Brisket Time and Temp curves

I smoked a brisket for the first time yesterday. Had a 5lb Flat cut (didn't learn about whole brisket until after...). The brisket was on the LBGE for about 9 hours. I had difficulty achieving 250 degrees F. I was up around 265-275 for most of the cook. What I wonder, is if I took the meat off too early. Strange for 9 hours to be early on a 5lb brisket, right? But, the meat temp. never really plateaued until the end. See my graph. BTW, temps are from basic skewer type meat thermometer.


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