Jeff, I'm soooo glad you asked this question. As you can see by the comments so far, even the august body of Kettle-cabezas has NO consistent candidate.
Here are my top 10 choices:
1) KBB - Have been using it since grass started growing in my back yard. Don't remember the 'old' version producing acrid smoke/smells during
startup, but then I'm always inside prepping food to put on that kettle w/ the KBB when it's ready.
2) KBB - If I'm needing heat, heat, heat, then I'm NOT doing L&S cooking. I'm probably building a fire pit for shaping horseshoes or pitchforks.
350-400 is not really a problem with KBB on my kettle.
3) KBB - Have a couple of bags of Kick-Ass lump, or some such, and Lazzari Mesquite lump that I got with a WSM purchase recently. They are
waiting to be traded to my son-in-law for something else.
4) KBB - When I run a repeating pattern of (2x1 x 2x2) around the circumference of my 22" OTG (separated by a fire brick at start/end) I can count
on 220-250 for more hours than I have cigars and Scotch to support. Never, since grass started growing in my back yard, have I had a kettle
clog up ... even with a Smokenator installed.
5) KBB - At $0.27 lb, I can afford to feed my new/old WSM