1 brisket ( 4 1/2-5 lbs)
Coarse Sea Salt
Cracked black peppercorns or freshly ground black peppercorns
Hot red pepper flakes (optional)
16 thick-cut strips bacon
1. Season the brisket; Place the brisket in the foil pan and generously season the top, bottom and sides with salt, black pepper and if you like your brisket spicy, hot red pepper flakes. Finish with the lean (fatless) side up.
2. Set up your smoker, cooker or grill to heat up to 250 degrees. Add the wood as specified by the manufacturer. Place the metal bowl with 1 quart warm water in the smoker - this creates a humid environment that will help the smoke adhere to the meat and keep your brisket moist.
3. Place the brisket in its pan in the smoker. Smoke for 1 hour.
4. Using tongs, invert the brisket so the fat side is up. Neatly drape the top with half the bacon slices. Cook the brisket until the bacon on top are darkly browned, 2 hours or so. Remove the bacon, dice, and eat it as a reward for your patience.
5. Lay the remaining bacon strips atop the bacon. Continue cooking until these new bacon strips are darkly browned and the internal temperature of the brisket registers 205 degrees on an a thermometer. There should be a nice pool of bacon and fat on the bottom of the pan. This will take another 3 to 4 hours, for a total of 6 to 8 hours in all.
6. You can eat the brisket immediately, but it will be more moist and tender if you rest it, loosely covered with aluminum foil in an insulated cooler for 1 hour.
7. To serve, uncover the brisket and transfer it to a cutting board. Remove the bacon or slice it along with the brisket. Cut across the grain into 1/4" thick slices, or thinly as you desire.
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