Brisket Flat Question

[Tmorrison80]

I am cooking lunch for the sales staff at one of the stores I manage this coming Tuesday. The lunch starts at 11:30am. To stay within my companies budget I got three flats, two are about 6 pounds and one is 7 pounds. I've never done just the flat before so I'm not sure the adjustments that I need to make. Here is my plan, please let me know if I'm overlooking something or just wrong about it all.

Sunday night I will trim and salt all three flats. This will give them at least 24 hours to dry brine.

Monday night I plan to start my RecTeq 590 pellet smoker at 10pm setting the temp at 225°. Then pull the meat out of the fridge to apply my rub. The meat should go on the smoker by 10:30pm. I plan to keep a close eye on internal temperature and wrap in pink butcher paper when it hits 160°. Then placing them back on the smoker. Hopefully that helps me get them done by 10am.

Does 10.5 to 11 hours of cooking time seem correct for the three flats? Or is that too long since each one is only 6-7 pounds?

I plan to keep them wrapped in the butcher paper and a towel, placing them in a cooler and slice them at the luncheon as needed. Or would it be better to slice them at home and put in an aluminum tray to serve out of?

Thank you in advance for any help you can provide!

[Jerod Broussard]

How thick? A good thick flat can go 15 hours. They are the stall champions.

I like to put my meat in cold, then kick on the pellet pooper. Keep whole as long as possible. Have a little juice or mop sauce for serving.

[Tmorrison80]

They are about an inch to an inch and a half thick. Should I start them earlier?

[Panhead John]

I have no experience with a pellet pooper, but....I would not slice them till you get there, not ahead of time. It’ll be more impressive slicing them in front of the crowd. They’ll retain the heat better in one piece. I think its just better overall to slice when you’re ready to eat. Bring your best knife and cutting board.

[ecowper]

Flats get dry really fast after slicing, too .... slice right before serving

[Huskee]

I think you're good. In fact I think if you wrap early at 160 you'll finish on time or quite likely early. Remember to leave a good fat cap on, don't get too trim-happy, flats need that fat cap. If it's looking iffy don't be afraid to crank your temp up to 250, 275, 300.

[Redwng]

I might suggest doing them in the 250 range so they get done in your time frame.

[Tmorrison80]

These are the three flats I'm doing tonight.

[Steve R.]

I would wrap when the bark is fully formed, not just when it hits 160. And I wouldn't be afraid to wrap in foil instead of butcher paper. All that jus that ends up in the foil is nice to drizzle over the slices right before serving, especially when it's slices of flat.

[tRidiot]

Agreed, wrap when the bark is right, not just at temp.