Estimate brisket cook time from weight and temperature.
Brisket timing scales with weight, inversely with pit temperature, and shortens when you wrap. The baseline of about 1.5 hours per pound applies at 225 F, so running at 275 F cuts it proportionally — the whole idea behind a hot-and-fast cook. Wrapping stops evaporative cooling: foil is fastest but softens the bark, butcher paper compromises, and running naked adds roughly 15 percent. The stall allowance is separate and non-negotiable, since around 150 to 165 F internal the temperature plateaus for one to three hours.
Cook time
Cook hours = weight lb x 1.5 x (225 / smoker temp F) x wrap factor
Planning total
Total = cook hours + 1.5 h stall allowance + rest hours
A planning estimate, not a food safety instruction. Cook times vary with pit design, airflow, weather and the individual cut. Always confirm doneness with a calibrated probe thermometer and never hold cooked meat below 140 F (60 C), which is the food safety floor for hot holding.
Around 150 to 165 F internal, moisture evaporating from the surface removes heat as fast as the pit adds it and the temperature plateaus for one to three hours. It is normal, not a fire fault, and because its length is unpredictable it is budgeted apart from the per-pound rate.
Always to temperature and feel; time only tells you when to start. Brisket is ready when a probe slides through the thickest part of the flat with almost no resistance, typically 200 to 205 F internal — but the feel is the real test and it varies between briskets.