Brisket time

ICUQ2

Not sure why you pulled it to wrap at 161 deg. but you did compromise your timing a bit. At 161 deg. you were approaching the plateau but since you took it out you did not get through it. Your brisket could sit in the plateau for a few hours. It's impossible to gauge. Your post does not tell us if your brisket is a flat. You could be lookin' at 12 hours or more total time. Try not to open the door again until time to pull.

Try reading Smokin's brisket 101. Good luck!!!

Sorry, it is a flat. I read a few posts that said they remove it at 160 degrees and wrap it in foil with beef broth. Others let it go until 195 degrees. I plan on doing it both ways to see if there is a differance.

icuq2,
i had the same thing happen in my sm150 doing butts. due to an emergency i got called into work and had to shutdown and got the same results as you. upshot of this was when i refired i only got to 180. i pulled it any way and they were somewhat overcooked.
since you are doing a flat and don't have the benefit of the fat from the deckle i sure would not go to 195f internal temp. poke the thing around the 180-185 mark. if your poker goes in ez you are there. briskets are like people,no two are the same, and the poke test is what i always go by at that temp mark. to be honest anymore i only foil my briskets if i am doing them in my fec and i only do that at the 180f mark when they are exceeding my 90 min per pound estimate. in the sm150 there is no drying air current so the crutch thing isn't needed.
hope it helps
jack

Just got home and the temp was 197 degrees. The flat has a nice layer of fat on it. I just placed it in a cooler with some towels on it.
Before I go to bed I will check it and see how it came out. It smells great.

Thanks for your help.

Well I must be the luckiest guy around. Brisket sliced thin and was still fork tender. If it gets better than this I found a new favorite.

That's not all. My wife got me the seafood racks, jerky rods, sample box of woods, and relatives chipped in to get the 008 stand for me.

I am truely blessed.

I also like to foil my briskets at 165.