charcoal, a BGE, and smoke

Unknown

Hi all,

I bought a new egg a couple of weeks ago, a medium, and I really love it. I am an admitted novice with the egg, but I've managed to cook the best steak I ever had, the worst steak I've ever had, a decent pizza, a great spatchcocked chicken (thank you, TNW). I di have a question that I hope someone can help me with. How can I minimize the charcoally smokey flavor? My wife hasn't eaten anything off of the egg, since she has "overdone" on smoked food. I've tried different charcoal (Cowbot, Hasty Bake, Royal Oak, and I just received some Wicked Good), I've tried mapp gas and firelighters, I've started new charcoal and put used charcoal on top, I've tried burning fresh charcoal from the top and the bottom, I've let the coals burn until they were all aglow (that is when I had my worst steak ever, the fire died and I cooked it in a skillet), I've tried no charcoal at all, just burned hickory chunks (a big mistake, nothing BUT smoke).

I want heat, a long-lasting fire, and less smoke. Am I crazy??

Thanks for any ideas.

The rev