So, my first attempt at doing a brisket turned out well enough a co-worker of my wife asked us to cater a brisket dinner for 15 adults for today. Gonna make a little extra Christmas cash.
Got the packer (I guess that's what it's called) from Sam's Club, rubbed it Sunday night and left in the fridge until last night, when I took it out, planning on at least a 15 hour smoke.
A couple of issues.
1: It appears I have once again lost my mojo when it comes to keeping my pellets in my AMNPS lit. It was smoking GREAT. Went to bed thinking it was going to keep on going, and when I got up this morning, only a total of 3" or less had actually burned. Pathetic. And not only did I heat them in the oven prior, I kept the torch on for over 1 minute, and let it burn for at least 10 minutes prior to putting it in the smoker. Not a big deal as everything else in the smoker produced a lovely TBS. Hopefully it will have been enough to flavor.
2: Following the suggestions from two really good threads on here and a private message I got from someone about smoking brisket, I put them (did two) in the smoker last night about 9:15-9:30pm, thinking they would take at least 15 hours as stated earlier. Well, I woke up at 7:15am, took a glance at my Maverick, and the brisket the meat probe was in said it had an IT of 201 degrees. Jumped up, woke up the wife, and went to go take a look. That's when I saw nice thin blue smoke still coming out of the exhaust........and that my pellets had stopped within minutes (apparently) of me going to bed.
Went out and did the toothpick test on the "tip" (the thickest) side, and it went in like melted butter. Then I tried it on the "flat" (at least I think that's what the parts are called), and it did NOT go in like melted butter. Seemed kind of tough. So, I let it stay in a bit longer, though the meat probe said 199 at the time. I pulled them both when the probe on the "flat" read 201 degrees, double wrapped them in heavy duty foil, and put in a cooler wrapped in towels and blankets.
Am I screwed? Our "customer" is planning on slicing the meat themselves, as we suggested so it would remain nice and juicy. I don't think that will be an issue on the "tip" end, though there is a LOT of fat, especially on that side. Decided not to trim the fat, except a bit where it was exceptionally thick. I just can't believe that they were both done in less than 10 hours. Following the suggestion I got in the private message from someone that has been smoking brisket for 40 years, I upped the temperature to about 250 degrees. Would that reduce the cook time that much?
I think they "look" great, but...............and it's killing me not to be able to try it before delivering to our customer.
I love this forum, and thank everyone that participates and is willing to help. Merry Christmas.

A couple of issues.
1: It appears I have once again lost my mojo when it comes to keeping my pellets in my AMNPS lit. It was smoking GREAT. Went to bed thinking it was going to keep on going, and when I got up this morning, only a total of 3" or less had actually burned. Pathetic. And not only did I heat them in the oven prior, I kept the torch on for over 1 minute, and let it burn for at least 10 minutes prior to putting it in the smoker. Not a big deal as everything else in the smoker produced a lovely TBS. Hopefully it will have been enough to flavor.
2: Following the suggestions from two really good threads on here and a private message I got from someone about smoking brisket, I put them (did two) in the smoker last night about 9:15-9:30pm, thinking they would take at least 15 hours as stated earlier. Well, I woke up at 7:15am, took a glance at my Maverick, and the brisket the meat probe was in said it had an IT of 201 degrees. Jumped up, woke up the wife, and went to go take a look. That's when I saw nice thin blue smoke still coming out of the exhaust........and that my pellets had stopped within minutes (apparently) of me going to bed.

Am I screwed? Our "customer" is planning on slicing the meat themselves, as we suggested so it would remain nice and juicy. I don't think that will be an issue on the "tip" end, though there is a LOT of fat, especially on that side. Decided not to trim the fat, except a bit where it was exceptionally thick. I just can't believe that they were both done in less than 10 hours. Following the suggestion I got in the private message from someone that has been smoking brisket for 40 years, I upped the temperature to about 250 degrees. Would that reduce the cook time that much?
I think they "look" great, but...............and it's killing me not to be able to try it before delivering to our customer.
I love this forum, and thank everyone that participates and is willing to help. Merry Christmas.