Finished product

I ended up cutting off the smoke at 16 hours.  If I'd cooked it any longer, it would have fallen apart. 

I devoured about 25% of the brisket once it cooled down.  The other 75% got cut into 3 parts - one for me, and one each for two lucky neighbors.

Finally, some decent brisket?!?

The pics below are of a Trager pellet grill.  That is a BBQ grill that has a mechanism to feed wood pellets into the firebox, letting you basically load it and cook for hours without having to touch it.

This one is loaded with mesquite pellets, and I have a brisket going in it.  I'm going to smoke that for 24 hours, then hopefully get something closer to the brisket I'm used to, from living in Texas for 20 years.  I miss BBQ like that, because here in Georgia it is all about pork, hickory, and they just flat don't know how to properly do a brisket.

StevieFoodstamps, and Wirecutter: I'll be drinking a beer and tipping my hat to you guys when I have said brisket for supper tomorrow night, and leftover brisket for probably a good week...