Heat Sinks: a thought from my buddy in Alabama

My good friend, Chesley, in Tuscaloosa, AL is an engineer and approaches barbecue with dedication, perseverance, zeolatry, and methodical thinking. Over the last few years, he and I have corresponded about a sauce that we both love and how we might come close to duplicating it. He has also shared grill set up ideas that have intrigued me. 

He applied one idea to his two barrel grill/smoker. In the cooking chamber, he placed fire bricks to serve as a heat sink to sustain and even out the temperature fluctuations. Pizza ovens often do something similar.  I look forward to using the same technique in other barbecue/smoker applications to see if I can improve their performance.