JP nailed it!! I use lump charcoal about 99.9% of the time in my PBC.
When I'm cooking chicken I use 1:1 ratio of lit and unlit coals. Dump the lit coals when they're blazing red hot, do not put the lid on. Let it go until some of the unlit coals have ignited then hang your chicken.
For ribs and such I go with 2 parts unlit coals to 1 part lit. Dump the lit coals when they're blazing red hot, leave the lid off. Once you feel that the unlit coals are good, put the lid on. I take an extra step here, I let it go for another 10 minutes or so with the lid on before hanging the food. This step gets me clean smoke once the food is hang. What happens is if you have poor fire, you will get bellowing smoke once the drippings hit the coals. But if you have well ignited coals, the drippings evaporate immediately and you get clean smoke.
My advice is experiment with different lump charcoal brands, pick and stick with one. That way you know how it behaves. I only use Ozarka Oak lump charcoal