My wifre purchased this smoker for me for Christmas and I've finally able to bring it to where I live. I had my first smoke on Sunday. I noticed that I could not control the temperature as it was running extremely high. I had to open the doors several times and replace the wood chips every 30 minutes. I just purchased the Maverick digital smoking thermometer after reading several reviews as well as a 8 inch cast iron skillet. I am thinking about purchasing a new regular with a needle valve but I'm not 100% sure if i should. I've seen a few reviews about this smoker running hot but not sure what to do. The Maverick comes in today. Any advice would be great. I just joined this forum and I'm looking forward to smoking meats weekly.