First butt help appreciated

Cooking temp here on the forum usually refers to dome temp unless specified. Did you have the lid closed for that first hour when the apple chunks burned up????  That doesn't sound right.   I have never had to open and add lump or wood chunks on a cook. You said "with top completely open"  are you talking about the DW or the top half of egg??  

I always stabilize or get to point where I am comfortable (through experience) and then put the meat on.  Wood chunks/chips go on when I light the lump.  Some people will do this different...you just have to decide what works for you. 

I normally light lump, wait 10-15 minutes and then close lid of egg, leave top damper?DW 100% open and adjust bottom damper to where I want it to catch the temp on the rise to my target temp.  I cook with my top damper 100% open at all times throughout the cook. I only adjust bottom if necessary.

Like I said, different strokes for different folks. I add the meat when I have reached my target temp and have stabilized for a few minutes (5-10). This is also when I put the grate and PS in to begin heating. Again, eggsperience comes in handy.  Through the learning curve, I always made sure the temp was stabilized for a longer period (20 minutes) before putting meat on.  But through eggsperience with your egg, you get to know its characteristics. 
I do not use a DIGIQ so I can't comment on that part. 

Smoke does it's magic through the beginning of the cook. I learned that here on the forum. I never "add" anything after I start a cook. I personally don't pay that much attention to "the amount of smoke coming out of the egg", except if there is a lot of "dirty" smoke coming out at the beginning, I wait before putting food on. Someone else might have to provide more info on your smoke questions. 

Welcome and enjoy the madhouse. You will surely get several responses with more solid information. Ask away and always remember the golden rule.....If you don't post pics, then it didn't really happen !!!!

Enjoy,

Donnie

I don't mess with adding more wood during the cook anymore.  I used to but it was a royal pain in the butt.  For long, low and slow cooks I just bury a good sized chunk or 2 in the lump.  Light directly above the buried lump.  let the temp stabilize and the bad smoke clear and then add a chunk or 2 of wood on top of where it is lit.  Seem to get a pretty good amount of smoke when the meat first goes on and then as it burns down it hits the buried chunks later in the cook.  

I am not a believer of smoke penetrating the meat.  The smoke ring is a chemical reaction that stops when the meat is around 140 internal temp.  I believe that as long as there is smoke, the smoke particulates will stick to the outside of the meat and will continue to impart smoke flavor to the meat.  

For my tastes on a butt and brisket, 4 good sized chunks of wood is about all I ever use.

Just my 2 cents.

I can think of 2 reasons it took an hour to reach 350, which while longer than usual, is not out of my experience.

The first is that you didn't light much lump at the start. For ordinary low temp cooks, a single place will suffice, but if you want 350, lighting 3 or 4 places will get the dome temp up faster.

The second is that the Egg ceramics were damp. An Egg out in rain, or high humidity can absorb a fair amount of water, and that has to bake out before the dome temp will get much hotter than steam temp.

The bottom vent controls the main airflow. Some Eggers from a decade ago, as I understand it, didn't have a Daisy, and controlled the heat entirely w. the bottom vent.

I haven't done many turbo cooks. I do know that during lower temp cooks, the wood will only produce the whispiest smoke, barely visible. An Egg will limit airflow so well that only the charcoal can burn. The carbon burns with the oxygen before the wood can, and the wood just bakes away. The vapors are just about the purest of the good smoke flavors.

Put the wood in when lighting. Don't put the meat in till the temp is stable. Note, the cool mass of the meat will cause the dome reading to come down. Can take maybe an hour to come back to the starting temp.

My 2c worth. Never put food on when the fresh charcoal is smoking. Different brands smoke more or less but let it come to temp and hold it there till the smoke is faint or gone. That white smoke when it's heating up is horrible tasting and bitter. 

Put 3, 4 or 5 chunks of smoking wood on fire and then add the plate setter, grate and meat. Don't readjust vents. The cold meat will pull down the temp but it will return soon enough. Than walk away, if your looking, you ain't cookin. In other words, don't open the lid. Just let it go. It helps yo have a remote thermomator to monitor the internal temp. It will hang at around 165 degrees for a long time, don't be tempted to kick up the temp. This is called the stall, it just needs time to get over that point. Than pull at 190 -200 degrees and wrap in foil and heavy beach blanket for at least an hour before pulling. 

I never do do a turbo, but I've done dozens of 14-16 hour cooks at 220 or so. Never had a bad one. The butts are very forgiving. I load up the fire box almost to the top and use a fire starter in the center and let it get to temp and clear smoke. I put the bottom vent closed all but about the thickness of a quarter. Top vent using a smoke ware SS vent, I leave open about a half inch. I put meat on around 10pm, check temp around midnight and go to bed if everything is holding ok. Check it again around 7-8 am and rarely am I out of the 200-250 range. After about 15 hours, it's ready to wrap like a Xmas present. It will keep wrapped steaming hot for 3 or 4 hours so no need to time things out exactly for a party. It will be ready when you are.

as far as letting it stabilizing, absoluty. You won't be fighting temps up and down as your meat heats up. I don't use any electronic devices, don't need to. The egg holds temp so well once you learn the vent adjustments. 

Happy q-ing and don't be afraid to try things. What ever works for you is the right way to do it...