No, I used no deflector. I do have one, though. I guess I'll try using it next time.

I know it sounds like I opened it a lot, but I know "if you're looking, you ain't cooking". The times i described are about the only times I opened the lid. Since it cooked TOO fast, my problem wasn't lost heat...

Appreciate the advice. It seems like it ought to be so easy, but that "great-to-perfect" brisket just continues to elude me.

You're really over thinking this. Although brisket can be a bit of a challenge compared to pork butt, it's not that hard. I'd suggest watching Aaron Franklin's YouTube series on brisket. He will help you understand when and why to wrap, what the feel your looking for is, etc.

Beyond that, get the fire going well in advance and stable for an hour before putting your meat on. A good clean fire is most important.

Franklin's videos are what I have used. He doesn't use an egg-type, so indirect is what he does without explicitly focusing on it. Check.

Other than that, I have tried to take the "simple" approach, but it seems SOMETHING always crops up to bite me on a brisket. Pork butts are automatic and 100%.

Maybe next time I just need to go in with a positive mental attitude! Seeing as how it's an overnight process, I guess there's no point (and a lot of risk) to trying to get everything "running" as quickly as possible at the start. I feel that's what hurt me most this time.

Most important, don't give up. Keep trying. Forget the mistakes, but learn the lessons. No one's first few briskets are great, but the simpler you keep things the easier it is to identify what you messed up and then get consistent going forward. Once you've got the basics you can try all kinds of different stuff.

One of the biggest lessons that I have learned is cooking to temperature, not cooking to time.

Time doesn't matter. Trust the thermometer.

Personally I do a 11 to 12 hour cook with a 1 hour rest, but I am ready to pull it when needed. No wrap, in an offset. I have found that humidity and wind are big factors for my setup.

I've never lost heat from opening the lid...the exact opposite actually. You have to slowly open the lid when you do open it so there isn't a rush of oxygen to the fire. It's not as much of an issue for an offset but for ceramic cookers it makes it incredibly difficult to keep the temp stabilized.

At least that's what happens in my cooks.

Tumble Weed said:

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One of the biggest lessons that I have learned is cooking to temperature, not cooking to time.

Time doesn't matter. Trust the thermometer.

Personally I do a 11 to 12 hour cook with a 1 hour rest, but I am ready to pull it when needed. No wrap, in an offset. I have found that humidity and wind are big factors for my setup.

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Temperature is a bad indicator for brisket. Every brisket is tender at a different temperature. You can use temperature has a general guide as to when you should check tenderness - but don't rely on it to tell you it is done,

Also, I routinely rest briskets for 4 to 6 hours if they are done early. Sometimes, I cook in a very large pit (not my pit) that has enough difference in it that one side of the pit is going to be done about an hour earlier than the other. Rather than move everything around and screw up bark, I just pull some of them very early.

If left in a cooler that is about the right size for a brisket, they still come out of the cooler too warm to slice immediately, and have never dipped below the 165 degree safe zone for me. Don't be afraid of a very long rest.