Brisket Basics

N's parents brought us Salt Lick BBQ sauce for Christmas and N wanted brisket. I bought a 3.5 lb hunk from Costco the other day and finally decided to have it for dinner last night. I've never cooked brisket before, but I thought it would be like any other meat...just season it, stick it in the oven, and keep an eye on it. Because I didn't get home until later last night and I was starving, I threw the hunk of brisket on a cookie sheet, slapped some seasoning on it, and threw it in the oven on 425. After I had it in there for about 40 minutes, N called and said he was on his way home and as always, wanted to know what was for dinner. I told him we would be having brisket, mashed potatoes, and baked beans, if the brisket was done in time. This led to quick interrogation (and rightly so on his part) of how long it had been in the oven, preparation, etc. He quickly informed me that was NOT the way to cook brisket, I turned the oven off, and we had leftover bread pudding (which was more like a quiche with spinach, shitakes, and gruyere). So, I finished it up today as best I could - I put it on a bed of onions, with water in the pan, fat-side up. It's quite tough and dry, as you can imagine, but I'm now prepared for next time! We'll use this for sandwiches or something, and it will be just like eating Washington BBQ!