Eric - Sounds like you're not putting enough unlit charcoal in your ring. I start mine, on both the 18 1/2 & 22 1/2, half - 2/3 full of unlit lump, 4 or 5 chunks of wood, and about 1/3 chimney lit lump. Rarely need to add more charcoal unless I'm doing a 10+ hour cook.