Smoked Whiskey Cherry Cola Tri-Tip

Of all the things a pellet smoker (like our Traeger Ironwood 885) can do, meat of course is where a pellet smoker shines!

And where there is smoked meat, there obviously is a good ol’ Tri- Tip. I love me a good rack of ribs (usually go toward pork ribs), but when tri-tip is an option, I’m going with tri-tip.

Hubby makes this one, and I’m telling you, THE MOUTH CANNOT STOP WATERING, from first bite to the last. It even makes great leftovers — we cut it up on salad usually, but honestly it’s good even on its own. It cooks up so juicy, is packed with flavor, and definitely lingers in my mind for days after we indulge. 

See it in its naked form, it honestly even tastes good without sauce.

But add some sauce, particularly Traeger’s Sweet & Tangy Apricot BBQ Sauce, yes it’s on Amazon, and it’s a whole other level, foodgasmic if you will — honestly no other way to put it, eyes in the back of your head D E L I C I O U S.

Smoked Whiskey Cherry Cola Tri-Tip Recipe

Ingredients

• about 2.5 lbs Tri-Tip

• Traeger Apricot BBQ sauce

For the Marinade:

• 1/2 cup Cherry Chipotle Ale Rub (we used Spiceology, which is now hard to come by so use any brand available)

• 12 oz Crown Royal Whiskey + Cola (which we got from our local liquor store)

Instructions

Prep it:

1. Combine in a zip lock, your seasoning with your can of whiskey soda (it may fizz up but be sure to combine well keeping mind of the fizz), next add to the bag your Tri-Tip and be sure it gets rubbed with your marinade. Marinade 30 minutes to 24 hours max.

2. Once your Traeger is ready for cooking, preheat to 225°F for about 15 minutes. If your Traeger has the Super Smoke option, USE IT!

Time to probe:

3. Insert your Traeger’s temperature probe, or another wireless thermometer probe, into the fattest part of your meat, then add your meat to the center of the grill grates and close your lid — You want an internal temperature to get to 130°F, about 60-90 minutes.

4. Once to 130°, remove your meat from smoker and wrap in foil. Close lid and preheat your Traeger temp to 450°-500°F.

5. Unwrap your meat from the foil, insert the temperature probe, and place your meat back to your smoker. Sear on each side for about 4-5 minutes.

6. Remove from smoker and let rest for about 10-15 min. Slice against the grain and serve as desired.