Smoked a tri-tip with a reverse sear and chimichurri sauce a few weeks ago for the first time. Absolutely fantastic. I would like to bring this to my parents, but they don't have a smoker and they live 1.5 hours away.

Is it possible to smoke it, wrap it in foil or something, drive it to their house and then sear it in a cast iron 2-3 hours later? Or is there too much potential to ruin it (continues to cook in foil or cooler, dries out, over done, gets too cold in the middle even with the sear, etc)? I can think of a lot of ways it could go bad, but I'm no expert on this.

I could always just sear it at home and microwave it there or something, but just not the same.

Get it to the internal temp you want, factoring in carryover. When it's done, let it rest for about 15 minutes to finish the carryover. Then wrap it and put it in a cooler with some towels on top. It will stay warm long enough. Then sear when you're ready to eat.

Thanks. How would you wrap it? Foil, butcher paper, etc?

Foil would be fine. You're not concerned about bark or a crust at this point. Just be sure to dry it off very well before you sear it.

Awesome. Thanks.