Ash tray taste is from combustion and not too much wood. Solve the combustion problem and go back to suggested quantity or even a little bit more wood and you will be much happier. Some solve the combustion issue by buying higher moisture content wood and other by insulating some of the heat from the fire box. I'm one of the later. I lay a piece of foil in the bottom of the box and then cover that with a chip screen. In my model, there is just too many holes in the bottom creating too much oxygen and too much heat. In cheap smokers fire is okay because they breathe/leak so much. In the SI, the unit is sealed so well that fire fills the box with rancid smoke that doesn't escape.