How to I know when the bowl is up?

flyinglizard · Apr 5, 2014

Hi, all. Just started smoking yesterday. I've done it 3 times so far and I have ended up dumping out the ashes in an ashtray, then this clump of unused tobacco comes out at the very end. Obviously, it's impossible to see down into the bowl to check with all the ashes on top. How can I prevent this problem or know when the bowl is up?
I also took about 30 min. for that smoke with the bowl about 1/2 filled. Is this normal?

condorlover1 · Apr 5, 2014

Congratulations on taking up pipe smoking - the only hobby that beats hang gliding in a chest of drawers. That being said I will attempt to answer a few of your points. The icky wet thing at the bottom of your bowl is called a dottle. I personally save them for my next days pipe, not dissimilar to people who put their chewing gum on the bed post at night before retiring. The thing that works for me is to tap your pipe against your shoe/boot/flip flop/rhine stone high heals and knock the white ash off the top of the bowl. You can also have a root around gently using one of those $3 pipe tool thingies. The object is to clear the ash so that you can put a match to the charred tobacco and thus as you puff away avoid waisting good tobacco.
In regards to finding out if your bowls has finished I think the following rules broadly apply: (i) If you get ash on your tongue you have finished the bowl (ii) the same applies to sparks and/or severe tongue burn. (iiI) when you relight the bowl nothing happens.
Hope that helps out chum!

voorhees · Apr 5, 2014

I have smoked to just ash before, but sometimes have dottle left. I just dump it.

zekest · Apr 5, 2014

I am always tamping down and trying to ignite ash.
I guess I am forever hopeful there is one unburned spec of pipe tobacco left.
And yes, if Firefox does not launch within a thousands of a second, I click the icon five more times.

nardzorb · Apr 5, 2014

I smoke 'er till the end, but lately I have been putting the dottle on top of a fresh bowl.

mso489 · Apr 5, 2014

First, visually, you'll see the ash descend toward the bottom of the bowl of the pipe. Second, the taste

will often get slightly more harsh, which is an indicator that you are tasting more ash and less fresh

tobacco. Third, as noted earlier, it doesn't light as fully. I don't think you save much tobacco by trying

to smoke every bowl down to white ash, or to pick out and re-use the dottle left at the bottom of the bowl.

It's already done its duty as a sort of bed and filter for the tobacco that did burn. After a little experience,

you won't have more than a little unburned tobacco left, so it's not worth saving, in my opinion. It's

pleasant to end up with ash only, but I don't think it's a point of honor. The idea is to have a great tasting

bowl of tobacco; whatever doesn't contribute to that isn't worth the effort.

redbeard · Apr 5, 2014

I usually take the poker part of my pipe tool and feel around a bit with it. After a while of smoking you kind of get the feel of if your hitting ash or dottle. But I usually dump the dottle anyways like many here.

meatballj · Apr 5, 2014

Like some have said, if you light and you're not getting a smooth draw of smoke or a distinctly different taste than you're at the bottom. As condorlover mentioned, the wet plug at the bottom is dottle and how its dealt with differs person to person. I know I'm at the bottom and only the dottle is left when I hear the sizzle of the ember coming in contact with the moist tobacco in bottom. I dump that and give my pipe a thorough going over with a pipe cleaner (and a q-tip in the shank) to get moisture away. Moisture left in a pipe can really sour it up.
Happy puffing and welcome to the hobby! Like anything else, practice makes perfect. Enjoy

foggymountain · Apr 5, 2014

I stick my finger in. If it's hot there is more tobacco.

sablebrush52 · Apr 5, 2014

There are a couple of other telltales, like when you inhale and you get a mouthful of burning embers, or you smell burning wood or worse, your pipe catches fire, which means you're a bit past done.
Seriously though, I don't worry about burning through every little bit. Those few strands don't amount to much and burning them up may result in overheating the bowl.

ravkesef · Apr 6, 2014

Something no one else has mentioned: I suspect that you may be packing the pipe a bit too tight. Here are three good rules to follow: (and I do mean rules!)

