Sous Vide Tri Tip: Temperature and Time by Thickness

Sous vide tri-tip cooks at 131°F (55°C) for medium-rare. A roast 2 in (5.1 cm) thick at its thickest point needs at least 3 hr 45 min in the bath and should come out by 4 hr 45 min.

The time depends on the thickness, not the weight. Every time on this page comes from the calculator.

What tri-tip is

Tri-tip is a triangular, boneless roast from the bottom sirloin. The beef industry's cut guide lists the tri-tip roast as lean and fairly tender, with 7 g of fat in a 3 oz cooked serving. The calculator treats it as a tender cut: the time heats it through and adds no tenderizing time. A tough roast such as London broil is timed differently and needs 24 to 60 hours at 131°F (55°C) to become tender.

Tri-tip is thick and tapered. Use the thickest point for the calculator. A whole beef tenderloin, the other tender roast, is closer to a cylinder and is measured straight through its center instead. Steaks from the top sirloin, which are thinner and cook faster, are in the sirloin steak guide.

Tri-tip temperature and doneness

The default is 131°F (55°C), medium-rare. Choose 140°F (60°C) for a medium roast that is pink throughout, firmer and still juicy.

At 150°F (65.6°C) tri-tip is faintly pink, firm and drying out, with a grainy texture. At 160°F (71.1°C) it has no pink and is firm and dry. Douglas Baldwin's guide to sous vide cooking gives the cause: above 140 to 150°F (60 to 66°C) muscle fibers shrink along their length and lose a substantial amount of water.

Rare, at 125°F (51.7°C), is bright red and very soft. It fits inside its 2 hr 30 min limit only for a piece up to 1.5 in (3.8 cm) thick and is not recommended at 1.75 in (4.4 cm) or thicker, for the reasons in the safety section. The steak temperature chart compares these levels across beef cuts.

How long to sous vide tri-tip, by thickness

Measure the roast at its thickest point. The calculator covers tri-tip from 1 to 2.5 in (2.5 to 6.4 cm).

At 131°F (55°C) a 1.5 in tri-tip needs 2 hr 15 min, with a maximum of 4 hr. A 2 in roast needs 3 hr 45 min. That is close to the usual 4 hr texture limit, so the maximum shown is the minimum plus 1 hr: 4 hr 45 min. Expect a softer texture than a thinner piece would have.

A roast 2.25 in (5.7 cm) or thicker is a different case. The center takes more than 4 hr to heat through, and food should not spend more than 4 hr in the bath without being pasteurized. The minimum shown is the pasteurization time: 5 hr 15 min at 2.25 in and 6 hr at 2.5 in (6.4 cm).

These minimums are longer than the single range some steak charts print. Anova's sous vide steak guide gives one range, 1 to 4 hours, for medium-rare steaks 1.5 to 2 in thick. The calculator's times are built on Baldwin's heating tables and change with the thickness, because a thicker piece takes longer for the center to reach the bath temperature. Baldwin's rule of thumb is that "doubling the thickness of the meat increases the cooking time four fold." The calculator's own table rises a little less steeply: 3 hr 45 min at 2 in is three times the 1 hr 15 min at 1 in.

The tapered end reaches the bath temperature sooner than the thick end and then holds there, so set the time for the thick end. How long to sous vide steak explains why thickness sets the time and how the minimum, best window and maximum are set.

Medium tri-tip

At 140°F (60°C) a 2 in roast needs 3 hr 45 min and a 2.5 in roast needs 5 hr 30 min. Every thickness is pasteurized at its minimum time at this temperature, and only because it is held for that full time, so do not shorten it.

How to sous vide tri-tip

1. Heat the bath. Set it to 131°F (55°C), or to the temperature you chose above.
2. Find the grain. Look at the raw roast and note where the grain changes direction. It is easier to see before the meat is seasoned.
3. Season. Salt and pepper on all sides.
4. Bag in a single layer. Use a vacuum sealer, or a zipper-lock bag sealed with the water displacement method.
5. Cook for the time that matches the thickness. Keep the bags in a single layer, fully under the water, and not overlapping. Crowded or overlapping bags heat more slowly, and the times shown will be too short for them.
6. Dry the roast. Take it out of the bag and pat every side dry with paper towels.
7. Sear or grill, then slice across the grain. Both are covered below.

Searing or grilling to finish

The bath cannot brown the roast. Baldwin's guide puts good browning and a roasted flavor at surface temperatures around 300°F (149°C), far above any bath temperature, so the crust has to come from a short, very hot finish.

In a skillet. The Anova guide heats 1 tablespoon of neutral oil in a heavy skillet over high heat until it starts to smoke, then sears the meat for about a minute and a half in total, flipping every 15 to 30 seconds. It then holds the meat with tongs to brown the edges.

On a grill. The same guide lights a full chimney of charcoal and banks the coals on one side, or sets half the burners of a gas grill to high and preheats with the lid closed for 10 minutes. The meat goes directly over the hot side and is turned every 15 to 30 seconds until a crust forms, about a minute and a half in total.

Wikipedia's entry describes Santa Maria style tri-tip as seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic and grilled over red oak to medium-rare.

Slicing: the two grain directions

Slice across the grain, which changes direction partway along the roast.

Traeger's guide to cutting tri-tip describes the cut as boomerang shaped, with two grains that intersect. In about half of the roast the fibers run vertically, and in the other half they come in at an angle.

Its method is to find where the two grains meet and cut straight down there, splitting the roast roughly in half. Then check the grain of each piece and slice it thinly, at a right angle to that grain.

Flank steak has a single grain running the length of the cut, and the flank steak guide covers slicing it.

Cooking tri-tip from frozen

A frozen tri-tip goes straight into the bath and stays longer. At 131°F (55°C) a frozen 1.5 in piece needs at least 3 hr 30 min, with a maximum of 4 hr 30 min. A frozen 1.75 in (4.4 cm) piece needs 5 hr 45 min, which is its pasteurization time.

At 140°F (60°C) the frozen minimums are 3 hr 45 min at 1.5 in, 5 hr 45 min at 2 in and 8 hr 30 min at 2.5 in, and none of them carries a warning. The guide to cooking from frozen explains the method for other foods.

Safety

The USDA safe minimum internal temperature for beef roasts and steaks is 145°F (62.8°C) followed by a 3 minute rest, as listed on FoodSafety.gov. The rare, medium-rare and medium settings are below that.

At 131°F (55°C) a 2 in tri-tip is heated through at the minimum time but not pasteurized. That is normal for a whole, intact cut of beef cooked to this doneness. To pasteurize it, cook it for at least 4 hr 45 min, which is also the maximum. A 1.5 in piece needs 3 hr 45 min.

Use that longer time, or a higher temperature, when cooking for pregnant women, children under 5, adults 65 and older, or anyone with a weakened immune system. If the label says mechanically tenderized or blade tenderized, or the meat has been injected, use the longer time as well. A frozen 1.5 in piece takes 4 hr 45 min to pasteurize, longer than its 4 hr 30 min maximum for texture, so for those cases choose a higher temperature.

An acidic sauce or marinade can make beef take up to twice as long to pasteurize. If the tri-tip is bagged with one, do not rely on the pasteurization time shown.

The sous vide safety guide explains why the limits change at 131°F (55°C).

Common problems

Some slices are chewy and others are not. The chewy ones were cut along the grain. Split the roast where the grain changes and slice each piece across its own grain.

The meat is softer than expected. A roast 2 in or thicker has a minimum close to or past the usual 4 hr texture limit, and it keeps softening after that. Remove it from the bath at the minimum time.