Brisket: Time or Temp More Important?

Lately I have getting flats either from Costco or the Naval Exchange. They are usually very small about 2.5-4 lbs max.

I usually cook them at 225 degrees for 1 1/2 -2 hours per pound. When I check the internal they are usually 165 or even down to 152. I have cooked some of these small briskets 10 hours or more trying to get the temp up. I do not peek until the brisket has cooked for at least 4 hours. I have never gotten them close to 185 degrees.

So I usually follow the oven and foil crutch trick to finish it off.

My question is whether time or temperature is more important. When I cooked the brisket 10 hours it came out dry so the foil is making it more tender and moist but I would like to for once make it the REAL TRADITIONAL WAY.

Any help appreciated.

I go by temp, not time. I have found that it takes me 10 to 12 hours to get a brisket to 185 internal when smoking at 215-225. It seems to take a little longer for larger briskets, but not a lot longer. About the smallest I've ever cooked is 8#, my last one took 11hrs and 12 min.. The largest I ever cooked was 15# (barely fit) and it did take 13+ hours. I usually like to do 10# to 12# and my average time over 32 briskets in the 10#-12# range is 11.83 hours.

My theory on this is that it's not so much weight, as it is a combination of weight and thickness. Sometimes a brisket can be heavier than another, but actually thinner. Anybody want to start researching the weight to thickness ratio as it applies cooking time? Me, I think I'll just go check my Polder and ice down some beer......

Good morning Jeff::
Last weekend I smoked a 8+ lb. flat brisket for about 9.5 hours while experiencing very erratic temps (see Clean Smoker). Outside of the salt disaster alluded to in the other thread, the meat was very tender. I removed the brisket when the temp reached 170 degrees first because it was 9:00PM and my guests were starving and drinking all my beer but more seriously because all of the literature I have read state that beef is usually considered well done at 170 degrees. Further (and sort of following Paul Kirk's admonitions), I left a little over a quarter inch of fat on the bottom of the meat. My theory is that the combination of these two actions contributed greatly to the tenderness. Heretofore, I had removed nearly all the fat and as a result suffered the consequences. Hope you find this helpful.
?.John

Jeff
BBQ is when it's done, it's done. You need to cook brisket until it's tender. Your problem is the brisket your cooking. I suggest that you cook whole briskets. When you have that down try small flats. Small flat give the least chance for a good out come.
Those small flat do not have the fat content need to do the job, which means you need to use foil, marinades or injecting to get the moisture content up.
Jim