I find adjusting the air flow works pretty quickly.
Are you preheating your wood?
No, I've never preheated the wood. Does that throw it off? I should note, I'm using a UDS.
Speaking of wood, I'm using fresh cut (last fall) wood in stead of store bought wood. This seems like it has a much fruitier smell. Has anyone else noticed that?
On my UDS, I always wait for the white smoke to turn blue. However, when I remove the lid and pit the meat on, it will always turm white for about 30 minutes and then go blue again. The food tastes great.