Picanha roast

14 Comments

  1. It looks and sounds wonderful but we do not have the ability to grill it. how could this be adapted to cooking in a gas oven/range?

    1. Cook it at 275°F in the oven until you get to 115°F. To sear it you can heat a cast-iron skillet and sear it that way, or you can put it under the broiler of your oven, turning it every minute or so. Temp as you would on the grill.

  2. Thanks Martin, I have done many picanhas since the pandemic (whole roast, 103 more exactly). A few ideas on what I do that align a bit with what you have here. Dry brine with salt helps a lot. Place it on indirect heat fat cap down (render the fat and get to very well grilled fat cap). Once gets to 110F (I use the DOT), check for color and if need put on direct to make pretty. At 115F make sure turn around meat side on direct heat let it reach 125F. Depending on size and especially the shape of picanha you want 125 to have all doneness in the cut… Corners will be at least 145F. Lets rest for 5 min at least. And suggest cutting the other way around (in tiras not postas, as they say in Brasil). Get 4 big tiras and then filet them… eat with your hand and lick your fingers.

  3. Well presented. In the last three minutes spread garlic powder on surface- avoids burning powder. Another depth of flavor. Tri Tip is reasonably priced. Handle same way. Rest 10 minutes before slicing.






  4. What if you don’t have all the equipment as recommended but have the thermapen and the probe with alarm and only have a med size outdoor grill that uses a propane gas..can you suggest the cooking Temps etc tks

    1. Gillian,
      Cooking on propane works fine. Just run the grill at about medium or medium-high on one side of the grill, leaving the other side turned off. Cook the initial cook on that side. Then turn the heat up to high and sear directly over the fire.

  5. It would be very useful to include approximate cooking times. I realize that’s tricky given the inevitable variations of roast sizes, but in your recipes I suggest you state how big your particular roast was for the printed recipe and how long it took to get to your pull temp. We readers can then at least have an idea how long our roasts will take, assuming of course we match cooking temps and adjust cooking times for our size roast. I want to tell my family/guests a reasonable estimate of when dinner will be ready. Will it take me 45 minutes to cook a roast? An hour? Two? Just put me in the ballpark and I’ll take it from there.

    1. Of course! That’s a perfectly reasonalbe thing to ask about. Plan on about 45–60 minutes for this cook.

  6. Here in mid-SC, the picanha is sold as tri-tip. It’s one awesome piece of beef when reverse seared to medium rare. Just grilled a 3-1/2 pounder over the weekend for a family reunion.






    1. Hey, Dan. Not sure if you’re saying stores in SC don’t know better or not… but picanha and tri-tip are two different cuts of meat. They look similar, but come from different parts of the cow.

  7. I like my meat medium-rare to medium. The wife will NOT eat meat with ANY HINT of red or pink in the center and it can’t be very juicy either. Any suggestions as to how I could prepare this roast to get these results??

    1. You could cook yours as you like it, then slice off some thin slices and toss them on the grill for a minute…the thin slices will cook quickly and have no pink. Alternatively, and a little more riskily, you could put one side of the meat down close to the fire for a few mintues when you’re enarly done cooking. that side will overcook and be brown/gray inside and the other side should still be juicy pink.

  8. I was in Brazil and some friends made Picanha roast on the grill. It was amazing!
    Their secret was marinating it over night in chipotle peppers in adobo sauce mixed with honey and dark brown sugar. Then pouring a set aside of the same mixture over the top, putting under broiler (fat side up) for a few minutes and viola,
    Delicious!






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