2 unrelated questions. Tri-Tip Sirloin Roast, and Tinned Anchovies

Cooking Discussions
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My local has tri-tip sirloin “roasts” at half price ($6.50 vs $13 usual). How do you cook these? What is your favorite? As a slow roast, or do you cut it up into steaks? Any advice is much appreciated.

The other question is re tinned anchovies. I’ve got one Cento brand flat pack left that a recipe for tonight calls for, but it’s got a (very small) bulge in the can despite the use by date being this coming April. When I went to the store, all the King Oscars on shelf (also dated also April) were noticeably deformed - they all had rocker bottoms and bulges on top. In anyone’s experience, do tinned flatpack anchovies ever meet their use-by dates?

Thanks, as always, for any advice.

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I think tri tips are pretty multi-use, so you should divvy them up based on what gets the most use for you — roast, sirloin tips, steak, or stirfry.

Re the anchovies, safe answer is don’t use, but I tend to play it a bit loose, especially as you’re going to fry them down first.

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My experience with tri tip is cook high heat and fast like a London Broil. I’ve been less pleased with slow because at least the ones we get out here are too lean to slow roast.
A tricky cut of meat I didn’t grow up with. @Saregama is right, divide and try both methods.

Edit: google is split on the subject.

Not an anchovy fan so I can’t help.
Not a sardine fan either!

:slight_smile:

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I have only done tri-tip two ways. I marinate overnight and then low and slow in my stick burner, OR cubed, marinated, and skewered and cooked hot and fast over a live fire. Either way is good.

As for your anchovies, I would probably toss them. Knowing that all the ones on the shelf at the store are also bulging is not much reassurance, and cooking them may not address toxins that may have accumulated inside. Bad bugs will be killed when cooked sufficiently, but their waste products may not be neutralized and could still consign you to a night of shouting at the ground or worse.

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I sous vide the tri tip for 18 hours and then sear it in a cast iron skillet smokin hot. Comes out wonderful.

I cant comment on the anchovies…

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Your cut is known in German speaking countries also as Tafelspitz. You can make Austria’s national dish

re: anchovies - wouldn’t use it. Not worth the risk

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I’m with this school, cooking it whole on a kamado-style grill at about 225 degrees. A 2-3 lb. tri-tip usually takes about 35-45 minutes.

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Tips, for sure. As for the anchovies, ‘when in doubt…return it’.
My local grocery won’t accept returns still, 4 something years after the pandemic, however they will do a refund, no questions.

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That grain diagram and cutting guide alone is worth the visit to their website:

image
image1200×900 180 KB

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Interesting that they have called for literally boiling the beef.
I don’t think I’d like that. Simmering, yes.
Seems that’s one of the lessons I learned long ago.

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The other weird thing is that the only two comments to the recipe say it is definitely not made with tri-tip, but rather round.

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For a group picnic, I got a tri-tip. I covered it in my sekret rub (ancho chili powder, garlic, garam masala) and grilled it. Since the cut varies in thickness, I lopped off the thinner parts when it got to medium rare, sliced as in the diagram above. Sadly, I didn’t let it rest before slicing, so it lost a lot of juice on the cutting board.

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In my profession as translator, Tafelspitz is most often translated as boiled breast of veal, which I find confusing. When I looked up the cut, it said top round.

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Tri-tip has been all the rage in California for some time. Until comparatively recently, you hardly ever saw it mentioned anywhere outside the far west. Lately though, it has been working its way east.

Californians swear by Santa Maria style BBQ tri-tip, which appears to be more of a grill to me. With them, the terms Tri-tip and Santa Maria seem inseparable. You rub the meat with “Santa Maria” rub and grill it; of course, everybody has his own versions of the rub and the recipe. Google “santa maria tri tip” and you will be able to spend hours educating yourself.

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Tagelspitz isn’t boiled but gets simmer for longer times

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Santa Maria tri-tip is traditionally grilled over red oak and served with salsa and pinquito beans (small pinto beans). Tri-tip use to be an inexpensive cut but it’s user friendly (hard to screw up, nice beefy taste) and popularity has jacked up prices. It makes good hamburger and also is cut up to make Coulotte steaks. Personally I like to grill over mesquite but have to watch as it gets hot AF. This past year I sous vide a couple of tri-tips at 132f for 24 hours and then finish on the grill along with some onions and sweet peppers. I also SV a tri-tip and seared in a cast iron skillet and made a pan gravy, then cut thin like a roast.

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Slow roast the Tri-Tip or cut in steaks as desired. (I prefer the former.) As for the sardines, can’t say anything but that in general you should ignore use-by dates as meaningless in terms of food safety. There are no actual standards for them; nothing official about them; they’re entirely arbitrary. They are put there by the packer/mfr to make retailers clear their shelves for next shipment. It’s a LITTLE different when it comes to dairy, in which case a working nose is usually better. At my local outlet store I often buy 8 oz pucks of imported President brie or camembert for $1.99 (about $8 online) when the use-by is about a month away. When the date is down to one week the price is down to 99cents, so I load up.

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Interesting, I’ve only seen sirloin top/cap steaks called coulotte, whereas tri tip is sirloin bottom.

I did a sort of fake sous vide for these by roasting at about 155°F (the lowest I can get my oven to run) for about 3.5 hours then seared

I did one with a Santa Monica style rub, and the other with my all purpose rub. Both were great and all 8 of us loved them.

I ran out and bought two more.

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Agree about ‘use by’ dates. I’d be more concerned about the bulging.

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Have you ever had Santa Maria BBQ? It uses tri tip. So delicious .

Whoops.I see you have. LOL.

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