scared shitless (among hundreds, perhaps thousands, of other things, refer to antibiotics and opioids).

I'll read those four links, but answer me this: If juices have no way to escape, then what happens to them? And why are you saying that there shouldn't be a bunch of juice? The fattier the cut, the more juice (which is partly melted fat) there will be.

Bear in mind: I'm not saying you're wrong; you may well be right - and it certainly makes sense that increasing internal heat also increases internal pressure, causing fibers to rupture, and pushing the juices towards the outside; I'm just wondering if you can form a lacquer by rubbing-then-searing - I don't see how searing alone could prevent juices from escaping. Also, increasing external heat acts as a Ram-Air, pushing juices towards the inside.

Ram-Air.jpg

Understand also, you're having a conversation with someone who was summarily dismissed by Kaz Okochi, because I urged him to try his tea (which he sips on constantly at work) at something closer to "warm" instead of "hot," proposing that it might bring out more flavor.

Don't get me started on coffee. Actually, I need coffee to get started. That forms something of a paradox, I think - or maybe not.

[Edit: I apologize - I just wrote an entire post without mentioning a single vulgarity. Testicle.]

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Postscript: I read all four articles (and watched the video) - all of them do a very nice job of debunking the notion that searing the meat retains the juices, but all four of them eliminate all external variables. I always assumed that it was the rub itself - not the meat - that searing would melt, or at least cause to cling to the surface of the meat, that forms a type of skin. I still haven't seen anything to disprove that, although to be honest, I have *no idea* if various types of dry rubs do anything more than grains of sand would - in other words, they may just be flavoring agents, but I always assumed otherwise without really thinking about it. BTW, that seriouseats article - which I skimmed more than read - was flawed: Bone-in steaks *do* have more flavor, because the meat closes to the bone slowly changes at the molecular level, ultimately becoming tendon (tendons connect muscle-to-bone; ligaments connect bone-to-bone), and adipose tissue is more flavorful (and juicy) than lean meat (compare, for example, a ribeye to a filet mignon (I have nothing against a good filet mignon - in fact, I think it handles saucing more elegantly than fattier cuts (picture Bernaise, for example))). Anyway, if I'm wrong about dry rub forming a barrier when heated, then I'm wrong about everything - nothing new there.

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1 hour ago, DonRocks said:

I'll read those four links, but answer me this: If juices have no way to escape, then what happens to them? And why are you saying that there shouldn't be a bunch of juice? The fattier the cut, the more juice (which is partly melted fat) there will be.

Bear in mind: I'm not saying you're wrong; you may well be right - and it certainly makes sense that increasing internal heat also increases internal pressure, causing fibers to rupture, and pushing the juices towards the outside; I'm just wondering if you can form a lacquer by rubbing-then-searing - I don't see how searing alone could prevent juices from escaping. Also, increasing external heat acts as a Ram-Air, pushing juices towards the inside.

[Edit: I apologize - I just wrote an entire post without mentioning a single vulgarity. Testicle.]

I'm not sure I'm understanding your first question. Juices do escape, but searing doesn't keep them in as most folks think. If you rest meat, the juices redistribute through the cut and the pressure evens out. There should be very little juice on your cutting board. I have not had the pleasure of cooking Wagyu, so I can't speak to what all the rendered fat does. I imagine that like bacon, you'd have some grease, but rendered fat is clear, not pink or red.

Dry rub. Hmmm. I've always wondered whether or not a dry rub is a good idea for pan searing. Seems to me that the spices would burn, so I don't know what to tell you about your lacquered meat.

I'm still perplexed by the moon thing too.

PS-- meat in cryovac bags suck.

Cremaster muscle.

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On 1/25/2018 at 3:56 PM, Mark Dedrick said:

I cook tri tip a lot, in part because it reminds me a lot of the west coast. I also use a Big Green Egg, seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Mesquite chips for smoke.Typically when cooking I'll got at a lower temperature (more around 350), for slightly longer, and will cook it to about medium. It's an extremely flavorful cut, but I think it benefits from a bit more cooking. 

I used to cook tri tip.  I learned about it on the West Coast and when one could begin to find it in the east, it was a cut I savored.  I too found it flavorful.  Now its been a long time.  I probably need to purchase some. 

One thing I loved about it, after cooking so that the slices looked like the top photo in this thread, extra slices made for tremendous steak sandwiches with real steak/real quality meat and appropriate seasonings, slatherings and toppings.  My recommended bread was a kaiser roll.  Not surprisingly these sandwiches were appropriately matched with very cold beer, possibly even cheap mass produced beers and better beers-- but very cold. 

Tri tip steak sandwiches, cold beer.  An excellent pairing.

