I got ash my first smoke, did some reading here and bought a pellet screen, use double foil in the bottom of the wood pan, ramp up from 150 after 20 minutes, never use more than 2 oz of any kind of wood, and never had another problem with bitter taste, nor do I ever get any ash, just black wood chunks after I'm done. BTW, I find the forward part of the wood box the coldest.