I would take you up on it if I wasn't hung up about my privacy. Heck, I live in the same neighborhood that DD inhabits and passed up seeing a game or sharing a beer with him more than once over the years. If I ever change my BBS policy, I'll be sure to let you know, you and several other great members here that would be fun to meet.
I'm starting to think finding good bbq is getting pretty easy, relatively speaking. That's a far cry from what bbq used to be outside of places like Lockhart, Llano, Giddings, Taylor, etc. Now it seems it's not about finding "good bbq", it's about finding "even better" or "another great" bbq. And that's a good thing.
No doubt this is true. There was no better-than-okay bbq in the cities of Austin/Dallas/Houston, and man that has changed. Somebody could make a killing opening an "even better" or "another great" place in either Fredricksburg or Marble Falls. The populations in both areas have boomed and you're overloaded with tourists. My buddy and I worked on opening one in Fburg, he was ready to quit his corporate job, then the location fell through and a few months later he got offered the job of Hospitality Director at the King Ranch, so that's as close as I'll ever get to bbq joint co-ownership.
Yeah, Fredericksburg could really use “another great” BBQ place. It would be the first one I know of. We go there a couple of times a year because of a great cabin a few miles out of town with an excellent hot tub. Scarf down some German food (which Austin could sure as hell use), drink some beer and wine, and continue to be shocked at how many old folks there are (even if we fit the description - at least I do). No excellent BBQ, though.
You're welcome to wait for whatever you want. Buck pointed out a new place that wasn't in the article. I went, enjoyed it and thought I'd share. I've eaten at some of the best (Franklin, LA BBQ, Mullers, Smittys, Blacks, Snows, Burns, Gatlins, Truth, Kilens, Coopers) and I can tell you interstellar is good enough to be on that list.
This reminds me. There's a place around here that opened a year or so ago started buy a guy from California that does tri-tip. California is apparently known for tri-tip (I had no idea). I have to try it one day even if it does mean venturing through Jerryland : http://tritipgrill.com/
Only place I'm seeing it is Victorian's BBQ, only on Saturdays. Call to see what their new Eado address is. http://www.victoriansbarbecue.com/
Originally from California... and yes, tri-tip was something I used to see all over the place but not here in Texas. I occasionally see it at Krogers and once asked the butcher for it (he told me the same story... I must be from California, not much request here in Texas). When cooked correctly... its awesome.
Tri-tip is often called the poor mans prime rib. My daughter is a huge fan and i've had great results cooking sous vide and finishing on the grill.
How do you season it, what temp and how long? Ive never really tried tri-tip and have been curious for awhile. Just found out that a local place that does all Natural Belgian Blue beef.
I did coarse salt and cracked black pepper and some chopped garlic before vacuume sealing it. Then I put in the sous vide at 125 for 1.5 hours, then dried it off. Rubbed it with olive oil and resalted and peppered before doing a quick external char on the outside. It was a perfect med rare through out which apparently is hard to do traditionally since the tri tip isn’t a uniformed sized piece of meat.
You should look into Tones Canadian steak seasoning. It has all that in one easy pour/shaker and its all coarse pieces, which we all love. Edit: If you want the best black pepper in the world, try Cambodian black pepper, specifically from the Kampot province. Its a game changer if youre cracking your own pepper.
My advice is to not cook it hot like a steak, but don't cook it so slow like a brisket. Build your charcoals, sear it, make a hot and not hot side, put it on the not hot side and take your time. Great thing about the tri tip is that the end will get done earlier...so you pull it off and slice meat and eat it, then put it back on the grill, and repeat.
Tri-tips come in very weird and oddly shaped forms. It’s very thick in some areas and then the ends get super thin. When you cook it you want to make sure it gets cooked evenly. Pound and flatten it out. Basically, what you wanna do is beat your meat. For seasoning maybe a little black pepper. Keep it simple cause you’ll really want to be able to taste the A1 when it’s done. Pro-tip for the Tri-tip make sure to pierce through the steak with a knife a few times before grilling. This way you don’t have too much juice build up. It’s get in the way of the A1 flavor and totally ruins it.
