Brisket 225 or 250

[DADAKOTA]

Will their be any noticeable difference in tenderness if I smoke at 250 in lieu of 225?

[beefmann]

if you  cook at 225 or 250 f there wont be , just cooks a little bit faster

[Tenpoint5]

if you  cook at 225 or 250 f there wont be , just cooks a little bit faster

X2

The tenderness will be affected by the internal temp of the brisket. 175ish will be rather tough, 185ish is bout perfect in my world,  195ish things are getting really tender,  205ish don't drop it on the counter too hard you may end up with pulled beef. Hope that gives you some ideas. You will probably just have to make a couple of them at stop at different points to see which one fits the end product your looking for. That's the fun part of this thing we do.

[DADAKOTA]

What kind of time am I looking at with a 9 pound brisket?  8 hours? 12?

[Sailor]

What kind of time am I looking at with a 9 pound brisket?  8 hours? 12?

Rule of Thumb is 1.5 hrs per pound.  Each brisket is different and some cook faster and some slower.  It is done when it is done.  You can get a pretty good idea of the cook time if you figure 1.5 hrs per pound and add 2 to 4 hrs of FTC time.  Remember that you will have a stall and it can last several hrs.  Don't panic when the IT stalls out as this is where good things are happening.  Normally I take the flat IT temp to 185-190 however I still go by the fork tender test.  Stick a fork in the meat and give it a twist.  If she parts easy she is fork tender and ready to come out to FTC.

In answer to your question......9 pounder.....I would plan on 13.5 hrs of cook time at 225 and add 2 hrs of FTC so you are at 15.5 to 16 hrs to be ready to eat.  Count backwards of when you want to eat to determine when you put it on.