need help with batch sparge

So I put my recipe into beersmith and I chose single infusion light body batch sparge for a dunkelweiss. 10 gallon circular cooler and about 10 lbs of grain

1) how well should I trust the strike temps beersmith gives me?
2)it gives me 3 batch sparge steps. should I just pour these in and wait for the wort to stop draining and then pour in the next volume of batch sparge water and repeat?
3) should I stir the mash?
4) how quickly should I pour in the initial water?
5) how quickly should I pour in the sparge water?
6) any further advice for a first time all grain brewer?

thank you.

1) If you preheat your mash tun their temps should be good.
2)For a normal batch sparge you will want to dough in (dump in your grains and mix), let it sit for your mash time (normally 60min), Vorlauf (pretty much recirculate the first few quarts of wort til its clear), then run off the rest of your wort into your kettle.
3)I normally stir the mash a few times around the 40 and 20 min mark.
4)I just dump it in
5)Same as 4
6)Good luck and have some fun. The thing I found out about all grain my first time was there is a lot of down time, and orginization is a big help.

I may be the odd one out here but I actually found the Beersmith temps were correct without preheating the tun. I did weigh my tun and calculate it's dead space however to get my specifics as close as possible in the program.

1) how well should I trust the strike temps beersmith gives me?

If you've given it all the correct inputs (grain temp, volume, equipment) It should put you dead on

2)it gives me 3 batch sparge steps. should I just pour these in and wait for the wort to stop draining and then pour in the next volume of batch sparge water and repeat?

I normally do two batch sparges. Take half of your needed sparge water, pout it in and stir the crap out of it, drain and repeat.

3) should I stir the mash?

When you dough in you should stir very well to make sure all your grain is saturated and that you don't have dough balls. This should also equalize the temp across the grain bed. After the dough in I sometimes give it a good stir at 30 minutes to check temp, but I'm starting to realize this isn't necessary.

4) how quickly should I pour in the initial water?

Just dump it in

5) how quickly should I pour in the sparge water?

See #4

6) any further advice for a first time all grain brewer?

Have a quart of boiling water on standby just in case you miss your temp low. Take good notes and make sure you know how much your system will boil off so you can hit the proper volume. Ensure you Vorlauf! (SP)

Add your water to your mash tun before adding the grain, then slowly pour the grain in while stirring to avoid dough balls. I didn't do this for the first few brews and got really crappy efficiency.

awsome! thanks for all the information everyone!