MiniMax low/slow/smoke

Eggzellent

Nothing new here for veteran eggers yet not many MM cooks under my belt.
Here's the latest setup that I've tried on the MM while hoping that others might chime in:

Place a cheap fire starter square in the bottom of the KAB (no OEM CI grate) just as close to the bottom vent opening as possible.
Grab whatever lump comes out the the straw/green (RO) Menards bag and fill it to the top ring.
Start the fire starter with a bent tube torch through the vent hole (smoke seems to clear quickly in 10 minutes or so).
Close the lid and keep the bottom vent open/chimney wide open (no cap) until 300 dome (I should have thrown in the Woo w/10" stone/drip pan on top and OEM grate w/GrillGrate on top of that here but didn't). 
Put the daisy wheel back on and adjust to wide open holes.
Adjust the bottom vent to a "square" opening or a little larger to start.
Throw short-soaked OKJoe's all over the coals.
Grab the stack set-up above with meat (3lb. chuck roast today)..place it in the already smoking egg.

I copied this from a larger egg cook on here which ended up at 200 or so dome when things stabilized. Mine was pretty close to that at 190 dome with 245 showing at the grill (I have an older Polder with two-probes-in-one so who knows).
I like the fact that this process was fairly quick with little or no time standing around. Letting it warm up to 300 was plenty time enough to prep the meat and I could leave it unattended with the lid closed.

We'll see how long this one takes and how much lump is burned (no pics, sorry) yet how others accomplish low and slow on the MM is of more interest to me (whether a placesetter or larger stone is used or not).
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Edit: It looks as if my aging Polder probe isn't accurate beyond the meat portion so who knows what the grate temperature is. My dome stabilized out at 210 when I increased the square bottom vent opening a bit so I changed it to a slightly smaller rectangle to hopefully hit 200. I should be doing these micro-adjustments with the top vent probably but we'll see. 

Edit: Finally gave in and closed the daisy wheel openings half-way. Bottom vent back to a 'square'. Dome settled out at 190. Just above the grate level (probe in the meat) is 'maybe' at 212.

Eggzellent

..ended up getting my normal 4 hours or so out of the lump/KAB full to the top wire (160 internal).
Foiled it with apple juice and stick it in the oven at 350 until 205 IT.

I don't know how a simple bone-in roast gets any better.
Just the right bark; nice smoke ring; pulled apart nice..I really like this egg.

smokeyw

Why are you lighting from the bottom?

Eggzellent

To me, it's easier to stick the torch in the hole..hit the firestarter (or not if I don't have one) briefly and not have sparks shooting out in to places where I don't want them.
As far as running short on the lump with my 'cheap charcoal' as others have previously joked about? My not filling it above the KAB top wire or eliminating the KAB all together to cram more charcoal in there is fine (with me). No matter where the vents have been set with the woo/10" stone; I'm getting 4 or so hours (period) out of previously opened straw/green Menards (RO?) lump. I think that I could choke them off a bit more and will try this next time. Whether the fresh orangish red Wallyworld RO that I've got stockpiled/never tried will fare better?..who knows. I do now that I'm not paying for RW to be shipped to my house or anything else comparable in cost locally (although I would go out of my way at far greater costs to pick it up in person on a decent sale somewhere down south when in the area..yet that's how logic goes out the window sometimes).

4 or 5 hours for most anything that I'm cooking low/slow on that size grill is OK for me without switching to other strategies. I am blessed to have a XL for everything else. I was also impressed with the pull it/foil it with juice method used here for not only taste but the ability to control that last part of the cook for timing purposes. I might even start using my gasser again strictly for foiling or for the open-flame side burner (not sure why that wouldn't be handy for a reverse sear as well).

I've had more fun on this MM in a handful of cooks than I've had with the XL since it came home years ago.