Thanks for the post. I rather use water as it is designed. Water makes for a better bark over the long run, and the humid environment makes for better smoke adhesion and better temp stability. So, using a lot of charcoal is not an issue for me. That said we had a couple of thunderstorm near misses that made it quite windy - right through when the thing stalled. And I really did not need all that charcoal as the fire burned hot for another 6 hours (18 total) and for those last six hours I had all the vents open because I was done cooking.
Awesome first PP! Wish my first one had come out like that. Now I'm hungry. BTW... If you shut all your vents, you can save your unused coals for next time.