Assistance on cook: 7.3 lb flat brisket + 7.25 lb bone-in butt

I am soliciting advice on how I should cook the above?

Eating Saturday at 6:00 pm.

Brisket fat down on top rack.
Butt on bottom rack.

I am thinking 18 hrs @ 225-250.

With the buffer of 3-hours in a cooler, that means pulling off (if ready) at 2:30.
That means putting on at 8:30 pm.

What would be your time/advice?
Would you cook with or without water?
Any other advice?

Here is the brisket:
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B0eGrq0zwGHesip

thank you!
~ Sean

I firmly believe in erring on the side of more time, but 18 hours might be a bit longer than you need. I've had some butts take 14-15 hours but I've never seen one go 18. Wet/dry pan, it's just a personal choice. I find temp easier to maintain with water in the pan, but I have trouble getting the temp much above 275 that way and definitely burn more charcoal as a lot of the heat is going to boil the water. The max temp shouldn't be an issue for you on this cook. If you're confident you can control the temps without water then you'll save some charcoal. Beyond that I don't think it matters.

I made a mistake last year I would caution you about. I did a couple pork butts and on removing them from the smoker I immediately wrapped them in foil and put them in the cooler for several hours. When I took them out they literally fell apart. There was nothing to pull. Touch a muscle and it just fell into strings. The butts had effectively continued to cook all the time in the cooler and literally all of the collagen melted, taking with it any semblance of structure in the muscle fibers. You want some of the collagen to melt, but not all of it. You want the meat to rest on the counter until it cools to 160-170. Then wrap it in foil and stick it in the cooler to hold until you're ready to serve.

that is great advice Jay, thank you.

Something weird is happening.

1 hour after putting my brisket and butt on the cooker, the grate temp barely hit 256*.

The brisket (top grate) hit 150* and the butt (bottom grate) hit 78*.

I added a 2nd probe to the brisket and it verified the same temp - weird.
I had planned on wrapping the brisket at 165* - but not after an hour.

Going to be a long night.

What are the temps now?
I have one word for you..."Stall" they may climb like Sherpas on Everest at first but the stall will come. Don't worry about it. They will be ready when they are done.and it won't be anywhere as soon as you might think.
Patience will be your reward.

Meat went on at 8:30 pm PST.
After 7.5 hours (4:00 am), the brisket probe was reading 190*.
I pulled the brisket, put the probe in a new location and added a 2nd internal probe.
After wrapping, the 2 probes = 178* and 185*.

The bone-in butt = 173*. I spritzed and rotated.

Here it is 7:15 am PST.
2 probes on the brisket = 195* and 200* = 198* average.
This is a nice stall going on. I will ride it out to 203-205*.

The butt is now at 200*.
I am getting ready to pull it and foil and put in cooler. I will
hold as long as I can.

Guests don't come over until 4:00 today.