So I think I made some major progress tonight.
Was putting my snowblower away to my shed and brushed by the welding gas line to the torch. I saw the compression fitting on the welder wiggle. Turns out I did have a gas leak and thats why none of my welds turned out well.
I tightened and got an ugly piece of mild steel. A ton more control and no contamination and popping. I'll try it on a few more pieces of similar metal just to make sure. Hopefully no more trips to the welder and I can make progress on a nightly basis now instead of weekly.
It pays to check your equipment. I should have.