Tri-tip is best when cooked to medium-rare. It’s a fairly lean cut, so you want to avoid overcooking it! For medium-rare, cook the steak to an internal temperature of 125–130ºF. Keep in mind that carry-over cooking will occur. This means the meat will continue to cook or increase in temperature even after it has been removed from the pan, grill or oven. Account for an increase of about 5 to 8 degrees.