Minion method and poultry

Since poultry seems to be more sensitive to out side orders, does using the minion method effect the birds flavor? I know that KB does give off an odor when getting up to temp and this is my concern.

Some people perceive this more then others*. I've had cooks (all minion) where everything tasted fine and others, not so much. You need to try it yourself and evaluate the results. Do one chicken cook with KB and another with a natural lump.
That said... when KB goes on sale I stock the garage. By the same token, there's a lot of WGLump in the garage as well!
*I can't stand the taste of canola oil. It always (no matter how fresh) tastes and smells like funky fish. Others don't notice it one bit.

I'm kind of in the same boat as Marc and didn't really know how much you could taste Kingsford until I tried a wing recipe: http://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?32141-Dougherty-s-Wings

You ought to try it if you like wings. Anyway, I did as the recipe suggested and didn't use any wood the first time, only a bunch of Kingsford in the blue bag with a Minion start in my OTG, offset to one side with a pile of wings on the other side. Well, let me tell ya. I was really surprised, because I've used lump and no wood before and got NO smoke flavor at all. However, these Kingsford smoked wings had plenty smoke flavor. It wasn't BAD, but it wasn't the best. I just prefer to taste the flavor I get from my smoke wood.

So since that cook, I only use Kbb for grilling and lighting after completely ashed over. Just my .02 cents, though. Others say they don't notice anything and might not, especially if there's a lot of wood smoke to cover it up or if the meat doesn't go on the cooker or grill until the Kingsford is burning cleanly. By that, I mean that the top layer of your ring or charcoal pile is all ashed over and enough of the pile is burning hot enough for the charcoal to burn clean. I don't think you'll ever get the Kingsford to burn completely clean, but clean enough not to taste it, at least out of the wsm. The closed environment of a kettle is a different story, though, and I guarantee you that the Kingsford won't burn as clean in your wsm if you do a typical low-n-slow dry pan cook starting with only a dozen or so lit briquettes and then immediately put the meat on. By the way, water in the pan allows you to get more charcoal burning (more cleanly) because it holds the temp down, and the steam also "washes" the smoke a bit. Obviously not an issue for a HH poultry cook though, since most of the charcoal is burning. Basically, it's the unlit Kbb briquettes I'm concerned about.

I tried lump coal a few times when I was just start out (about 6 months ago) and got flusterated and started using only KB, but I did notice it was cleaner burning. Poultry so far is the only cook that I can notice a taste.

Last night I cooked 2 14lb turkeys, and used 2 full lite chimney's and the coals ran out before the cook was done and I wound up putting them in the oven to finish the cook. This is why I was asking about the minion method to prevent this in the future.

I do not use water in the pan and haven't done so for some time. I do have a clay disk in the pan, would this cause a loss of heat and a shorter burn that if I did not have the disk, just an empty pan?

Larry, although it takes a few more lit coals or time to get the wsm to temp with clay in the pan, it holds the temp longer at the end of the cook. So no difference, I'd think.

I would use the standard method with K for chicken, but not for turkeys. As you found out, even briquettes only last so long.

What issues did you have with lump, though? I find that good, dense lump can last a long time if you take the time to pack it in tight. If you don't want to mess with lump, you could use a cleaner burning briq like K Comp or Stubbs. Either way, do a Minion start, but just with a lot more lit.

Thank everyone. I still have some lump, I think that I will try it again. Is there a problem if I pack the coal bin with lump and use a full chamber of hot kb to get it going?

I have looked for k comp with no luck, but I know where i can get Stubb.

No problem lighting lump with K. I do it quite often, and by the way, I get the K Comp at Costco when they have it in the coupons.

Thanks, good tips