"Santa Maria Style BBQ" Oakwood Grilled Tri-tip

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Got one of these on my Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker right now. (No water in the pan and four nice hunks of red oak on top of the coals.

Regarding the seasoning, just make your own. I use a mix of salt, garlic powder, and MSG as a base. (Just like Susie. Next I add a little cayenne and ground cumin to taste. (I season mine well and let it sit at room temp for about an hour.

BTW, to the person saying 6 Tbs of salt is too much: yeah, it is. It is a rub mixture to be used only as much as makes sense. I find 2Tbs is plenty for a large roast. I also re-season after slicing. The baste is optional, but tasty.

Tonight we're going kicked-up torta style sandwiches. Garlic butter on french bread roll, a schmear of refried beans, homemade pico de gallo, guacamole, and a few nice slices of tri-tip. MMmmmmmm...

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This is an awesome recipe, Frank Ostini has been Bbqing forever in the Santa Maria area, I have had his BBQ before and it's awesome. If your from the area then you know there are 20-30 different groups of people bbqing in some parking lot in Santa Maria any given weekend. Santa Maria style is not one specific recipe, it is a style. If you buy franks seasoning it says on the label to experiment with the recipe and if you find seething you like better to use that. So try his to start and if you think a little tweak would be better try it. I personally use beer instead of red wine vinegar and real garlic with olive oil instead of an infused oil. Good luck. Never put holes in your tri tip, turn it with tongs and let it rest for 10+ minutes after you grill. Oak is best, red oak if you can get it.

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I use this recipe now every time I cook Tri Tip. Surprised all of the "locals" wasted good beef on this recipe when they have their own style perfected. Unless they didn't actually try the recipe before they trashed it. Naw, that would not be cool.

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Santa Maria Style is really about the red oak. Back when tri-tip was only available in Santa Maria, we only crusted the meat with margarita salt. Over the years Lawry's Season Salt was common, and then Susie Q. The beer was to drink and put out flare ups. Tri-tip wasn't trimmed back in the day, so flare up was common. I have found that a trimmed tri-tip will cook to perfection in 28 minutes if you start fat side down and flip it every 7 minutes. Don't shy away from the salt just slice it thin across the grain.

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Susie Q's seasoning blend and oak wood is Santa Maria Style

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Over red oak, Well OK if you cant do that . But no basting.
Salt Garlic salt maybe onion powder and pepper. Med Hi grill temp
Med rare. umm good. Plus cook fat side up at first.

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Good recipe and the basting sauce is a good idea. I've had plenty of "authentic" tri-tip that was too dry or stringy, so no worries about adding a little moisture. Don't worry too much about the "authentic" part--real Santa Maria BBQ folks don't. It is just a way to cook outdoors for a crowd that is quick, easy, and inexpensive compared to say, Texas-style brisket.I did cut down on the salt also. The Santa Maria style is more about relaxed outdoor dining on long, beautiful California evenings than strict recipes and there are many variations on the theme.

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6 teable spoons of salt?? I cut to 3 teablespoons and it was horrible...

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Im from Santa Maria and have been eating SM style BBQ my whole life. This recipe is wrong on so many levels. We only use Susie Q's seasoning on tri tip, no marinade or basting liquid. Cooked only over an oak wood fire. So many people try to imitate Santa Maria style BBQ'ing and so many people get it wrong. So sad.

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My brother in laws father and friends used to cater large affairs for lockheed,and other aerospace industries down in southern cal back in the early 70's, the recipe for the rub is basic. 1 part salt,1 part pepper, 1part garlic salt.
thats it,period(for the rub.Then there are the beans,like Bush's i will keep that one to myself.Lastly garlic bread. Thats it. So, Bobby Flay or whomever writes this recipe up,this is it,please get it right.You use oak wood and fat side down of tri-tips you flame them real good ,flip,count to ten,set aside cover and roast.
Oh yes,if you would like the real santa maria bean recipe,contact me and we can work something out.
sincerely,
John Maxwell