I was dead set on offset smokers, then a $5 garage sale kettle flipped me

For two years I preached that real Texas brisket only comes off a stick burner, and I saved up $900 for a used offset because that's what all the pitmasters I follow cook on. Last spring my neighbor in Waco was moving out and sold me his old 22 inch kettle for five bucks, just wanted it gone. My first cook on it was a 9 pound packer and I ran it at 250 to 275 with a snake of coals and a couple pecan chunks, and I wrapped it in pink paper at 165 like always. Ten hours later it probed like butter and the bark was better than my last three cooks on the offset, mostly because I wasn't fighting temp spikes every 20 minutes. What got me was how little fuel it used, maybe 6 pounds of charcoal for the whole cook instead of half a bag of splits. I still love the smell of a wood fire, but for a guy cooking for his family on a Tuesday this little thing just works. Anyone else here make the switch from stick burner to kettle, and did you miss the fire or not?