rmaggio,
I appreciate your taking the time to read some of my posts. I hope they contribute to your smoking success. Like any smoker, you will need to get to know your Bradley. You will find it to be a good tool that makes smoking easy. Brisket, like all things in life, is easy once you know how.
I do not think there is a wrong answer as to smoke time. It is a preference item. It will also depend on the wood type. Some woods are overpowering, others very mild. I do not know what wood FlBentRider uses, but for him, four hours is perfect.
I use mostly apple, 1/4 hickory (or less) and 1/4 oak (or less) with a few pucks of mesquite thrown in. I load the Bradley to the top and let it go. When that is finished, I add a few more pucks and then I stop the smoke. About two hours before finishing, I fire the smoker back up again, finishing with the same blend. This is the procedure for three or four briskets but I also use it on a single with maybe a few less pucks. I am smoking most of the time with only 4 or so hours of shut down time.
I arrived at this formula by no apparent reasoning. I just liked it. I enjoy the smoke smell rising out of the smoker and that is what I was familiar with using stick burners. I went to apple because it is a mild wood. I used some stronger woods and they were just that; too strong for long term smoking. Using these milder woods costs more money where a stronger wood could be used less and probably achieve similar results. The enjoyment of smoke wafting through the air is worth a few pucks to me.
If I were looking for a shorter smoke time, I would use oak, hickory and a few pucks of mesquite.
If in doubt, smoke this first brisket with less rather than more. Too much smoke can hurt your product. The next time, adjust by adding more until you hit to your personal preference set point.
Again, I just enjoy the smoke rise.
Good luck and prolonged smoking,
Pachanga