Santa Maria Style Barbecue has it's roots in the Central Coast of California. It's a wonderful combination of beef, garlic salt, pepper and it's cooked over hot oak wood coals.

While it's not that common to barbecue over wood, to have a true Santa Maria Style barbecue, you must cook the meat over an oak fire. Start the fire 45 minutes to an hour before you want to begin cooking and let the wood burn down to hot coals and a small flame. You'll want the heat of the fire at the height of the grill where you can hold your hand over it for about three seconds. Most barbecues designed for cooking over wood have adjustable grills so you can move it closer or farther from the heat.

The second step is preparing the meat. Tri-Tip is a classic cut of meat for barbecuing Santa Maria Style, but ribeyes, spencers, fillets, and New York strips are all great. Generously use garlic salt and pepper on the meat and rub it in with your hands. Let the meat sit for about 10 minutes before placing it on the grill. Tri-Tip will have one side of the meat that has about 1/4 inch of fat on it. Cook the Tri-Tip with the fat side down. It's a very forgiving meat to barbecue because if you burn the fat side, you can easily cut it off in the end. Cook the meat to your desired temperature. I tend to cook Tritip medium rare to medium. Let the meat site and then slice the meat in 1/4 inch slices and serve with fresh salsa.

The meat will be rich in flavor from the garlic salt and pepper, but it will also be very flavorful from the Oak bbq.

If you don't have a barbecue that supports wood burning, you might want to check out a Kamado Grill. I just ordered a 1/4 chord of six inch oak cuts for my Kamado that is on order. Also, you can experience Santa Maria Style barbecue at a few great steak houses on the Central Coast. My favorite is Jocko's in Nipomo (The worlds greatest steak house), also, the Far Western, and McKlintocks are good.