So I'm a lump-only guy. My wife and I both have very sensitive digestive systems, and we find that meat cooked with briquettes (even high quality briquettes like B&B) gives us an upset stomach. So lump it is.
I also like to BBQ on the hot & fast side, somewhere in the neighborhood of 300-350. However, I've been having issues with my temperatures going too high when using lump in the Slow n Sear. I always see people say lump is inconsistent in heat output. I wouldn't say that it's inconsistent, because it behaves the same way every time. But my problem is that all the lump in the slow n sear catches fire before one end has burned out, and so I always get bell-shaped curves in my temps, and often find it hard to stay under 350 (then later, above 300) without a ton of babysitting the vents. Part of this is due to the shape of the SnS with the middle being much wider than the ends. I put a firebrick in the middle of my SnS to try to even out the cross section, so there's not quite so much more charcoal in the wide middle area relative to the ends, but it didn't help much. I certainly don't mind a little fire management, but I'm not a fan of having to fuss with the vents constantly. I'd get a stickburner if I wanted to do that.
I got a Slow n Sear because I was under the impression that it'd make longer BBQ cooks on the kettle easier. But now I'm wondering if it's making it more difficult. Is there a better way to do long cooks with lump in a kettle? Is the snake method even possible with lump?
At some point I may get a WSM, which I think would make this a moot point. But for now I'd like to stick with just my 22" kettle.