I started my dbs at 225 and when I put my 14lb turkey in the oven temperature never came up to that but the internal temperature on the pid read 140 which I set it for. Am wondering if this is normal or should I have put the bird in right away and let the oven temperature build to 225.
Keep in mind the you are essentially cooking with a light bulb. The colder the meat is, the longer it takes to get to (and back to) the desired cabinet temp after putting the meat in (or otherwise opening the door). Until the bird gets hot, it will act as a heat sink.
You should always preheat the smoker. When you add cold meat the chamber temp will drop and slowly go back up to the setpoint. Depending on how much meat you are smoking the chamber setpoint temp might never quite get there again.
You said that yo had the PID set for 140*F internal temp for the turkey. Are you removing it at that point and finish cooking it in your oven or something? The USDA recommends a minimum safe internal temp of 165*F for poultry.
Preheat higher than you are going to cook at. Also you can try a couple of bricks at the bottom of the smoker so when you open and close the door they help recover heat loss. I had 2 of them in my dbs4 permanently for almost 3 years till I did my 500w mod.
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Thank You Everyone. as I was kind of worried about that oven temperature and I will sure use those bricks from now on. Best turkey I ever had and I've cooked them every which way. Smoked it for 2 hours like everone says and took it out at 140 and then finished it in the oven til 165. Couldn't have tasted better.
Here is what I do in that situation. I set my BDS to the highest oven temp and preheat the tower to get it as hot as I can. When I place the turkey in the tower the temp in the tower falls like a rock so I leave the setpoint at the highest possible. As the temp in the tower starts to climb to where I want it, I begin to lower the setpoint to my target temperature.
Maybe that would work for you too.
Oh, one more thing. Vent open 100% the entire time. The turkey will give off a TON of moisture and you want that to escape as quickly as possible as the moisture will hold the temp down inside of the tower. It can also condensate at the top of the tower and drip back down on your meat or run out the door. Trust me, that is the last thing you want. (Don't ask me how I know. :()
I do the exact same process as Kynola on all of mt smokes. I do not have a PID though.