6pm update
I forgot to take a photo of the finished full piece.
I never wrapped it. It took ages - 8.5hours to reach 200 internal temperature.
Took it off, left it in a cool box for 1 hour.
Taste was good, outside had a good texture. But the inside was a bit dry.
Was hoping for better.
I'm so tired.
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Hi there and welcome!
Also welcome to the world of the brisket :)
When cooking brisket it is only done when it is tender. It is tender when you can stab all over with kabob skewer and it goes in like going into butter. You check for tenderness starting at 200F Internal Temp (IT).
My guess is that it was dry and a little tough not dry and falling apart. This is classic indication that it didnt go long enough.
Also know that temp probing a brisket is very DIFFICULT to get correct. I put 3 probes aiming for the thickest and centermost part of the flat muscle and go based off the lowest reading. This works like a charm.
Good news though. If you pour some bbq sauce and a little water into that pan and cover with foil and then put into the oven for a while it will finish cooking your brisket and you can shred/chop it up for the most amazing brisket you can eat so understand that you aren't defeated yet :)
One last thing. The cut they gave you looked very trimmed down.
If you attempt this again do not worry about your smoker temp as long as you aren't burning the brisket. Briskets don't care if it is 225F or 400F smoker temp as long as you aren't burning the brisket.
You were doing right to avoid the thick white smoke so keep that up.
Finally, the cut they are giving you looks mostly trimmed and I'm guessing the Flat muscle so I wouldnt mess with it at all. I would season and smoke. Flatts can be a little dry on their own so at like an internal temp of 180F-190F I would wrap in foil with a splash of water (1/4 cup at most) and then go until it is Tender and ready.
Plan so you finish 4 hours early and hopefully you just finish on time :)
I hope this info helps and again, your brisket can still be saved and turned into amazing chopped bbq brisket as I mentioned above! :)