Discover Chef Tom's newest recipe, tantalizingly oak smoked tri-tip and served with pinquito beans. Enjoy the best of summer and savor every bite!
WHAT YOU'LL LOVE
- Soaking beans overnight, then simmering with aromatics: Cooking the pinquito beans with onion, jalapeño, and garlic right in the pot builds flavor into the beans themselves, instead of seasoning bland cooked beans afterward.
- Building an oak fire with the log cabin method: Stacking splits log-cabin style creates a steady, feedable fire that can burn down to coals and be continuously restocked — exactly what a long multi-stage cook like this needs.
- Roasting and steaming the Anaheim peppers: Charring the skins over the wood fire and then bagging them to steam makes the blackened skin peel away easily, leaving smoky, tender flesh for the bean sauce.
- Rendering bacon as the base of the bean sauce: Starting the sauce by crisping bacon in the Dutch oven means the onions, ham, and everything that follows cooks in rendered bacon fat, building savory depth from the very first step.
Wood Fired Tri-Tip and Pinquito Beans
Tom Jackson
Rated 5.0 stars by 1 users
Category
Entree
Cuisine
American
Servings
4
Prep Time
20 minutes
Cook Time
2 hours 34 minutes
Calories
694
Chef Tom fires up the Yoder Smokers Adjustable Flat Top Charcoal Grill for Wood Fired Tri-Tip & Pinquito Beans cooked over oak wood coals!
Ingredients
- 8 oz dried pinquito beans (such as Lompoc)
- 1/2 large yellow onion, large dice
- 1 large jalapeño, large dice
- 3 cloves garlic, smashed, peeled
- 4-6 cups water
- 1 cup (8 oz) bacon, diced
- 1/2 cup diced white onion
- 1/2 cup smoked ham, diced
-
1 tbsp Cattleman’s Grill Smoky Chipotle Seasoning
-
1 tbsp Cattleman’s Grill Road House Beef Seasoning
- 2 Anaheim peppers, roasted, diced
- 1 tbsp garlic, minced
- 1 cup Ciao San Marzano Tomatoes
- 1 cup beef stock
-
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
-
Creekstone Farms Prime Tri-Tip Roast
- Hoff & pepper smoken ghost
-
Cattleman’s Grill California Tri-Tip Seasoning
-
Holmes Made Marty’s Roasted Green Chile Salsa
- Small tortillas
Directions
- Soak the beans in cold water overnight.
- Rinse the beans in cool water.
- Place the beans in a Finex Dutch Oven. Add the onion, jalapeño, garlic and cover with cool water. Cover the dutch oven with a lid and simmer beans until tender, about 90 min. Reserve 1 cup water. Drain the rest.
- Build an oak wood fire in the charcoal tray of the Yoder Smokers Adjustable Flat Top Charcoal Grill, using the log cabin method. Let the splits of oak burn down to coals and continue feeding the fire with splits of oak.
- Trim excess fat and silver skin from the surface of the tri-tip roast. Spread a thin layer of Hoff & Pepper Smoken Ghost Hot Sauce over the tri-tip. Season with Cattleman’s Grill California Tri-Tip Seasoning.
- Place a clean Dutch oven over the fire to preheat. Meanwhile, roast the Anaheims over the wood until charred on all sides. Transfer to a bag to steam. Peel and deseed. Dice flesh.
- Add bacon to the dutch oven. Render until crispy. Add the onion and ham. Season with Cattleman’s Grill Smoky Chipotle Seasoning and Cattleman’s Grill Road House Beef Seasoning. Cook until the onion is softened. Add the fire roasted peppers and garlic. Cook 30-60 seconds.
- Add tomatoes, beef stock, Worcestershire sauce. Cook about 10 minutes at a simmer.
- Continue feeding your fire with splits of oak to keep the temperature up.
- When the tomato sauce has thickened, add the beans to the sauce and move to indirect heat to warm.
- Grill the tri-tip roast over coals until it reaches an internal temperature of 125ºF.
- Rest 10 minutes, then slice or chop.
- Serve with warm tortillas and salsa
Recipe Note
Recipe FAQ
Why soak the beans overnight before cooking them?
Soaking rehydrates the dried pinquito beans so they cook more evenly and in less time the next day, instead of starting from fully dry and risking a long, uneven simmer.
Why simmer the beans with onion, jalapeño, and garlic instead of adding flavor afterward?
Cooking the beans directly with aromatics lets them absorb that flavor as they soften, building seasoning into the beans themselves rather than just coating already-cooked beans in flavor from the outside.
Why char the Anaheim peppers and then steam them in a bag?
Charring over the wood fire builds smoky flavor into the skin, and bagging the peppers afterward traps steam that loosens that blackened skin so it peels away cleanly instead of staying stuck to the flesh.
Why start the bean sauce by rendering bacon first?
Crisping the bacon first renders out its fat, which becomes the cooking medium for the onions and ham that follow — building savory depth into every later step instead of starting the sauce in plain oil.
What internal temperature should the tri-tip actually reach?
This recipe pulls the tri-tip at 125°F, a rare-to-medium-rare finish. As a whole-muscle cut of beef, this is a safe, standard target — there's no minimum cook temperature requirement the way there is for ground meat.
Why keep feeding the fire with oak splits throughout the cook?
A wood fire burns down steadily, so continuing to add splits keeps the temperature consistent through a cook that spans beans, sauce, and the tri-tip itself, rather than letting the fire fade partway through.
How indoor-friendly is this recipe?
1 out of 5 — the beans could be finished on a stovetop, but roasting peppers and grilling the tri-tip over live oak coals are central to this dish's smoky character and aren't easily replicated indoors.
Recipe Highlights
Aromatics simmered into the beans: Builds flavor from the inside out rather than seasoning after the fact.
Log cabin fire building: Creates a steady, feedable oak fire for a long multi-stage cook.
Char-then-steam peppers: Makes the blackened skin easy to peel away cleanly.
Bacon-rendered sauce base: Every later ingredient cooks in bacon fat for extra savory depth.
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Nutrition
Nutrition
- Nutrition Serving Size
- 14.33 oz
- per serving
- Calories
- 694
- Carbs
- 40 grams
- Protein
- 49 grams
- Fat
- 35 grams
- Sodium
- 1836 milligrams
