I don't. Before adding wood I use the poker to knock apart the wood into chunks so the holes in the bottom of the firebox are covered, then add more wood, while the fan is not running. I also keep it well stocked, if you wait too long to refill then the wood won't be able to break apart before the coal bed gets lean.
The problem may be that your wood is to young. 6 months is not very long for wood to dry. I usually wait a year before using it. Just a precaution I take. Some of the smaller pieces can be used earlier but don't burn them down to far before adding more.
From the KBQ Owner's Manual page 9: "Moisture content: cut, split and air dried for a couple of months is dry enough. Not freshly-cut; not kiln-dried."
If you loose your coal in the KBQ firebox, try throwing in some small chunks of wood. I like to use some of those small weber bags of wood. They are always really dry and they coal up pretty nice. They don't add much flavor as they are usually too dry to be of any benefit. But they will help to recover your coal bed.
The wood also may be a bit wet still. I will spilt oak as soon as I fell it and I can usually burn it in the KBQ within about 6 months. But I cut it into small logs and I stack it on an elevated wood rack that gets full sun and a good, constant breeze off the lake. So it probably dries a bit faster than it normally would.
And as CN said above, keep that baby fully stocked so you keep the party going. It just takes some getting used to, as any pit with live fire does.
6 months of dry air should be sufficient especially when you said you are using "all sizes". I am guessing you have an air flow problem, like others have pointed out. Are you starting your wood with briquettes? I do. I found out long ago that torching wood seemed to produce problems starting out. If you are using a KBQ Spinaker is the expert. I don't have experience with that unit.
I used a mix of the big and small chimney to start. Done the fluffing thing and keep it fully stocked. Have even tried putting the wood to the side of the smoker or on top of smoke chamber before it goes in.
I wonder if its just a real dense oak. Wanted to see what others thought before i got more wood.
I just did my first cook on a KBQ yesterday. See The KBQ has landed thread. In reading about the KBQ on this site, "fluffing" had me a little worried. I was thinking of a pile of grey lash, not a bed of one quarter to one half inch cubes red hot that needed to be spread out evenly. When I got the fire going it all came together what they were talking about. I used FOGO lump to start the fire and cherry for the cook. I have seen lump from the big box stores, 35 lb. bag for $15. You can't get it lit as easy as FOGO lump. A classic example of you get what you pay for. An area hardware store is a dealer for Big Egg. They have a fire tending tool sized for the Egg. I bought one for my COS and it worked great in the KBQ.
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