Man, that Ray guy did you a huge favor even if it stung in the moment. Smaller coal bed is the way, no doubt in my mind. I ran mine choked full of coals for a whole year wondering why my meat tasted like I licked an ashtray, and the day I cut it back to like a third of what I had been doing everything changed. The trick is the intake, let it pull air through a small hot fire instead of smothering a big pile. Clean smoke is thin and kinda blue, and once you see it you can't unsee it. 19th out of 34 on your first go is honestly solid, and that third brisket is what matters. You're not overthinking it at all.

Your desk fan was just trying to get into the voice acting biz.

Freezing a cookie for 20 minutes barely changes anything, it just gets cold. Not sure how that turns into fudge but ok.