How to Cut Tri Tip Steak Easily With This Method

What’s the best type of steak we hear you ask? Well it’s the tri tip steak of course, it’s tasty and comes from the toughest muscle in the cow. But, it sure does have the best flavor of any meat from the animal. You’re here to learn how to cut tri tip right?

It is great if you leave it to marinade for hours, with a choice of cilantro, jalapeno, lime and garlic for your marinade, you can rustle up a real tasty meat treat. This piece of meat will turn out to be the most delicious steak you will ever eat.

Although it is one of the most delicious cuts of meat and it being one of the most popular steaks around, there are a large number of people who are still unsure on how to serve it. So, today we are going to be showing you the exact way on How To Cut Tri Tip steak and serve it amongst your family and friends.

how to cut tri tip

Contents

What is Tri-Tip?

tri tip cut

Well tri-tip is a cut of meat which comes from cows, it looks like triangle. Fact, if you look at it quickly some would almost say it resembles a boomerang.

When you have the meat in front of you, you can see that it has one shorter side, usually the right. On the left you will notice that the meat turns slightly and you will notice that there is a grain which runs in 3 different directions throughout. What you are essentially looking at is a bottom sirloin sub primal cut.

Looking at this meat in greater depth, you will notice that there is a seam of fat which runs down the middle(ish) from top to bottom. Where this seam is you will notice all the grains which are run against each other.

With this being such a complex cut of meat, it can sometimes feel daunting when you have to slice it up and service it. You may start by asking your family about the best ways to cut it or do a quick Google search of “How To Cut Tri Tip” to see the proper way to cut triangular shaped beef.

To start cutting the meat there are a few tools that you are going to need. Usually people already have these tools so no need to rush out to the store just yet.

tri tip grains

One of the first things people often ask is what’s best, how to cut tri tip cooked or uncooked?

Should You Cut a Tri-Tip Cooked or Uncooked

raw tri tip

Many people often wonder if they should first cut their steak when they have cooked it and when it is still raw.

We recommend that you cook it first and then cut it. Broiling your steak or grilling it with salt, pepper and fresh garlic is a way that we would suggest when you are looking to cook it. As we would recommend for most lean cut steaks, the tri-tip is best served to a medium-rare standard, usually achieved by cooking at around 130-135 fahrenheit. But, with the fact that the meat isn’t perfect even throughout, you may find the the slightly thinner side may become more well done and have a thicker center which may be a pinkish color.

Once you have completed your desired cooking method and you have cooked the meat at its desired temperature, cover it over and leave it to rest for 15 minutes.

Why do you need to let it rest? Good question, this resting process will help to get all the juices to settle down and stop flowing through the meat. Skipping this step and directly cutting your steak will cause the cut in the meat to allow all the juices to run right out and could cause your steak to dry out. A dry steak is not something that is going to be tasty we can tell you that.

When you have allowed your steak to rest for around 15 minutes you will be ready to begin the cutting process. Place it on a non slip cutting board/surface, one with a gully would be perfect, as it will allow you to catch the juices as you slice into the meat.

You may be asking yourself how to cut tri tip correctly? Well, having the meat cut correctly will allow the meat to taste better and often times will reduce it being as chewy when eating.

What You Will Need

To make sure that you cut this steak correctly you are going to need the right tools.

Typically, the tri-tip  weighs in around 1 – 3 pounds and will be enough to serve between 3-4 people even more depending on your cut sizes. If you make sandwiches you could serve up to 10 people!

When it comes to the required tools, these are usually found in everyone’s kitchen but they are certainly required to get the job done right. So make sure they you either have them all or go and purchase them.

Required Tools

  • Sharp Knife and A Fork
  • A Non Slip Cutting Board/Surface
  • A Serving Plate

Quick Cutting Tip: If you don’t have a non slip cutting board/surface you can take a wet towel and place it under the board/surface. This will help you to have sturdy surface whilst you are cutting your meat. You need to make sure that you are cutting in the safest way possible when you are first starting out cutting any kind of meat.

How To Cut Tri Tip

Cutting Tri Tip

When it comes to cutting the meat, it isn’t too difficult but it is just a little confusing at the start. Especially if you haven’t cut the Tri Tip kind of steak before.

If you are struggling, think back to when the meat was in its raw state and the way it was laid out. Think about the fat seam and the way in which the grains were running.

Your initial cut should be down the seam of fat, this will help to split your tri-tip steak in half and see again how the grains/seams run.

We will focus on the first half, so make sure you check the grains from the seam on your second half.

Repeat this process on the first half, cutting on the base.

You will begin to notice how the seam changes on the second half of the steak. Work your way down till your around ¾ down just before the second change within the grain.

Rotate your steak and complete the cut, always make sure that you are cutting against the grain.

Final Thoughts

cooked tri tip

Well as much fun as we are having, that’s pretty much it!

As you can see now from when we said earlier, cutting a tri-tip isn’t as hard as you may think. It can just be confusing when you are new to cutting this piece of steak and if you don’t know a steak anatomy.

You can now feel more confident knowing that you can cut tri tip like a professional. So, take this amazing how to cut tri tip, and go impress your friends with your tender cut slices and show them how you can easily slice a tri tip steak. Don’t forget to share this article with them and of course Enjoy!