3 briskets on the 32" Big Bad for a hard 6pm deadline — basic setup, what do I need?

[GeorgeFromOz]

G'day all,

Cooking 3 whole briskets on my 32" Big Bad for a 6pm Saturday 19 September service — biggest single cook I've lined up on it (only ever done one at a time before). Starting basically bare-bones: stock main grate, no thermometer, no charcoal or wood on hand yet. Hoping to get the kit sorted well before I light anything, rather than find gaps on the day with a fixed serve time to hit.

A few things I could use a steer on:

1. Cooker behaviour, 3 briskets vs 1 — does that much extra thermal mass make it steadier once it settles, or slower to recover from any dip? Does it take noticeably longer to come up to temp with that much cold meat going in? Anything that surprised you going from one brisket to a full load?
2. Fitting three in — main grate alone, or would you use the half/warming grate to keep them from touching? Is a drip pan + foil enough for indirect with this much meat above it, or worth a ceramic heat deflector for a load this size?
3. Thermometer — I've got none at all right now. Assuming I want dome temp plus a probe per brisket, so I can catch one lagging early against the deadline rather than find out too late. What's working well for people — built-in Tel-Tru plus something like a Meater Plus for the meat side, or other gear you'd recommend?
4. Charcoal and wood — still reaching for Dennis's cocochar for a cook this size, and roughly how much for 3 briskets over a long cook? Chunks or chips, and what wood, for beef specifically?
5. Fan controller, worth it here? — I've seen the threads warning these can fight themselves or burn charcoal faster than needed on a KK, with no real upside on a single-brisket cook. Does a hard deadline and 3 briskets change that, or still skip it?

Appreciate any input — happy to be told I'm overthinking a bit of this.

Cheers, George