1. the flat is less fattier than the point. True and if I known or researched ahead of time, I'd inject it more than I did.
Yes
2. You recommend marindade and injection before the rub. I injected while it was on the smoker (after the rub was put on). I did this to save time. I had other things going on and had to make the injection recipe, so figured it could smoke a little. Downside of this is that I couldn't get a decent amount of injections in there.
The marinating I recommended is not designed as much to get much flavor into the meat as to form a "slather" for the rub. The Worcestershire/wine combination turns into a syrup after 15 minutes or so in contact with meat and makes an excellent glue to hold the rub to the meat.
3. Many small injections are better than a fewer large ones to prevent puddling. You may be on to something here. I'll agree with you.
It's good to get the injection well distributed. A note on injecting: It's incredibly messy. When you inject properly a portion of every injection will find an exit through the muscle tissue and squire all over the place. I love it.
4. You recommend separating the flat and point AFTER the smoke. I guess this is up to the individual. I'd think that if you could separate them and trim the fat before cooking, then there'd be less of a mess when carving. I had lots of fat at carving because I didn't cut this very well. My main fear was that the flat was thinner than the point and it would overcook/dry out before the larger point got cooked (but I didn't cut along the fat like I should have and it was weird).
You've brought up a lot of issues.
A. Briskets cook better (though slower) as a single piece rather than cut into several smaller ones. Because briskets are so difficult it's usually a good idea to maximize your chances of success, by (as always in cooking), "first, do no harm."
B. Once you've got the fat off, carving isn't that messy. That's one reason why I recommend that people with good butchering skills take off so much fat before cooking. The other reasons are that a thin fat layer can be seasoned, and that if the layer is thin enough and it can be presented to the diner. While it's easy to remove cooked fat completely, it's not easy to trim with precision.
C. It's possible (but tedious) to scrape the cooked fat off with the edge of a soup spoon. You can remove it most efficiently with (the largest) "slicing" knife you can handle, by working the knife almost horizontally. If you look at my avatar the long thin knife next to the two heavier triangular shapes is a "slicer." But let's talk about ...
D. General brisket carving technique: (1)Put the whole brisket in a sheet pan, set near your carving board. Separate the point from the flat. Trim the fat from the flat by working a slicing knife horizontally across the surface. Try not to take any meat. A little fat is a good thing. (2) Remove the flat to the board, and note the grain direction. (3) Cut the flat in half across the grain. (4a) If your knife is long enough take a thin slice, about 1/8" thick, from one of the cut faces. Test for tenderness. (5a) If the meat is very tender, take the rest of the flat in thicker slices, about 1/4" thick. (5b) If tough, slice as thin as possible, perhaps using a meat slicer if one is available. (4b) If the brisket is too wide for your knife, cut each half down until a cut face is just narrow enough to slice. Cut the wider remaining piece, along the grain, into two pieces, each of which may be carved with the grain. (6) Plate the slices from the flat onto a serving platter. Leave space for the point.
(7) Remove the point to the board. (Before the point and flat are separated their grains are 90 degrees out of phase. That's why they can't be correctly carved as a single piece.) (8) Remove as much fat as possible from the surfaces of the point. I find a "utility," "fillet" or medium "slicer" works best. Note the grain direction. (9) Carve the point into slices roughly twice as thick as the slices from the flat. You want your slices at least thick enough to hold together, but otherwise as thin as possible. (10) Plate the point slices or reserve for another purpose.
5. plastic wrap (instead of foil) and fill cooler with newspaper. why? what does this do? I did the way I wasn't supposed to...I pulled at around 190 (many different instant readings between 190 and 200) and foiled and put in the cooler for at least an hour. Not sure if it was 2 hours. It was still hot when I pulled it out to carve.
The plastic wrap trick comes from Ray Lampe's hero Paul Kirk. I don't know what to tell you other than it works better than foil -- at least for a brisket that was never foiled during the cook. It softens the bark just a bit, and seems to result in a juicier, more tender brisket. The newspaper is to displace air in the cooler that would otherwise draw heat and moisture from your brisket. Using a close fitting cooler is a better idea sitll than packing the cooler with paper or towels. It's a whatever works thing. Me? Usually, I use the kitchen oven.
6. Yes, there was a pause around 160 for several hours. It was odd that the smaller chunk (about half the flat), cooked fairly fast (8 hours?) and was clearly done. When I lifted the lid for a while and then had issues needing more charcoal (could not sustain 270 dome temp and barely maintained 200 dome temp), it seemed my point dropped 10 degrees and substantially slowed its temp climbing. That is, there was a time when the flat and point were several degrees apart and then were only 10 degrees apart, with the flat having a much shorter pause (if any) than the point. I'm aware of pork butt having the pause and figured brisket has it too. I was prepared for a 20 hour smoke if necessary, but the higher initial temp (270's instead of 225) shortened it a bit.
Again, beaucoup subject matter. Let's skip most of the science of the stall, but you should know it's NOT because the heat "goes" to the "connective tissues," it's all about densities and liquids distribution. The stall is a mostly unpredictable beast, no question about it. When you skip to cooking whole briskets it will be still more so, but it can be partially tamed with steady higher temps (265 and up), and to a lesser extent by foiling during the cook.
7. You mention for WSMs to cook dry (sand in the water pan). Is this because you don't want THAT much humidity in there, compared to an offset? I know that my water pan became filled with grease and is now on the verge of being tossed out (No Bill, I didn't foil wrap the pan..didn't think about it). I guess offsets can benefit by having a little humidity and a WSM would have too much? Does this lend to better rendering of the fat or is this to help prevent what happened to me...instant deep fat fryer?? hhehehehehehe
There are so many people around here who know the ins and outs of WSM's better than I, that I'll say while you've got my thinking right that WSM's tend to cook humid enough, you should pay close attention to those with more experience on them. Sand was very popular awhile ago, but I understand people are moving away from it pretty quickly and back to liquids or different solids. In any case, I think it's a good idea to not only foil the water pan but to use at least some sort of ballast.
I appreciate anyone's thoughts on those points. Like I said, this was my first time and I didn't research, other than look at one recipe that was 'texas style' and they didn't separate the flat from the point before cooking and didn't seem to trim any of the fat. I did notice that the rub I made had some heat to it, but it was only evident on smaller meat like my fatties and ribs and not on the brisket. I guess the brisket is forgiving in this regard? It can take a lot of abuse???
I think doing brisket consistently well is the hardest challenge in barbecue (not including large, whole pigs). While it's true that brisket has some serious beef taste to it, there are a lot of other reasons your rub might not have tasted hot -- sugar, for instance. I'd have to know what went into the rub and how much stayed on to give you any real guidance on that.
Rich