HuskerBoard

Planning to go at about 200-225 until it hits about 175/180 internal before I wrap. Then turn the heat up to about 275 and go until 203-205 internal.

All sounds good.  But, I would be careful getting to high internally.  If you get that high, it probably will just shred when you try to slice it.  I would pull it at 190-195 and let it rest about 20 minutes before slicing.  I typically wrap mine at around 150-160.  But, try that temp and see what happens. No matter what, I'm sure you will have good results.

Another tip that many competitors do is to inject it with beef broth before cooking.  It helps keep the internal from drying out.

Enjoy.

PS....what are you seasoning it with?

Another tip.  Really good Texas brisket is only seasoned with kosher salt and coarse ground black pepper.

Only done it 3 times. I've always done fat side down because that's what the online recipes told me, but intuitively I always thought fat up made more sense. I'd interested in hearing how your results vary. What kind of difference is butcher paper supposed to make? I've only used foil out of convenience. 

For a rub, I use generous amounts of salt, pepper, and paprika, with a little bit of chili powder. 

I wrap at 165 and pull it off to rest when it hits 195. I've never had the patience to wait until it gets to 205 anyway, as the cook time always goes longer than expected. 

Seasoning with kosher salt and black pepper with the addition of a little bit of some “Black & Tan” seasoning I found at Walmart. It has Black Sea salt, black pepper, rosemary, ground espresso and a bit of brown sugar. There’s very little sugar in it so I’m not worried about burning. The black & tan tastes perfect on it’s own so I’m sure it will be good on brisket.

Yeah, I may pull it a little sooner especially since I’m going to wrap it in a blanket and put it in a cooler to rest for 2-4 hours. I want it to accordion and be able to slice it but not fall apart.  I may end up wrapping sooner if it stalls at 165 for too long.

I’ve done them previously in a traditional wood smoker but doing this one on my pellet grill. That’s why I’m not overly concerned about the fat cap being down because all my heat comes from the bottom. I’m also less concerned about the fat not self basting from the top since I’ll be adding the smoked wagyu tallow when I wrap.
 

Going to put it on about midnight tomorrow and planning to serve for supper Saturday night. Just a little nervous because this is the first prime brisket I’m trying. It wasn’t terrible, $4.26/Lb at Sam’s but a little pricey for brisket at $60.

@Ulty Yeah, patience is the tough thing with brisket. But since I’m starting 16 to 18 hours before I want to serve I should be able to do most of that. The difficult part will be when I’m smelling it and get hungry about lunch time. Must. Resist. 

The thing with the pink butcher paper is, it’s supposed to breathe and still let some moisture escape whereas foil will hold everything in and the juices sort of pool on the bottom side. IDK, foil has always worked fine for me but supposedly the paper will help maintain the bark a bit better. It’s good to 300 degrees. This is what happens when you watch food videos at 11 PM  :lol:

Side note. I ordered the wagyu tallow from Amazon last night at 11:30PM They delivered it this morning at 7:30 AM. 

I've done a bunch of briskets, and I normally don't wrap them at all (but definitely do it if you're in a crunch). I use a pellet smoker, and I usually go 230-250 on the smoker temp, and monitor the meat with probes. I usually start it the night before (usually around 8-10 PM) for lunch the next day. The temps are usually at the 202-204 mark, but to be honest, the real key to knowing when it's done is the jiggle. When you poke it, it should wobble. The key is injecting with broth, and seasoning with just salt and pepper. And don't be afraid to inject it again 2/3 through the cook.

If it's a cheap brisket that won't bend in half when raw I'll add a little powdered meat tenderizer to the injection broth. Definitely helps. 

Well it’s been on for 2 hours now. I thought the meat temp was climbing a little too fast so turned it down to 200 so I won’t need to check it as often overnight. Not doing any injection. Counting on it being prime and having better marbling, more internal fat. I did baste it with a little of the wagyu tallow on the bare meat top side. Don’t think that can hurt anything. Time to get a few hours of shut eye.

Well???   Are you doing any burnt ends out of it??

Planning to take some burnt ends off it. Getting close to pulling it to rest. Wrapped it a couple hours ago and its about 190 now. Trying to hold out for 200.

Burnt ends, bean and potato salad sounds great right now!!