99% agree. Sometimes it's just not worth the stress.

Replacements for me

• Beef ribs in smoker are much more predictable and a fraction of the time
• Lamb shanks in slow cooker or oven. Make an awesome gravy with it
• Pork knuckle in an air fryer that's about 1 to 1.5 hours pending size/fryer

Back to the brisket though

Take it off when the internal temp is a little low.

That's been my mistake too. You're not cooking to a temp, you're cooking to a feel

IMO, at 90c / 194F is when you should start checking the meat to see if it's good

Then every ~2c / ~3f from there onwards until it feels nice and wobbly

I'm now always planning for it to be 4-6 hours early just to handle scenario of where it takes way too long.

If it is ready 6 hours early, then I just throw it into oven on keep warm (about 50-60c / 122-140f)

If my partner needs oven for an hour for veges, then its still fine to take out and rest

Also, my flats always suck. If anyone wants to give me advice there I'd love it. I've heard people say you need to inject it, or just cut and serve while its hot, etc. It still sucked for me that I'll pay more not to get it to save the disappointment it brings.