A flat won't take a super long time if you wrap after 3-4 hours. Probably about the same time as a butt....maybe a touch longer. I've actually never done just a flat....I always do packer briskets. I figure 10ish hours on those wrapping after 5. I remember the days when I could do a whole packer for $20 or less. Miss those days.
for some one thats "I've actually never done just a flat" you seem to have advice on how to cook it???
Even though I've never smoked just a flat I've smoked hundreds of briskets. Time is the only difference. I've been smoking food for ~30 years and did competitions at one time. It's meat and a smoker....not that difficult. I don't cook nearly as often these days as I used to because kids have mostly grown up and we don't really do many big get togethers like we used to but I still enjoy cooking quite a bit.
Most of my pics are burned to DVD's. Can't get to Photobucket stuff so these are just a couple that were on my current phone.
Lol I too maybe have smoked a hundred briskets but I'm cheating a bit with my figures because I worked at a BBQ joint when I was in high school. And what a dump that place was. But, I did learn to smoke meat, and that's carried over well into my adult years now. Now as far as "my own" briskets I've only actually done a handful. I've done just flats before too, no need to stress it ReelFaster just keep a decent watch on your temps. I never was big on wrapping until my last brisket I did now I may be a believer, but I'd rather wrap based on how the bark looks rather than strictly going by internal temp. Or in other words I'm probably wrapping at a higher internal temp than what others may recommend......But I like bark.
