Salt and pepper smoked brisket (gravity-fed smoker)

Trim the brisket and season with salt and pepper only, so the smoke flavour of the smoker can be judged.

Bring the smoker up (about 225 degrees at the start); put a water pan under the brisket to keep the cook chamber moist for better bark.

Put the brisket on at 275 degrees; add a wood chunk every 30 minutes.

Check at about one hour and three hours for colour, bark and burning; no spritzing needed while nothing burns and the fat starts to render.

At about seven and a half hours, at 170 to 171, pull it and wrap it in paper.

Finish wrapped; done after more than 12 hours. Rest as long as possible (here only a few minutes, for daylight), then slice the flat and the point.