I've been using the big bite for well over a decade for roughing bowls - mostly those over 10' dia. It works great - my preferred center especially for large, unbalanced blanks. I usually set it perpendicular to the long grain, centered as well as possible on the pith - that allows enough adjustment to get the blank grain balanced. On a few occasions I've had to dismount the piece and move the drive slightly to get the grain balanced, but it is rare. It works with both the talon and stronghold chucks I use. I have a smaller two-wing drive that I use on hollow form blanks sometimes - it has a tendency to spin every now and again. If you can spin the big bite you're doing something seriously wrong.
When the surface is really rough as on some bark edge NE forms, I break out the elio drive with adjustable points that can be adjusted to work on the most convoluted surfaces.
I've never had to resort to cutting a slot for the big bite, nor have I found it to split the wood - but then most of my roughing is on sopping wet woods. Just drive it in until the wings are seated and go to town.