Alton is pretty quick to use an expediant method like the flower pots. I saw that show also and wondered why used the pots. Somewhere along the line either him or his wife, who has major input into his show, must have run across this technique a liked it. If you ever watch Emerel, he smokes in the oven with a sliding lid pan. He puts the meat at one end and wood chips in the other end. Like I always say the real test is with the taste and not the tools. I like my smokers because they let me do several things that I love to do...cook...drink Guinness...listen to music...read a good book...and play with fire. To me it doesn't get much better than that.