Buying guide · Cap vs triangle

Picanha vs tri-tip

Picanha is the fat-capped top of the rump and tri-tip is the lean triangle at its base. Both come from the sirloin, but picanha (the biceps femoris cap) is cooked under its own 1–2 cm layer of fat, which renders and bastes it on the grill, while tri-tip (the tensor fasciae latae) has little or none and a grain that changes direction across the piece, so it is sliced in two directions.

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Also known as: Picaña vs colita de cuadril (tri-tip) · Picanha và tri-tip · Picanha vs maminhaLast reviewed 22 Oct 20267 sources

Where does each one come from?

Both come from the rump — the sirloin in American butchery — but from opposite edges: picanha covers the top of the hip, tri-tip sits at the lower edge, towards the flank.

The picanha is the cap muscle lying over the rump just in front of the tail, the part a hand rests on when placed on top of the animal. In American boxed beef it comes off the top sirloin butt and is specified as IMPS 184D (top sirloin cap); Australian and British butchery separate it as the rump cap (HAM 2091).

The tri-tip is a different muscle, the tensor fasciae latae, on the bottom sirloin, next to the ball tip and the flap. It is specified as IMPS 185C (with its fat) and 185D (defatted). Outside the Americas many trade specifications leave it attached to the rump, where it becomes the narrow tail of a rump steak. Each animal gives two of each cut, one per side.

How do they compare side by side?

Picanha weighs 1–1.5 kg (2.2–3.3 lb) with a 1–2 cm fat cap; tri-tip weighs 0.7–1.2 kg (1.5–2.6 lb) and is lean. The table sets out the other differences.

What are they called in each country?

In the United States picanha is sold as top sirloin cap or coulotte and tri-tip keeps its own name; in Argentina they are tapa de cuadril and colita de cuadril; in Brazil, picanha and maminha.

Because the names cross over, the same word can point to different muscles: in Britain “rump” on a menu may include the tri-tip, and in the United States “sirloin steak” may come from either the top or the bottom sirloin. Asking for the cut by muscle or by trade code avoids the confusion.

How is each one cooked?

Picanha is grilled fat side to the fire first and taken off at 52–56 °C / 126–133 °F in the centre; tri-tip is cooked whole, taken off at 52–55 °C / 126–131 °F, and sliced in two directions.

The picanha’s fat decides the method. In a Brazilian churrasco the piece is cut into three or four thick slices, each folded into a C with the fat outside and skewered over hot coals, so the rendering fat bastes the meat. Cut into steaks, each is grilled over strong heat with its fat edge rendered first. Coarse salt is the traditional seasoning.

The tri-tip, with almost no fat to protect it, is treated like a small roast. In Santa Maria-style barbecue it is rubbed with salt, black pepper and garlic and cooked over red oak on an adjustable grate, turned often; the thin point cooks further than the thick end, so one piece gives several degrees of doneness. A reverse sear — low heat to about 50 °C / 122 °F inside, then a hard sear — also suits it.

Both are lean underneath and dry out past medium, around 60 °C / 140 °F. Both carry over a few degrees while resting, and both are sliced thinly across the grain; for the tri-tip, that means cutting the piece in two where the grain turns. Doneness targets are in Steak temperatures.

Which one costs more?

Picanha usually costs more per kilo than tri-tip where both are sold, and it also gives less steak per kilo bought because part of its weight is fat.

Relative prices depend on local demand. In Brazil the picanha is the premium cut of churrasco and the maminha sells for less; on California’s Central Coast, where tri-tip has been sold as a roast since the 1950s, it is an everyday cut. Outside these markets, either may be hard to find under its own name. No price series compares the two cuts across countries, so Steakpedia gives no figures.

How much usable meat does each one give?

Across 28 butchery sheets and 139.8 kg of picanha, the Steakpedia Field Kitchen recorded 63.8 % of the weight as usable meat and 16.9 % as fat; tri-tip has not been measured.

Of the picanha’s weight, 57.7 % became steaks and the rest of the usable share was trim for skewers or mince; the fat is the cap itself, rendered on the grill or trimmed on the plate. A trimmed tri-tip carries much less external fat, so its share of steak is expected to be higher, but without measured sheets Steakpedia does not give a figure. Per-kilo yields of other cuts are in the picanha article and the field data.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

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1. USDA Agricultural Marketing Service. Institutional Meat Purchase Specifications: Fresh Beef Series 100. Washington, DC, 2014. www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/IMPS_100_Fresh_Beef%5B1%5D.pdf
2. AUS-MEAT Limited. Handbook of Australian Meat, 7th ed. (International Red Meat Manual). Brisbane, 2005. www.ausmeat.com.au
3. Instituto de Promoción de la Carne Vacuna Argentina (IPCVA). Cortes de carne vacuna argentina — nomenclatura y usos. Buenos Aires. www.ipcva.com.ar
4. Brasil, Ministério da Agricultura, SIPA. Portaria nº 5, de 8 de novembro de 1988 — Padronização de cortes de carne bovina.
5. Larousse Gastronomique, rev. ed. London: Hamlyn, 2009.
6. McGee, Harold. On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, rev. ed. New York: Scribner, 2004.
7. Steakpedia Field Kitchen. Butchery records, July–October 2026: 279 sheets, 1,604.6 kg of meat processed, weighed piece by piece on a calibrated scale and logged per cut. Open data, CC BY 4.0. steakpedia.com/field-data

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