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The Best Smoked Tri-Tip – Time and Temp
Smoked tri-tip is a California classic: a quick reverse sear to a juicy medium-rare with a peppery, Santa-Maria-style crust. It is fast, affordable, and slices like a dream when you cut it right. Set your dinner time below and we will plan the cook backward to the minute.
How to smoke the best smoked tri-tip
Smoke the tri-tip at 225 to 250 F until it hits about 125 F internal for medium-rare (usually 60 to 90 minutes), then sear it hard over direct heat or in a screaming-hot pan for a minute or two per side. Carryover takes it to 130 to 135 F. If you would rather cook it brisket-style instead, you wrap at 165 F and push to roughly 203 F and probe tender, which is a completely different ending. The key is the slice: tri-tip has two grain directions, so cut each half against its own grain.
Tips
- Reverse sear: smoke to 125 F, then a hard, fast sear.
- Season simply – salt, pepper, garlic (Santa Maria style).
- Slice against the grain, and mind the two grain directions.
- Do not overcook; tri-tip is best medium-rare to medium.
Frequently asked
What temp is tri-tip done? Pull at about 125 F, sear, and carryover reaches 130 to 135 F for medium-rare.
How long to smoke tri-tip? Roughly 60 to 90 minutes at 225 to 250 F plus the sear. The calculator sizes it exactly.
How do I slice tri-tip? Against the grain – and note it changes direction, so cut each half separately.
How much tri-tip do I need to buy and cook?
Fine-tune trim & cook loss
Lost to trim: - · lost to the cook: -
💲 Compare price: trimmed vs untrimmed
How Much Tri-tip Per Person (Serving Size Chart)
| Guests | Raw Tri-tip to buy | Trimmed (on the smoker) | Cooked (served) | Good pick |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-5 | 4.6 lb | 2.8 lb | 2.2 lb | ~4.6 lb (sizes vary) |
| 6-10 | 9.2 lb | 5.5 lb | 4.4 lb | ~9.2 lb (sizes vary) |
| 11-15 | 14 lb | 8.3 lb | 6.6 lb | ~14 lb (sizes vary) |
| 16-20 | 18 lb | 11 lb | 8.8 lb | ~18 lb (sizes vary) |
| 21-30 | 28 lb | 17 lb | 13 lb | ~28 lb (sizes vary) |
| 31-40 | 37 lb | 22 lb | 18 lb | ~37 lb (sizes vary) |
| 41-50 | 46 lb | 28 lb | 22 lb | ~46 lb (sizes vary) |
Raw weight to comfortably feed the top of each range at an average appetite (~0.44 lb cooked per person), no leftovers. Bump up a size for hearty eaters, light sides, or leftovers.
Tri-tip prices: retail vs wholesale
Tri-Tip costs about $19.99 a pound at the grocery store this week and $4.53 a pound wholesale. The lowest advertised price is in the South Central at $7.48 (29 stores). USDA data: grocery ads running Oct 10-16, wholesale trades through Oct 16.
$19.99/lb national grocery ad average for Tri-Tip Roast (ads running Oct 10-16, 17 stores)
$4.53/lb wholesale, Choice tri-tip (IMPS 185C) – USDA boxed-cut trades, Oct 12-Oct 16, 332,552 lb traded. The shelf price also covers cutting, packaging, labor, shrink and the store’s margin, and a supplier quotes above this for their margin, spec and delivery.
Dashed line: national average $19.99
See prices for every cut → · How much should you buy? · Cooking for money? Price the whole job
Source: USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (Market News + LMPRS mandatory reporting), tracked daily by MeatSmokingCalculator. Retail = advertised grocery feature prices; wholesale = national boxed primal values. Not a quote – your store and supplier will vary.
Where tri-tip finishes. Pull temperature on one thermometer, against the safety floors; the faint ticks are every other cut on the chart.
Times & temperatures
| Style | Method | Pit temp | Approx time | Pull / done temp |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Classic | Slow and Low | 225°F / 107°C | varies | Rare 125°F · Medium-Rare 130°F · Medium 145°F · Medium-Well 150°F · Well 160°F |
| Classic | Hot and Fast | 300°F / 149°C | varies | Rare 125°F · Medium-Rare 130°F · Medium 145°F · Medium-Well 150°F · Well 160°F |
📊 See the full smoking times & temps chart for every cut →
Keep these numbers. Save a card with tri-tip’s pit temp, time and pull temp, or put them on your own site.
Paste this on your site. The times stay current and the credit link stays attached.
From the community
Written by John Kirker, who built the first meat smoking calculator in 2011. Times come from cooks we have actually run and logged; temperature and feel decide the finish, never the clock alone.
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