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28 minutes ago, Al Dente said:

There should be very little juice on your cutting board.

Let me ask you this: I may be making a fundamental mistake. I know that, when the meat is on your plate, you're supposed to cut it against the grain (as that unlocks juices within the now-severed fibers). But when I carve a steak, I'm also carving it against the grain (look at the picture in the first post), and now I'm thinking that I should be carving it *along* the grain, so no juices leak out during the carving phase. (Maybe there are different, optimal ways of carving, depending on whether or not the steak is served on the platter, for example, on top of an absorbent starch (bread, rice, whatever), in which case you'd *want* the juices to leak out).

Does this explain why I'm getting juices on the carving block when I shouldn't be? If so, I'll carve my next steak along the grain and give it a try (which, incidentally, will be in about seven hours). Cutting against the grain sure makes for a good-looking picture, however.

Understand: I don't know how to boil an egg. And I'm not kidding: *I Don't Know How To Boil An Egg*.

(The #1 question I've gotten in the past dozen years has been: "Are you a good cook?" My answer is simple: "With brief exceptions of short duration, I've eaten out every meal of my life since I was 18-years-old (if you want to include my college cafeteria) - how could I possibly be good at something I've done only a few times?")

Sad, but true. I did, however, make a *sensational* Steak Tartar - the best I've ever eaten - but that was in the late 1980s. It took me two hours just to hand-cut (and no, I didn't cut my hand). In the early 1990s, I had two friends over for dinner, and I made a meat loaf that they *adored* - they were raving about it - but it was so good because it was made with the most expensive cut of filet mignon I could find, and I never had the heart to tell them that I cooked it in the microwave (yes, I had gone out and bought a book of E-Z Microwave Recipes, but the filet mignon was my own idea!) :mellow:

And I liked your cremasteric reflex, but only on paper. Rest assured you wouldn't want to have to live with mine.

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24 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

Let me ask you this: I may be making a fundamental mistake. I know that, when the meat is on your plate, you're supposed to cut it against the grain (as that unlocks juices within the now-severed fibers). But when I carve a steak, I'm also carving it against the grain (look at the picture in the first post), and now I'm thinking that I should be carving it *with* the grain, so no juices leak out during the carving phase.

Does this explain why I'm getting juices on the carving block when I shouldn't be? If so, I'll carve my next steak along the grain and give it a try (which, incidentally, will be in about seven hours).

The purpose of carving against the grain is to keep it tender. This works because you're breaking those long fibers up into short pieces. If you cut with the grain, it'll be much tougher. I don't know that this applies to all meat. I'm thinking of filet mignon-- you pretty much can't help but cut with the grain because you or your butcher has already cut against the grain when processing the whole tenderloin. I suppose you could lay the steak on its side, but the meat is so tender already. 

I don't know what you mean by unlocking juices. Seems to me that the juice will be there whether you cut with or against the grain. Maybe you meant that some of that meat juice won't be released in your mouth before you swallow it if you cut with the grain. 

My apologies for using meat, juice, released, mouth, and swallow in the same sentence.

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22 minutes ago, Al Dente said:

The purpose of carving against the grain is to keep it tender. This works because you're breaking those long fibers up into short pieces. If you cut with the grain, it'll be much tougher. I don't know that this applies to all meat. I'm thinking of filet mignon-- you pretty much can't help but cut with the grain because you or your butcher has already cut against the grain when processing the whole tenderloin. I suppose you could lay the steak on its side, but the meat is so tender already. 

I don't know what you mean by unlocking juices. Seems to me that the juice will be there whether you cut with or against the grain. Maybe you meant that some of that meat juice won't be released in your mouth before you swallow it if you cut with the grain. 

My apologies for using meat, juice, released, mouth, and swallow in the same sentence.

I'm talking about two separate things: 1) carving the large steak on a carving block, and 2) cutting individual portions on a dinner plate.

Should I *carve* along the grain, and then *cut* against the grain? Now that I'm thinking about it, that makes sense to me (there are intra-fiber juices (probably mostly water) that would be preserved if you carve along the grain, then released as each individual cuts their own portion, against the grain, on their dinner plates).

Visualize this: If you carve against the grain, you'll be cutting along the grain; if you carve along the grain, you'll be cutting against the grain (look at the picture up top for an example of the former, although given the shape of a tri-tip, that's more of a diagonal than a parallel or perpendicular carve).

A hanger steak is an example of something that has been carved (or butchered) along the grain, but when you cut it, you cut it against the grain. A tenderloin is an example of something that is carved against the grain, but cut along the grain. I guess nobody knows what the hell I'm talking about by now, but anyone into binary truth tables could have a field day with this one.

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