The key to achieving maximum smoke reduction is a very hot fire spread evenly throughout the fire pit. Moving hot coals toward the outside wall will be helpful as well. This will provide more heat in the double-walled air chamber, which in turn will provide a more aggressive air current up through the air chamber, forcing that secondary combustion which is essential to making a fire smokeless.
Please note that adding bigger logs to your fire can cause the fire to burn cooler, so start by using smaller pieces then slowly adding bigger logs as the fire builds. As for stacking the wood, our best recommendations are as follows: Start by adding firestarter or dry shreds of paper or cardboard. Then, surround the fire starter with small pieces of kindling or dry twigs. Once the smaller pieces of kindling are burning well, carefully add larger, split logs (3-4" in diameter) one at a time. We recommend stacking the wood perpendicularly in a log cabin style. Also be sure that your wood has been dried sufficiently before attempting to burn. For more info, check out our article here.