Hot and cold break

I've been brewing now for a few years. I've always been very proud of my ability to get a nice hot break (from my out-door burner) and a nice cold break (from a wort chiller and a large sink). But alas, I think I've been sort of stupid about this the whole time... because, after getting these nice breaks, I've been dumping the whole mess, trub and all, into the primary (insert palm to forehead here).
It normally settles out, but then when the yeast wakes up, it stirs it all back in.
So, I see now that there are some good techniques for trub separation, like whirlpooling and decanting.
Now that I'll finally start separating out the trub, what will be the difference? Will this help with chill haze? Cleaner flavor?

There was a recent podcast of Basic Brewing Radio (within the last couple months) that tackled this issue. I think there were mixed comments and no clear cut answer. Doubt there's a huge difference. Check out the podcast though. It may shine light on your question.

For my purposes, i try to keep that stuff out but I really don't stress it.

I'm gonna go ahead and sub...I find myself doing similar things, nearly to the T. Great hot break, great cold break...dump 99% of it into the fermenter

I used to do what the OP did. I started whirlpooling, and siphoning from the side. There were noticeable improvements in the beer - less hazy and also tasted less muddled. It seemed to solve some off-flavor issues that had plagued me. Hopefully you'll notice some improvement too.

Don't worry too much about leaving all the trub behind. There are nutrients that small quantities of trub can provide during the fermentation.

I heard that Basic brewing radio podcast. Came down to personal preference (like lots of things in brewing). But james maintained that he would still leave as much trub behind, but not stress about letting some into the fermenter.

I agree with you and thanks for giving me little information about hot and col break.

After listening to the podcast about this, it sounds like it would be best to do exactly what I've been doing. Still, I think I'll try the siphoning technique and leave most of the trub out. Once I get a big enough pot for 10gal batches, I wanna do trub/no-trub test like the podcast. That way I can see what works best with my system and for my tastes, since it sounds like a lot came down to opinion.