How do I compile and install a kernel from source?

[Andrew Konosky]

I have been installing the kernel rpms with yum/synaptic, but I have 
read that the "vanilla" kernels, which I am guessing are the original 
source-code versions, have more features, but are sometimes less stable 
becuase thet are not edited for specific distributions. Is this correct?

I would like to compile the latest kernel version from source just to 
see how it's done and also to see if the "vanilla" kernel is stable 
enough for my system. Once it is compiled, will I have to manually add 
the kernel to the grub config file? Any tips/tricks I should know about 
when compiling a custom kernel?

I am currently using 2.6.7-1.496_4.rhfc2.at, and I had tried the 
2.6.8-1, but went back after finding out about the CD-burning bug. Has 
this been fixed?