Glad I ran across this thread.
I bought a Prime packer the other day. Trimmed it up, the point kept a little fat, the flat got cut into halves, one was trimmed of all fat, the other kept a thin layer as well.
Point and lean half of the flat are curing at the moment. The flat will be made into corned beef - boiled, which is why I removed the fat, so it doesn't get all gummy and icky. The point is going on the smoker to make pastrami for Christmas Day. Last year I did this with a slightly smaller piece I had picked up, and only had 5 days to cure it - ended up with a 2-3mm sliver in the middle that wasn't cured. And it came out TOUGH. I mean TOUGH... smoked to 203 internal, I don't know what the problem was. Also, very salty - only got to soak for about 8 hours before smoking. Time constraints. This year I am giving it more time.
Anyways, in relation to THIS topic, the other half of the flat I just threw on the smoker. I woke up this AM at 10 and thought it was going to be too late to cook this brisket flat. I salted it last night, left it in the fridge in a gallon Ziploc and thought I would throw it on at 6 or 7 this morning. Unfortunately, the Scotch caught up with me last night. I fell asleep around 2AM, I think, so was late getting up. The flat is pretty thin, probably just around 1.25", maybe 1.5" at the most. Total weight is 2lb 10oz.
Now that I know it isn't going to take 10-12 hours I am more comfortable putting it on. I threw it in the smoker at noon, temp is around 235 right now, outside temp is 26F with 15mph winds. Using a pellet smoker with apple pellets. Internal temp on the meat is already up in 15 minutes from 43 to 72. I am trying to decide if I want to pull it at 205 or so and then wrap and rest it for an hour or two in a faux cambro, or wrap it when it hits the stall and finish in the oven.
I'm not a wrapping guy, mostly. I have done a ton of pork and only wrap my ribs when I pull them off the smoker, let them sit for 10-15 minutes and they are falling apart. Pork butts I have done a ton of, never get wrapped. Chuckies for pulled beef likewise.
I understand brisket is a different animal, really... I'm going to think about it, I've got a few hours before I make that choice. I'm open to ideas, if anyone is perusing the forum on this blustery day.
<edit> Oh, and I've got some bacon curing, I think I'ma put a couple of pieces of that on there, too. Been wanting to try homemade bacon for a long time, I've got about 5 lbs curing in ~1lb sections. They've been curing since Tuesday evening, so that's, what, like 84 hours or so now. I think they should be cured, they're fairly thin, too.