Maiden Voyage Brisket

Taking a run at my first packer-sized brisket today. I've been reading the play-by-play instructions from some of the pros on here, and Mr. Foghorn was kind enough to send me his detailed instructions. Coming up on 4.5 hours in, I'm starting to hit some questionable territory.

First, got up and did my best to trim up what was approximately a 14 pounder. There was a lot of very hard fat I had to excavate, as it felt to me like the type of fat that couldn't possible render out. I should have taken some pictures of it, but here is the rubbed slab before she went on. Just 50/50 course pepper and kosher salt. 


Put it on aiming to hold about 275. Was a notch under for a while, but because I have a history of seeing temps escalate 3+ hours into some cooks after holding well in the mid-200's previously, I tried not to tinker, thinking 265 was just fine and still warmer than many smoke their briskets, so it'll get done. Throughout all this, the dome temp was holding a couple of degrees higher than my grate temp, so this seemed positive.

Fell asleep longer than intended (1-year old has an ear infection and has thrown us all off a bit) and woke up a little while ago with the dome temp was holding at 275, but the grate registered 302. And for some reason the meat probe was reading over 190! (Yes, it is entirely possible my cheap double probe is not accurate. May be time for an upgrade...) Used an instant read and an old gauge thermometer to figure out that the meatiest part of the flat was actually about 168-171, and re-positioned the wireless probe which dropped its reading a bit, but very quickly again says 180. Closing down vents a little has brought the grate temp back to 270-275 (as I type it has dropped into low 260's for the last 10 mins or so but dome steady at 275) and meat probe holding at 180, with instant read about 170 in similar areas. 


Temp notwithstanding (in the picture I was probing the point a bit to see if i could recreate the 199 reading I saw when I woke up), it looks to be what Foghorn referred to as "reasonable, but not great, bark" so I'm not inclined to wrap it at this point.

My best thought is to keep an eye on the internal probe and occasionally keep checking with the instant read. When I'm good with the bark (or get concerned about drying out, perhaps), I'll wrap in butcher paper and then ride until I start probing for the tension release throughout.

Any other suggestions at this point? Red flags I should have heeded along the way/suggestions for next time? All appreciated!