Like any cut of meat, you want to slice tri-tip against the grain. If you cut with the muscle grain, you’re keeping the long muscle strands intact and they’ll do what muscles are designed to do: stretch but not tear. Even if you’ve cooked your meat to perfection, this way of slicing can result in stringy, chewy, unpleasant bites. But, by cutting across multiple muscle grains, you end up with slices that can easily be pulled apart and chew like butter.
When it comes to tri-tip, this simple concept can be a bit tricky. Tri-Tip actually has 2 different muscle grain directions and if you’re not careful you can slice properly on half of the roast, and improperly on the other half. Check out the diagram below to see what these muscle grains typically look like, and click on these links for some great tips for trimming, smoking, and slicing your tri-tip.
How Do You Cut Tri-Tip?
How do you cut Tri-Tip?
