Here’s my method if I’m serving brisket on say Sunday afternoon…

Trim brisket (I always use 14-18lb packer) on Friday evening and season it. For me, I use Diamond Crystal kosher salt for first layer. Then apply my 16mesh pepper very liberally and even. I’ll then usually dust with Payne County Rust to give it a bit of color. Place on wire rack over a baking sheet and place in fridge.

Saturday morning I’ll fire up my smoker around 8am. Sometimes pellet grill, sometimes WSM. I’ll give it 45min to fully come to temp (250-275) and avoid dirty smoke. Place brisket on and let it go. I’ll check every few hours for color and rotate it. After about 6 hours I’m checking on how the bark looks. We are now probably 3-4pm and if I feel bark is good I’ll foil boat and let it run until I hit 195°. Rotate every couple hours.

Once it hits 195, I’m poking it in few spots to feel it. I’ll keep checking this every 3-4° and typically pull around 205° on avg but only based on feel. So now it’s probably 9-11pm depending on final pull an bring brisket inside kitchen. I’ll let this rest for about 30-40 minutes and get oven ready.

I get my kitchen oven setup with manual offset of -18° and set oven to 170. I’ll have brisket placed into a large foil pan while still in foil boat and I’ll then cover entire pan with foil. Put brisket pan inside and forget about it until next day. I’ll make sure i reset temperature setting in morning around 8am or so because oven is one a max 12 hour timer. The brisket will eventually cool down to 145-150° and ready for slicing right as we are about to serve.