SB, too bad your search only found a 2 year old post! Believe me, this topic has been hot (no pun intended) since then! We've all learned a lot about it. You're right that foiling your wood, or the bottom of the smoke box, counteracts it. I used to "ramp up" my temperature (30 min at 140, then onto cooking temp), which seemed to solve it.
What I've learned since, is the quality of the wood is the biggest factor! Moisture content plays a big role in combustion. A lot of the WalMart/lumber yard wood has moisture content as low as 1%! That's almost kiln-dried! I now buy my wood from Smokinlicious.com, with moisture as high as 33%. No combustion ever occurs with it, but good thin blue smoke, and very clean wood (all heart wood, no bark).
I hope you didn't think I was being "short" with you, about your question! It's just common that a lot of new folks don't take the time to look for an answer before posting a question that has had lots of coverage.
Let us know how we can help, and welcome aboard!
p.s. - a first name and town, in your signature line, is nice!