Newbie question Re: tongue burn

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Aug 1, 2012
4,587
5,131
Here's my dumb question of the day. I rarely ever experience tongue bite but I do regularly have tongue burn. Now I smoke slow, pack loosely and dry the baccy but I almost always seem to get a burning tongue on the relights. This happens with English and aromatic both so far and it's getting irritating. Am I just puffing too hard when relighting and need to be more gentle or is there another trick?
Thanks,

Sou

 

cortezattic

Lifer
Nov 19, 2009
15,147
7,637
Chicago, IL
Re-lighting can be a treacherous time for sucking-in superheated air. I suspect steam is the culprit.

Try letting the pipe go cold before relighting, and see if that helps.
It also occurs to me that perhaps you're smoking a bowl with a diameter that's too large "for you".

It requires that a greater surface area be engaged in flame. If you find this to be the case, switch to a smaller diameter pipe.
P.S. I also happen to have a line of Official PipesMagazine.com Biotene Dispensers -- available for cheap!

FireExtinguisher2.jpg
:rofl:

 

typical98

Might Stick Around
Jul 31, 2012
90
0
Toronto
i ran into this also but after reading on here i found out my issue with the lighter. I stopped using it and it pretty much got rid of it. I use wood matches now unless I'm outside then i use my pipe lighter.

 
Jul 12, 2011
4,135
4,205
+1 w/Cort, watch out for moisture/heated steam...it will get you every time
Things IMHO that have helped me in the past with this;

1. Make sure that bacci has proper dry-times (each blend has it's

own time needed)

2.Use Biotene or perhaps aloe juice

3. I find a nice green tea with some honey added helps healing time

4. Cut back on your daily per-bowls ( I know this will be tough,

but really helps the over-smoked mouth as well)

5. Try some flake in fold/stuff form, burns cooler

 

martiniman

Part of the Furniture Now
Apr 6, 2012
885
2
Watch how long you hold the flame to your relights, Mine only need a brief touch to get them back going...

 

mrenglish

Lifer
Dec 25, 2010
2,220
72
Columbus, Ohio
Biotine rules! Also, sip something while you smoke and avoid carbonated beverages while smoking. Ice water or tea really works well, but other libations are good. Never tried aloe juice, but that is an excellent idea.
I want one of those official Biotine/Pipes Magazine dispensers. Very cool. :worship:

 

philip

Lifer
Oct 13, 2011
1,705
6
Puget Sound
Are you trying to relight the dottle at the bottom of the bowl?
All the moisture from the burned tobacco builds up there and it doesn't taste as good,

so that may not be worth the effort.

 

johnnyrebel

Starting to Get Obsessed
Dec 3, 2010
192
0
In the time i've been smoking i've had alot of issues with tongue burn, one of my theories i've been thinking over is having an even light. To me it has seemed to help with the quality of my smoke(not always). the idea is that when you light your tobacco and its lit on one side or the other, or have a small ember on the side is that the tobacco that is being burned will expand and the moisture will expand into the unburnt tobacco around the ember. Say that your pipe goes out and the ember was dead center and you have unburnt tobacco on the edges, when you goto relight the tobacco it will be more likely to steam on you as the excess moisture is in the unburnt tobacco that youre trying to light now. I dont know if this is the case or if this happens(after all, it is just a theory), but having an even (re)light seems to help with me.

 
Aug 1, 2012
4,587
5,131
Wow, so many helpful responses so quickly, thank you all. I realize I should have said I use only matches since I am too inept to make the zippo pipe lighter I have actually work. I also only smoke one bowl a day during the summer and less during the fall, winter and spring.
Phillip- Good call but I learned that lesson early. That's why I usually have more unburned tobacco at the end of the bowl than I would like but it's just not worth it to me.
johnnyrebel- That actually makes a lot of since.
puffy- Tamp or no-tamp, it seems to burn for me.
cortezattic- Just tried letting it rest for a bit and that seemed to help as well.
martiniman- Just tried that and it took a few matches but it seemed to help a bit.
Thanks again and I hope to get this under control soon. There is so much to learn about pipe smoking. It's great to have access to a group like you all to help me learn.
Sou

 

baronsamedi

Lifer
May 4, 2011
5,688
5
Dallas
I smoked about 3 days worth of bowls hanging with the Texas crew yesterday. I used biotene (thanks Cortez :rofl: ) and I'm not smoking today. If I have to relight at the bottom I kind of scrape the unburnt stuff off the sides rearrange the pile a little, tamp and light. Aros smoke hotter and wetter, too.

 

baronsamedi

Lifer
May 4, 2011
5,688
5
Dallas
That's highly subjective but I'd try a light to medium English. They are pretty forgiving. Dunhill Early Morning Pipe is good and I recently tried Newminster English Oriental blend, which smokes cool, has a good flavor and is mellow enough to ease into the pool. If you want to dive right in the deep end, grab some Magnum Opus or Black House!

 
Aug 1, 2012
4,587
5,131
That may be just wee a bit too much for me Lawrence. :)
I think I have it sort of figured out. I decided to try a few different things using one pipe, one tobacco, and changing one variable at a time. First, I don't think I was drying my tobacco long enough. After drying it for about 2-4 hours (vs 45 min-1 hour) it got a lot less bitey. If I had been smoking a bit hot to keep it lit, I had to let it rest for about 5-10 minutes before re-light and that seemed to help as well. I also got a little less aggressive about getting it all lit during a re-light and, while I had to light it a couple more times, that seemed to reduce the burn.
On to playing with packing and tamping to see what I can learn there. Pipe smoking is, to me, as complicated and rewarding as learning to play a new musical instrument.
Baron, thanks for the suggestions. I know it's hard to make a recommendation without some idea of someone's taste and I appreciate the ones you made. As soon as my PAD/TAD budget recovers from my recent purchases I will order the Dunhill and the Newminster English Oriental.
Thanks again,

Sou

 
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