Divot, at times you come across as if you feel I'm either trying to convince you that you need to do this, or I'm knocking the design and it needs correction.
Neither of those are the case. I am sharing my journey because I came here to seek info that I did not find.
If you're happy with the results you're getting, you'd be foolish to change anything.
Hope that lights your candle.
Not the case, at all, Funk. I am merely playing devil's advocate for
not needing to turn our smokers into Frankensmoker for them to work "properly!" I don't want inexperienced potential owners to think they need to do all kinds of mods to these smokers to make them work "right," that's all. You, obviously, are on a quest to produce BBQ that fits your very unique definition of "good BBQ," and I wish you nothing but success in doing so. It's your smoker, and your time and money, so have good luck pursuing your end results!
I will add that I totally disagree with your assessment that it makes BBQ like it was cooked in a slow cooker. If you are getting that result, it's your prep, not the smoker. If everyone got that impression from their BBQ, I don't think Steve would constantly remain sold-out of his smokers. The fact is, when meat is prepared properly, you can produce some of the finest BBQ anyone will ever eat, out of a
totally stock SI smoker. I went head-to-head on pulled pork, against a guy with a $10,000 custom-built offset stick burner, and won hands-down. Just food for thought... I know you have a ton of BBQ experience, so don't take that as a knock. It's just a different smoker, that demands different methods, that's all.