Costco Tri Tip Cooking Instructions

I picked up a Prime tri tip at Costco yesterday and it was a beauty!

Costco has this labeled as a "Beef Loin Tri Tip Roast" which is confusing as this cut does not come from the loin and most people cook this like a steak instead of as a roast. That's okay though, this was USDA Prime and all that really matters is that it was delicious!

Costco Tri Tip

Is the Tri Tip a Good Cut of Beef?

A tri tip can be one of the best steaks you have ever had if you treat it right. They typically weigh between 2 and 3 pounds and, since there is almost no waste fat or gristle, will feed between 4-6 people.

The tri tip comes from the bottom of the Sirloin which makes it full of flavor. The ones sold at Costco are usually Prime grade which means great marbling and increased tenderness.

Costco usually prices this cut about 30% lower than their ribeyes which makes this a nice value.

Nice Marbling on Prime Tri Tip

If you look at the label for this steak you will see that Costco has "blade tenderized" the meat which is a double edged sword.

On the positive side, blade tenderization (which Costco also does with their flap steaks) basically involves punching it with a bunch of needles to break up the meat fibers. As a result you should expect this tri tip to be more tender than usual.

On the negative side, the process of punching the meat with needles has the potential to introduce bacteria into the meat which is why the minimum recommended internal temperature is 145F. I consider 145F to be over cooked as far as steaks are concerned.

How to Cook a Costco Tri Tip?

The trick for cooking this cut is to cook it at low temperature for a long period of time. Sometimes I will smoke a tri tip on my pellet grill but for this cook I broke out the immersion heater and cooked it Sous Vide.

The reason I like to use either a smoker or an immersion heater is directly related to blade tenderization. There are two ways to make sure any bacteria that might have accidently been introduced during the blade tenderization process are eliminated:

The first way is to follow the instruction on the label and cook the meat to a minimum temperature of 145F followed by a three minute rest.
The second way is to cook it to a lower final temperature but hold it at that temperature for a much longer period of time.

This tri tip got seasoned with Morton's Season All and black pepper, sealed in a Foodsaver bag and then was simmered at 131F for 3 hours.

Steak prepared for Sous Vide cooking

It only takes about an hour for the steak to reach an internal temperature of 131F. The extra two hours it sat in the water bath helped make sure the roast was tender but mainly was to make sure any potential bacteria had time to get destroyed.

After the steak simmered for three hours I took it out of the bag, patted it dry with paper towels and seared it for 2 minutes per side with a cast iron skillet and rendered brisket fat.

Searing Tri Tip in Cast Iron

Serving the Tri Tip

After the steak has been seared it looks great but it can be challenging to see the grain pattern. Before you start slicing into this bad boy take a minute to find the grain and make sure that you are slicing against it,

Seared Tri Tip

This steak was

Prime Beef
Blade Tenderized
Cooked Low and Slow
Sliced Against the Grain

It had no choice but to be "pull apart tender"!

Perfectly Cooked Tri Tip Steak

We served this with some boiled jumbo shrimp as part of a Surf and Turf platter along with a few veggies and scalloped potatoes. Don't worry, the broccoli is only in the picture just in case my mother reads this…we didn't actually eat it.

Steak with Shrimp and Veggies

We are talking about seriously delicious eats. Everything was extraordinarily great!

Steak with Shrimp and Veggies

Costco Tri Tip {Sous Vide Recipe}

A tri tip is seasoned with seasoned salt and pepper then cooked Sous Vide at 131F for three hours. The steak is then seared in brisket fat and sliced against the grain.

Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 3 hrs

Total Time 3 hrs 15 mins

2 pound Costco Tri Tip Roast
2 tbls Morton Season All
2 tbls black pepper
2 tbls rendered brisket fat substitute peanut oil if needed

Season the tri tip liberally with the seasoned salt and black pepper.
Place the meat into a Foodsaver bag and vacuum seal.
Immerse the bag into a water bath maintained at 131F.
Let the steak simmer for three hours.
Remove the steak from the bag and pat dry with paper towels.
Add the rendered brisket fat to a 12 inch cast iron skillet and heat until the fat just starts to smoke.
Place the steak into the skillet and sear for two minutes per side.
Slice the steak thinly across the grain and serve with your choice of sides.

The tri tip is a large piece of meat so I don't bother with marinades.

If you want to do a "Hot and Fast" cooking method such as grilling then make sure you take the meat to an internal temperature of 145F followed by a three minute rest.