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No worries, mate (as they say down under!)

I agree that the new manifold is pure genius. Been trying to convince Dennis into making a version for the OTB-23, so the rest of us can take advantage. I'd be happy with the single dial with the holes in it to swap out for my regular draft door. (Hint, hint, Dennis).

You don't need to generate smoke for the entire cook. Absorption stops when the meat reaches 140F, which is before the stall on a pork butt. So, if you could get 3 - 4 hours of smoke out of one of these, you might be fine. Someone will have to experiment with it and see if you need to reload or not. You might just be better off with the 12" or 18" ones and not worry about reloading.

I've posted several times about using a converted cast iron dutch oven as a smoking pot. It works well and has the advantage that you can put it on top of coals at the beginning, then add your grates/deflectors/drip pan and not worry about disassembly/reassembly when time to put on the meat. The cast iron take time to heat up to the point where the smoke generation starts, so you don't worry about burning up your wood chunks too quickly. It produces a steady smoke - no worries about distributing chunks in the coals that may/may not ever burn and it doesn't affect the temperature control at all. The holes in the bottom direct the smoke back into the fire, so any volatiles are burned off, producing a clean smoke. My only downside is that it's a bit messy setting up - you use a flour/water paste to seal the lid on the dutch oven. However, no complaints on how it works on longer lo & slo cooks (brisket, butts, ribs). I'm curious to hear how this pellet tube does on very low (cold) smoking applications where the dutch oven might not work well. If folks find that this new gadget works for them, my favorite source for wood chunks (www.fruitawoods.com) also sells chips and pellets.

here's a couple pics of bone-in picnic shoulders. these came out just great; did them together in a roasting pan, and the juices basically confitted (?) the pork. best pulled pork i've done yet. also did them skin down to see what would happen, and the skin basically dissolved, except for a few pieces that stuck to the bottom of the pan. drippings were reserved and separated using a gravy separator. fat was kept for frying up some potatoes, and the drippings were added back to the pull. this is my favorite way to do it. probably not considered bbq by some, but i can't argue with the results...

Elitists, no, perfectionists perhaps. In a world that's increasingly full of mass produced junk, it's refreshing to see a company trying to build the very best product it can. I am new to the KK world, but I feel that I have purchased something bespoke and very special.