Pumpkin Seed redux

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<p />Did the annual jack-o-lantern carve with the kids last night. I always save the seeds and roast some in the oven with salt. I much a few, my wife reminds me she doesn't like the, then I throw the rest away a few weeks later.[p]But this year I decided I'd do something with them on the Egg. Too busy to look up any recipies, I just decided to wing it. I'll tell you what I did then give some comments on my technique vs the other techiniques I've since found in a search of the archives here.[p]Pumpkin Seeds ala Fusco:
*Start egg and set temp b/w 250-300 degrees
1)Clean seeds of as much of the pulp and 'gunk' as possible. I rinsed in warm water.[p]2)Soak briefly in a moderate brine of kosher salt (10 minutes?)[p]3)Drain in collinder briefly, seeds should remain moist/wet, you just don't want a bunch of free water.[p]4)Sprinkle with Kosher salt and mix up.[p]5)Prepare egg to smoke--a lot. I used pecan smoking pellets and created quite a thick strong smoke.[p]6)Spread a single layer of seeds onto a open-mesh pizza pan/plate and place directly on the grill (yes, direct heat).[p]7)Sprinkle with a bit more Kosher salt and close the egg.[p]8)About every 5 minutes stir the seeds so they don't stick and to promote more even cooking/smoking. Test every 5 minutes after about 15 minutes for doneness/crispiness. Mine took around 15-20 minutes for each of the 2 batches I cooked. Color varied from light tan to dark brown but taste and texture was fairly homogeneous.[p]Now, some comments after reading prior techniques. I would like to hear discussion/comments on how one techique vs another would improve or alter the taste and texture of the final product.[p]Most of the previous recipes put more emphasis on the brine, many actually boiled their seeds in a brine until they sank to get the salt to penetrate. Frankly, I have more than adequate saltiness with the way I did it and using kosher salt sprinkled on top just before smoking seems fine.[p]Next, I didn't see anyone else emphasis the smoking of the seeds. Almost all of them used some form of butt-rub or other cayenne based seasoning, or garlic. And almost all used butter or sesame oil as well. What does the oil/butter do/add?[p]Finally, most cooked for a much longer period of time, at higher heat and either on a pizza stone or in a pan rather than using a direct heat method for shorter times.[p]I'm curious now to see if my idea was bad and it could be better with a different technique or what. Everyone who posted said their seeds were good and enjoyed by all and no one complained that they were not crispy enough.
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