I disagree. It's about having options vs. a one setting cooker. I use various damper settings depending on what I'm cooking, or the stage of the cook. If I leave my 1975 stack wide open in the first 4 hours of a brisket cook, I'll get crispy edges on my brisket and not as much smoke flavor, however later in the brisket cook, I'll run the stack wide open to get that extra rendering for the fat cap. If I'm smoking a rib-eye, a delicate cut/short cook, the stack wide open provides a night and day difference vs. using a the damper. Stack wide open for crispy chicken, damper closed for more smokey chicken. More options are always better.
When I close my damper down 2/3, I'm burning full size splits with plenty of airflow and convection, something you could never do in a Oklahoma Joe.
When Mad Scientist compared the Franklin, Fatstack, and 1975, it was clear the Franklin is lacking in convection compared to the others. The size of the firebox and stack size support this assumption too. To me the Franklin is a 1 setting - medium convection smoker that you can’t adjust. Amazing, yes, but lacking cooking options.
On my 1975 I can cook in high convection mode with the stack wide open to render fat quickly. I can can cook with the damper closed 1/3 (**probably similar to the Franklin convection in that setting**), or with the damper closed 2/3 to get a gentle, super smokey cooking setting. I use all these settings for every cook. My food is tasting much better after doing this.
The majority of Texas bbq joints use the damper in different settings depending on the meat. Goldee’s closes theirs down to 3/4 when cooking briskets. It’s nice to have cooking options that directly impact the flavor and appearance of your food.
And finally (sorry for the long post), the stack damper can help you control and adjust temperatures without adjusting your fire size, and move the hot spot to different locations.
