Yes I also use the minion method in my char griller with side fire box.
I learned early on, don't use too much wood. It actually provides too much smoke and makes the meat bitter.
I fill my charcoal basket up with lump (which is basically just burnt wood, made from oak), unlit, and leave a small open space (a few inches) in the side closest to the fire box door. I then fill up a chimney with lump, light it, and after it gets going, I dump it into the open space in the charcoal basket.
This causes massive white smoke billowing at first. After the smoke dies down, I throw a couple chunks of wood in the basket, in top of the lit part.
It usually billlows white smoke for a minute, but quickly turns to thin blue.
The wood chunk usually lasts an hour or 2. So every hour or 2, I throw another chunk on as needed to keep the thin blue smoke flowing.
Just make sure you keep the thin blue smoke flowing, and not the thick white smoke.
