Ok, so I seasoned my new smoker on Thursday and that went fine. On Sunday morning i fired it up. The butcher had half price baby back slabs so I picked a few up an rubbed 'em down and let sit for a few hours. I fired up the smoker and poured myself a bloody mary and threw 'em in the smoker with a 2lb fatty at around 9 am. I noticed right away that i was having a hard time keeping the temp up. It seemed like I couldn't get coals going fast enough to get them onto the fire and keep the heat up. What i noticed was that the lower coals were going out. My smoker has a bowl for coals and i just don't think they get enough air down there to really cook. So, i took a grate out of my other grill and placed it on top of the bowl to let those guys breathe a little but then i didn't have enough room to put enough coals on without burning the water pan which sits right above the coals. I still manage to finish the smoke and made some pretty good ribs but the fatty was the real success. Here's the question, I used briquettes because i had them in the garage and i wanted to get rid of them. Does lump burn hotter? In other words, can i keep less in the little bowl so it doesn't choke? any other suggestions? Thanks in advance for all the help.