Originally published at: Smoked tri-tip is popular because it is hard to mess up | Boing Boing
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We don’t have “tri tip” in New England. We have “steak tips”, and they are better.
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Make a steak, not a “miss steak”.
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We certainly do have tri tip here in New England. I saw some in the store last week.
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I also wouldn’t describe random scraps of sirloin and round as better.
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There’s a good tri-tip at the restaurant in Alpine, CA. I can’t remember the name, but it’s THE restaurant, pretty much. Most of the rest is chain or takeout places.
ETA: West of the state park, but not quite to El Cajon.
I’ve tried both. Good New England steak tips come from the tenderloin. They are similar, but tri tip has less fat and less flavor.
aka: The California Cut
This is what the butcher called it in Utah. Started out by asking if we were from there. He was correct about my friends, the ones I was with and taught me about it.
As a Texan over 50, I’ve only ever seen “Tri-Tip” listed as an available cut in an Aldi flyer. You have to custom order it at HEB and even then you gotta get the old-timers to butch it.
My experience is that tri-tip is more common the closer you get to the West Coast. I might be wrong in that assessment but that’s what i noticed when i lived in Las Vegas, BBQ places, steakhouses and restaurants would have it on the menu but the other states that i lived in did not. I don’t think i’ve seen it in restaurants here in TX, likely because this is brisket country.
I think a well made tri-tip is amazing, i don’t know if i would prefer tri-tip over brisket or the other way around since i haven’t had them side by side 
Kinda the point of tenderloin is that it doesn’t have more fat. Than anything else. Over all it’s a pretty bland cut. Where tenderloin “tips” come from the tenderloin chain they have some fat but it’s mostly not marbling, just pads of fat clinging to the outside and trimmed off during prep.
That’s probably the best part of the tenderloin. But i’d still take tri-tip over it every time.
I’m also not sure it’s too much of a New England thing. They’re insanely common as a restaurant dish throughout the Mid Atlantic, seem pretty popular in the Carolinas too. So far as I’m aware it’s “value add” cut pushed by large meat packers and especially huge restaurant purveyors like Sysco.
Well I can’t speak to the Eastern Seaboard, but I’ve never seen 'em outside New England. It’s definitely a thing, just google “new england steak tips” and there are a ton of references to it being specifically New England cut. I’m not surprised the cut is available elsewhere, but I mean every sub shop (Greek family sub shops are another New England thing) has a steak tip sub here.
Example, the sub shop in my little town. You can get steak tip subs, a steak tip dinner, or a steak tip salad!
I have only ever salted, seared and broiled these pieces to a quick, medium rare, and tender perfection, no sauce, just the juice. Never a mess.
Barbecue. Haters? What the fresh hell…?
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