P.S. Brisket just plain ol' takes longer. You have to wait a long time thru transition, where it keeps absorbing the heat but doesn't get hotter--around 140--called Plateau; I was having a senior moment there. Then pull and wrap in foil around 165-170, (zat right, guys?), back on til about 190-195 for tender and slice-able. Most people toss some drippings in the foil to keep the meat moist. And you can find help in getting your smoker easier or more dependable to run, too. Is it a Brinkmann R2D2 type? There was another brand too...Char Broil i think made one.
Actually it is some sort of BBQ Pro R2D2 style smoker that I got at Sears for <$50 one day on a whim. At the time I didn't know how addicted I would become. Smoking some sort of meat is an every weekend, almost every weekend anyway, occurrence for me now. When we move to our new place I had planned on seriously looking into a Traeger (I'm sure someone here thinks that is cheating... right).
As far as the briket goes, that is exactly what I did last time, I was pumped because it hit all the temparature points just as I expected. At 170 I wrapped it in foil and poured a bit of beer in the bottom for moisture. Took it off at 190 and sat it in a cooler for a bit to rest. Look beautiful, smelled beautiful and tasted great... just wasn't tender for whatever reason. Maybe it got too hot at some point? I have been using the thermometer on the smoker and I know it is not very accurate at all.