1. The tobacco should be drier than you think it should be.

2. The tobacco should be packed much looser than you think it should be.

3. You should smoke the pipe much slower than you think you should. Corollary to rule 3: if you can place the pipe against a baby's skin and the baby smiles because the pipe is pleasantly warm, you're smoking at the right speed. Any hotter and you're smoking too fast.
Follow these rules and you will have many more pleasant smokes with fewer relights, and a clean ash. Occasionally you will have some dottle, and you may find that it occurs with a certain pipe(s) or certain tobaccos. Also, if as you're smoking your way through the bowl, it stops tasting good and becomes harsh or bitter, put the pipe down--you're done with that bowl. When it cools, empty the bowl, clean it well, let it dry, and wait for your next smoke. By the way, your pipes should always be kep scrupulously clean, and allowed to dry thoroughly between smokes. I'd recommend at least a day if not longer. A clean, dry pipe smokes better.

hawke · Apr 6, 2014

nardzorb

...but lately I have been putting the dottle on top of a fresh bowl.

Im gonna try this. Ive been putting a bit of Carter Hall on top of my fine tobacco flakes to get a starter coal going. Keeps me from having to relight at the beginning so much. Dottle on top would be a good way to stop wasting the good stuff. I just dont care for the last bit of tobacco an Ive put some CH there too at times so what I dump is not the finer baccy.
I also have a small jar I save the last bit of a dumped bowl in too just for hard times maybe or I just hate to waste. A little OCD kicking in maybe. Been piping for well over a month now and see no sign of going back to anything else. Love the mild nose burn of an exhale. Nic kick and flavor galore!

latbomber · Apr 6, 2014

Proper pipe tool use can, at least for me, ensure that all tobacco is smoked right down to the bottom. When it starts getting down to the end, I'll aerate with the poker tool and retamp. If the poker sails through and hits wood, then the bowl is done. When the last bit of tobacco burns I also find that the draw opens up a bit.
One more thing, I don't dump out my ashes during the smoke, so by the time I get to the bottom they are compressed enough that they hold together and I don't get a mouthful of ash after the last draw!

anglesey · Apr 6, 2014

Just dump it bud, it's not really nice to smoke again. I always think it's like drinking the majority of a pint and putting the dregs in the fridge till tomorrow, tastes hideous.

zekest · Apr 6, 2014

Pipe tobacco is inexpensive, unless you live in Canada, just dump it out and rest that pipe overnight.

phred · Apr 7, 2014

As for the question of a half hour duration on half a bowl, that depends on the size of the bowl and your smoking technique (and a couple of other factors). If you're not burning the crap out of your tongue by puffing too hard, or letting your pipe go out due to inattention (relights are another issue entirely), then your pace is probably about right.
Relax, don't overthink it, and enjoy yourself.

sean81 · Apr 7, 2014

I have a similar issue as flyinglizard, however for me, even after smoking on a bowl for a while (30 minutes or more), it still have quite a bit of unfired tobac (sometimes the bottom third of the bowl). To the point where the tobac won't stay lit and tasts quite a bit like ash, but when I empty the chamber...suprise! Unfired tobacco. It feels like I'm wasting quite a bit.

settersbrace · Apr 8, 2014

How a pipes draught hole is drilled can spell the difference between a perfect finish or a 1/4" of soaking wet gunk. As stated above, technique in how you load and smoke a pipe can dictate how well or badly a bowl might end. Every so often when all the stars align, you will get that near perfect smoking experience where as the the last ribbons of the blend ignite in the very bottom of your bowl, you'll swear you can seperate the flavor of a single ribbon of Virginia or a tiny chunk of Latakia. This is pipe smoking Nirvanna.

frozenchurchwarden · Apr 8, 2014

Recently I've taken to re-packing my bowl about 2/3 of the way through. Usually the tobacco has burned unevenly and won't light correctly anymore so I dig it up with a match and start over with what's left. Then once that starts giving trouble lighting I'll dump the rest.

andrew · Apr 8, 2014

I've always gone by the tried and true common sense rule that when there's no more smoke, the bowl is done.

How to I know when the bowl is up?

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