The NFL playoffs are always a great time to get together with friends and share some food. One of my friends was hosting people to watch the 2025 NFL Divisional round at his house. I thought it would be a great opportunity to have my friends try my smoked tri-tip.

I start out by trimming most of the fat off the tri-tip. I try to leave a little even, thin layer if possible but getting rid of hard pieces. I seasoned one tri-tip with a traditional BBQ rub, the other with just salt, pepper, and garlic. I used mustard as a binder for both.

Recently when smoking tri-tip I have been setting the grill to about 215-225 degrees. I’ll let it go until the tri-tip reaches ~120 internal. At that point I wrap in foil and proceed until it gets to about 145 internal then I pull it off and let it rest.

The one I made for this event was probably one of my best yet. They came out incredibly juice and tender. Both rubs were pretty equally liked.