Hey, thanks dirtsailor !
Everything turned out AWESOME!
Keeping in mind this is the "Beef" forum I will focus mainly on the 2 different Tri-Tip, both of which turned out great and were quickly devoured by lucky local test-puppies... couldn't get them to say much about it though, aside from "Mmmmmmm" which I happily took as a compliment.
I experimented with 2 different versions, one wet marinated overnight in "Pappy's Wine Marinade", and the other given a moderate dry rub applied about 2 hours before smoking which consisted of a light dusting of each: Tatonka Dust, freshly ground grilling salts imported from Italy, freshly ground gourmet garlic salts, and freshly ground black peppercorns.
My smoker temp varied a bit, but for the most part I tried to keep it around 230* or so. (22.5"
WSM burning 50/50 mix of Oak lump and briquettes along with fist-size hunks of Mesquite for additional flavor)
I continued to smoke them until the thicker one read 135* IT (we like ours med.rare), which took approximately 3 hours. Once they hit 135* I moved them over to a preheated (600* give or take) gas grill to be reverse-seared on both sides for just a couple minuets. Once seared, the steaks were moved indoors onto a cutting board and tented with aluminum foil, and allowed to rest an additional 10-15 minuets before slicing.
Here we are 3 hours into the smoke and ready for searing
Sear (reverse-sear) directly over high direct heat for a couple minutes each side whenever possible to seal in all that juicy goodness and get some nice grill marks in the process!
Foil tent and allow them rest
Wine marinade version sliced
Dry-rubbed version
My own slightly modified version of Dutch's Wicked Baked BEANS!...slow smoked with multiple various drippings and tidbits for nearly 4 hours
Courtesy shot of the Asian Pork which is another home-made recipe I should save for another thread
