First Brisket was a disaster - need advice

[rbosco3]

I just tried to smoke my first beef brisket yesterday.  It was 3 1/2 pounds and according to Jeff's book should have taken 5 hours at 225 degrees with an finished internal temperature of 190 degrees.  I used a dual probe digital thermometer which has been check for accuracy.  After 5 hours, the internal temperature was only 175 degrees.  It took another 2 hours to reach 190 degrees.  When I took it out, the brisket was very overdone.  Any thoughts on what went wrong?

 

[SmokinAl]

When you say it was overdone, what was wrong with it? I usually take my brisket to 205, sometimes foiling at 175 or so with some liquid. Here's a brisket smoke I did a few years ago. It's a much bigger brisket, but the principles are the same.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/105041/weekend-brisket-burnt-ends-qview-galore

 

[rbosco3]

It was very dry.  I used at flat cut of brisket rather than a packer cut.  Do you think that may have been the problem?

 

[SmokinAl]

No, I don't think so. Did it have a fat cap on it? For a small brisket like that I would smoke it in an aluminum pan with some beef broth or onion soup, with the fat cap up. You need to keep it moist. What kind of smoker do you have? Do you have a water pan? Did you put water in it? Need more info.

 

[rbosco3]

It had a fat cap.  I have an electric smoker.  The water pan was full of water.