First smoked brisket and need help!

Uh Oh... let the   begin... 

You will see what I mean.. I like a packers cut. You will have to trim a lot of fat away but it gets you a bit more familiar with the cut.

Dont worry about the fat between sections you might want to try making burnt ends and that will be super yummy once a little more cooked. I like to do mine at about 250 and its done right about when its done. IT is a tricky thing but basically you hit 195 and start poking it every 30 - 45 mins with a digital thermo until it feels like a piece of jello you are poking. Then you have a done brisket. By Jello I mean the tiniest bit of resistance from the bark but the meat gives nicely. 

Good luck and share the pics!

Doug

225-250 is a good range for your smoker temp while cooking a brisket.  Use the 1 1/2 to 2 hour per pound as a guideline only, each brisket has it's own mind and will de done when it's done. 

Packers are your best choice too.  Personally on your first brisket cook, I would recommend minimal trimming, but I do trim the area of heavy fat at the seam between the point and flat so that I can gat a good amount of rub on as much meat surface as possible (more rub on meat, more bark on burnt ends, yummy!).  My best suggestion would be to trim the heavy fat off, leaving at least 1/4" fat on the bottom of the brisket. 

Most will put smoke on the brisket for 4 to 5 hours or so, usually once the brisket reaches 160-170 IT, then wrap it in foil or in a foil pan with a a foil cover with a cup of beef broth, Dr. Pepper, Coke or apple juice in the pan or foil with it.  Pecan goes well with brisket as does Hickory, good choice there.   Keep your meat probe in after you wrap so that you can know when it's time start checking for doneness.  After the IT hits 190+, start checking the brisket in then flat section about every 45 minutes or so, check for doneness by using a probe or toothpick in several areas around the flat, once the toothpick or probe slides in easily with little to no resistance, it's done.  Pull from the heat, open the foil to let the heat and steam vent for 10 minutes or so, wrap back up, throw in a cooler, wrapped in towels and let rest for at least 1 hour.  Then slice and enjoy!

Good luck on your brisket and take some pics.

First Timer. I usually do spray but I cook on a Lang and I recover from a lid opening very quickly. Most cookers loose too much heat to recover quickly and therefore the saying "if you're looking you aint cooking". Foiling will take away some of the crispy goodness of bark but you can recover this a bit by taking it out of the foil at about 190 and letting it cook back on the rack. Injecting will do nothing for the bark but will add flavor and can add moisture if given enough time after injection and done throughout. I would suggest foiling on a first try. You will be more pleased with a tender and juicy brisket than you would with good bark and shoe leather. Not that they go together because they do not. But it is harder to get a great bark and keep the moisture. Start with a juicy brisket and you will do it again. If it turns out like leather you may get turned off of doing one for a while. 

EDIT: Reserve the juices from the foil. These are absolutely amazing!!!

That would be my $0.02

Doug

Also be sure to let is rest for at least an hour (I usually got 2-3) before slicing. This will allow the juices to redistribute throughout the meat and in my experience makes a huge difference.

When its done cooking wrap it in foil, if it isn't already, then wrap it in a couple of towels and put in a cooler.

Good deal glad we could help out. Can't wait to see the pics. Ya know what they say... .

Doug