The third cooiking principle. The one they dont talk about

Ok so this stays on topic...for each of these techniques please add a handful of pellets.

When I teach and cook I always expound on the concept of a "Direct and indirect cook" It is the basic premise of properly cooking meat....in French restaurants...(even sous vide is this concept) to the best dives....THey either bake first and finish with a sear, our reverse sear, or sear first and then finish in an oven of salamander. It just is the best way to get the carmelization on the outside and the even cooking temp on the interior of the meat.

There is a third one which is a fabulous and not discussed often. Im going to call it "Semi Direct" Santa Maria style BBQ is this way...The food is directly above the heat source but at least 18 inches from the food and grate. The Drum Smokers are like this as is one setting of the hasty bake and the meadow creek chicken cookers. The fire is just far enough away to finish the outside without burning and even enough to evenly cook. The benefit and beauty of this is the drippings from the meat hit the coals and return back to add special flavor to the meat.

Just wanted to talk about this other great way of cooking food outdoors

I learned to cook fajita for tacos al carbon that way from a guy in San Antonio who was married to a south Texas border town gal. He used his water smoker with no water pan and the grate set 18" from the coals.

I love cooking tri tip and chicken this way, like BP said the juices off the meat hitting the hot oak coals along with wisps of oak smoke from the pellets makes for marvelous flavor. IMO its pretty hard to beat tri tip cooked with this method.