"Pete C." fired this volley in
ster.com:
Good grief, no. You *do not* foil brisket. There is never any need to
use foil on a brisket other that *after* it's done and it's going into
the refrigerator, or into a cooler to stay hot until serving.

Double "Amen!"
Foil is the enema...ur... ENEMY of good barbeque, because it gives it a
"boiled" character. If you want that, use a crockpot.

It is only after the collagen has broken down that you will get a
fork-tender brisket. For a large 15#+ brisket this process can take
18+ hours. If you don't want to tend a smoker for that long, you can
cheat by doing the first 6 hours in the smoker, and then moving to a
regular oven set at the same 275F for the remaining time. In the
regular oven you put the brisket on an elevated rack (roaster rack or
similar) sitting in a large rimmed baking sheet to contain the
rendered fat. Again *no* foil is used. Depending on how much you
trimmed the fat cap on the brisket, you may need to keep an eye on the
fat level in the baking sheet, and be prepared to remove some (turkey
baster) before it overflows.

All the above, except if you're willing to do an "all-nighter" it's even
better to run it lower -- about 230-240. But that will lengthen the time
on a 15 lb-er to about 24 hours. Too much lower than that will just tend
to dry out a "rind" on the meat. Much hotter tends to overcook the outer
1/2", lessening it's tenderness.

(That's why I have a camera monitoring the smoker temperature G)

And, of course, if you're doing Texas-style brisket, BlackJack Oak is the
only wood to use for the smoking.

Pete! You're making me hungry! I have to go out to the freezer now, and
retrieve one of the 5lb bags of (cooked) brisket I keep out there for
"barbeque emergencies".

LLoyd