Check the spindle temp with an IR gun at the housing before and after the 20 minutes. The book time is really just a guess because it depends on your shop temp. A cold winter morning takes way longer to reach steady state than a July afternoon, so 20 minutes might still be short in January. Track the temp where the numbers settle and warm up to that number, not to a clock.

I started hitting produce and meat first too and it made a big difference. Grabbing the stuff on my list before the snacks means I'm not as tempted to toss extra junk in the cart. Doesn't always work but it's better than wandering in hungry.

Ha, the rotisserie chicken guy was really testing you. That lid with holes idea is smart though, and you could take it further by adding a second bin so one batch finishes while the other fills up. Rotating them like that means you always have compost ready to hand back instead of waiting on the whole pile.