Newbie, you need a meat probe for the pork butt and or cook it til a knife or skewer slides in with no resistance. baby backs take practice, you need to go by looks and feel and they can be over cooked. brisket needs to be alot bigger to cook, get a real piece about 8 pounds flat or the whole packer. there is no reason to cook a 3 pound piece of meat in the egg overnight, get a big piece with a fat cap. dont go by time, things are done when they are done and you dont want to cook at 200 degrees, 250 dome will give you 225 to 235 at the grill level which is perfect