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April 26, 2022
I had some fun making this Tri-tip recipe. I had never cranked my Traeger Ironwood 885 up to cook something this fast. I grilled up some delicious tri-tip at a sizzling 500 degrees F. I did it in about an hour, and now you can, too.
I’ve never cooked a tri-tip like this before, but the recipe turned out incredible. Our rub mixture of my Simple Citrus and Garlic Jalapeno rubs, chopped rosemary, and ground black pepper created a beautiful crust on this tri-tip. I ran my Traeger at 500 degrees F, cooking hot and fast, and pulled it out after about 30 minutes. It was so tender and juicy. I’ll definitely be using this recipe again real soon.
I cooked my tri-tip on the top rack of my Traeger Ironwood 885 at 500 degrees F, with some Traeger Pecan Pellets and Royal Oak Charcoal.
If you want to follow along, I shot a video of every step of this recipe. I also have the instructions at the bottom of this blog.
Let’s get after it.
I mixed the black pepper, my Simple Citrus Rub and Garlic Jalapeno Rub, and fresh chopped up rosemary together in a small bowl. It was chunky, which suited the tri-tip just fine.
I laid out the meat on my cutting board and drizzled olive oil on both sides. I sprinkled the rub on both sides, patting it in as I went.
I fired up my Traeger Ironwood 885 to 500 degrees F.
I put my tri-tip directly on the top rack of the grill so the air would form a nicer crust on the meat. I grilled it for 25 minutes and then checked it. It was only at 111 degrees F, and I wanted it to be at around 125 degrees, so I closed it back up to cook for a few more minutes.
I took this opportunity to put some cast iron on the grill, just in case I want to sear this meat off.
About 5 minutes later, my alarm went off, so I checked it again. The tri-tip had a beautiful color and was swelling up. When I went to check it, the tri-tip had reached an internal temperature of 130 degrees F.
Since it looked so good already, I decided not to use the cast iron to sear it off. It just didn’t need it.
I used tongs and took it off the grill. The flavors from the rub and the meat itself smelled flat-out amazing.
The meat rested on a pan for about 20 minutes. I never cut into my meat right away. I want to give it time to cool and for the juices to distribute all through the meat. Waiting a little bit makes for a juicier, tastier outcome.
I took the tri-tip off the pan and laid it on my cutting board. The mark I’d made before I cooked it helped me know which way I needed to be cutting. I ended up slicing right through the mark to make it easier.
As I was cutting it up, I knew this recipe was a winner. I could see the juicy color all through the meat and it felt tender all the way through, too.
I sliced it thin, maybe ⅛ of an inch thick.
I sprinkled a little bit of salt on it, and it was ready to go.
Boy, this was damn good. Every morsel was mouthwatering, tender, and juicy. The rub I made set it off perfectly with hints of citrus and garlic, with a little heat and the slight taste of rosemary.
I can’t believe I’ve never before tried running my Traeger Ironwood 885 up to 500 degrees and cooking on the top rack. It is out of this world! I can see this going real good for family dinner night or during a get together with friends. I know one thing for sure is I’ll be using this method again and again and again.
This tri-tip was about 2 pounds, so it would serve 4-6 people. You could add a couple of sides like macaroni and cheese, green beans, baked potato, and coleslaw for a delicious meal that doesn’t take all day to fix.
These leftovers were just as good the next day as they are when I took the meat off the grill. Put them in a ziplock bag and squeeze all the air out, or into an airtight container, and refrigerate them for up to 3 days.
Here’s my list of equipment and supplies for cooking this recipe:
Traeger Ironwood 885
Small bowl
Measuring spoon
Metal tongs
Metal pan
Victorinox Fibrox Pro 6-inch Curved Boning Knife
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Heath Riles BBQ Garlic Jalapeño Rub
Heath Riles BBQ Simple Citrus Rub
Rosemary
Black pepper
Olive Oil
1 tablespoon of ground black pepper
1 tablespoon of Heath Riles BBQ Simple Citrus Rub
1 tablespoon of Heath Riles BBQ Garlic Jalapeño Rub
1 tablespoon of chopped rosemary
Get your grill up to temperatrure of approximately 500º.
Create your rub mixture of Heath Riles BBQ Garlic Jalapeno and Simple Citrus, ground black pepper, and chopped rosemary.
Coat your tri-tip in olive oil.
Coat both sides of your tri-tip with your rub mixture and pat in your rub.
Place your trip-tip on the top rack of your grill.
This will have a total cook time of about 30-35 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 125º-128º.
Take your trip-tip off your grill and let it rest about 15-20 minutes before slicing.