first timer

Cook fat side down.

Foiling...some do; some don't. I used to but have come to believe that foiling during the smoke may actually steam juices out of the meat.

You do want to foil when resting the meat, after it's done. Apple juice will work if you like the sweetness. Otherwise a bit of beef broth will work fine.

I just did 3 briskets 12 – 14 lbs in my AmeriQue fat side up.

I foiled most of the front third of the bottom grate to help spread the heat out.
At an internal temp of 200 I foiled, added roughly a cup of beef broth to each one, wrapped with a towel, and put them in a cooler for 5 hours.

They turned out great.

Like the good advice from Max.I'm no expert,but I have cooked a lot of bad pieces of meat.

One option,to help confuse you,is that often the grocery cuts lesser quality meat,trims it lean to that size.It is for folks to make their Sunday potroast.

I also would rather have a good piece of meat and never consider foil.

They don't need to render internal fat,so you could cook at 250*,to 160* internal.Remove and paint well with your favorite red bbq sauce and a couple squirts,Lee & Perrins wooster.

Wrap very tightly,with no air and finish cooking to between 190*-195* and check for tender with your probe.It should pass thru the flat like butter,or cook another half hr and check.
Like Max said, then let rest about 3 hrs in your warm box.

Gives you a couple shots.

Thanks for the info. Will be doing the brisket tomorrow.
Quick fat question Is it a personal choice on whether the fat is up or down? From my understanding you usually would want the fat up to get additional flavor plus keep the meat a little moister.
Seems like there is a lot of people who do it fat down also.

Yea!, it is a personal choice, but the fine brisket cooks have taught me that you want the fat between the fire and the meat. I think they believed it would help keep the brisket from drying out.

I've pretty much tried everything to see what differences that I can accomplished, but I guess I've always cooked brisket with the fat side down, oh well!

One thing that has always left me wondering is why a under cooked brisket will be on the dry side?

Thanks cal

cal,you only get those ghost stories by listening to the old cooks set around watching their cookers and sharing adult beverages all night at cookoffs.

To tag onto cal,the fat layer protects the meat from the uneven cooking of the direct heat source,and doesn't do much to the meat.

At least,that is the ghost story around the campfire.