Tri-tip (maminha) is the US name for this cut. The grain direction changes on maminha. Slice against it or the roast chews like overdone beef.
At a glance
- Region: Sul
- Yield: a 2 1/2 to 3 lb (1.2 to 1.5 kg) roast feeds 4 to 6 as part of a mixed grill
- Time: about 25 to 40 minutes on a two-zone kettle grill, plus 10 minutes rest
- Gear: lump charcoal, two-zone kettle grill or long skewer, instant-read thermometer
- Ask for: tri-tip. A Brazilian shop may already have maminha.
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Safety instructions
Rare beef at 125 to 130°F (52 to 54°C) is below the USDA 145°F (63°C) finish. Buy whole muscle from a butcher or a named packer, and sear the outside. Higher-risk people should wait for 145°F (63°C). Ground beef stays 160°F (71°C).
What you are actually buying
Maminha is a triangular roast from the bottom sirloin, sold as tri-tip in the US. Ask at any supermarket meat counter. Leave the fat that comes on it. Trim only hard silverskin.
Warehouse packs are easy to find. They are not as high quality as a butcher piece. The roast is thicker in the middle and thinner at the points. That is why two zones matter on a kettle grill.
Seasoning
Coarse salt at the fire, nothing else for this cook. No rub. No barbecue sauce. Garlic and oil, or garlic and butter, are separate Brazilian home seasonings. Those pages are linked below. Salt still goes on at the fire even when garlic went on overnight.
Use coarse kosher salt or sal grosso. 1 tablespoon, about 15 g (1 colher de sopa) of sal grosso per quilo (1 kg / 2.2 lb). In the US, 1 tablespoon Morton kosher or 1 1/2 tablespoons Diamond Crystal per quilo, not per pound. Knock the excess off after the cook, before slicing.
Cooking it over coals
Build a hot bed of lump charcoal (100% wood lump), not briquettes, and let it ash over. On a skewer, hold the roast 30–40 cm (12–16 in) from the embers. The full distance guide is in how far picanha sits from the charcoal.
On a kettle grill the grate is closer, often about 10 cm (4 in). Run a two-zone fire: coals on one half, empty on the other. Sear over the hot pile, then finish on the empty side. Put the thick middle toward the coals and the thin points toward the cool side. See two-zone fire.
Pull the roast off the fire at about 125 to 130°F (52 to 54°C) for medium rare, checked in the thickest part with an instant-read thermometer. It will climb while resting. Past about 140°F (60°C) the roast dries. Rest 10 minutes, knock the salt off, then look at the fibers and cut across them. Rotate the cutting board when the grain changes.
On the table
Vinagrete, farofa, pão de alho. Serve in rounds as it is sliced.
What to buy
Coarse salt on the meat, a thermometer in the thick middle. The full kit is on What to buy.
Salt
- Low: Morton Coarse Kosher
- Usual mid: Diamond Crystal kosher. A Brazilian-market bag of sal grosso is better when you find it.
- High: Cisne Sal Grosso. Grocer only.
Thermometer
- Low: ThermoPop 2
- Usual mid: CHEF iQ Sense
- High: Thermapen ONE
Next cooks
- How to grill picanha on a kettle grill
- How to cook fraldinha
- Two-zone fire
- Farofa and vinagrete
- Maminha seasoned with garlic and oil
Region: Sul.
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