Yeah, it was real interesting to see Fink's video for 'turds on a Smokie....
For me, it was a very short step to 14 hour pork shoulders & 18 hour clod roast, as I spent years & years using a smaller & smaller amount of coals, direct, to do stuff longer & longer time......
If you think about how many billions ( Trillions ?) of burgers & dawgs have been done on a kettle over 60+ years, direct makes sense....
It seems like from some of the old photos & ad's that people have put up here that they were testing out doing roasts & larger cuts to demonstrate to "families" that Dad could do whatever Mom could do in the house just fine outside.......
Didn't have to take out a second on the homestead to do a prime rib in those days either.....
I cook direct almost exclusively. I leave the lid on with the vents wide open. If I flip something and get a flame it goes out within about 5 seconds of the lid being put back on. You just have to know how hot your grill is. If you have too much charcoal you may have to wait a little after you spread your coals so let them cool by getting more ash on them.
I actually have a tough time with high heat direct, sort of....
but that's the ticket, right there ^^^^^^^