There are no absolutes for me. There have been times I’ve cleared or dumped the ashes out mid smoke but most of the time the thought never crosses my mind. Experiment.
Do you Dump Ash Mid-smoke?
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It varies with the tobacco. If I do, I'll usually give the top ash a gentle stir with a tool, turn the pipe over, give a gentle tap and dump, then tamp the remainder and relight.
People warn against dumping ash in a Peterson System. They say it spills moisture in the reservoir into the tobacco chamber.
Can someone let me know if that's a thing. I haven't noticed any ill effects, and I don't think the reservoir holds fluid, or more than enough at most to wet a q-tip, so I don't see it "spilling"
Can someone let me know if that's a thing. I haven't noticed any ill effects, and I don't think the reservoir holds fluid, or more than enough at most to wet a q-tip, so I don't see it "spilling"
When smoking folded flakes there is usually a hole burnt through to the middle, sometimes 2/3 of the chamber down, with unburnt or carbonised flake stuck to the walls. I dig out the ash from that pit and even the surface again. Usually the first couple of puffs relighting the surface taste worse, but it quickly evens out. I find that ribbon usually burns evenly down, but i still like to knock the ash out.
It's never occurred to me to dump ash, never had a reason to.
Maybe have a couple of relights during a session, Apart from that the tobacco just burns down to a fine grey ash with no moisture at all.
I've said it so many times - a good technique will overcome any problem.
Maybe have a couple of relights during a session, Apart from that the tobacco just burns down to a fine grey ash with no moisture at all.
I've said it so many times - a good technique will overcome any problem.
Haven't had that problem but I have had a moisture stream out of the stem -- depends on how you dump it I guess.
To answer the OP's question I usually dump mid-smoke the cue is when it gets hard to relight, I find that ash is the culprit.
I can only speak from the experience with corn pipes. But I don't like to throw away the ash layer. When I have the opportunity to enjoy with briar pipes, I will do the same technique of conserving all the ash. Removing the ash leads to re-burning the fresh tobacco. And what I want is for the tobacco to have a state of baking. But this is just a personal opinion.
I don’t mid bowl but I rarely smoke down to the very bottom, it doesn’t taste very nice to me, that deep in the trench. I guess it’s like the last bit of the cigarette or the cigar, where all the tar builds up and flavour goes out of the window.
It’s all personal choice at the end of the day.
It’s all personal choice at the end of the day.
Almost always a mid bowl gentle tap and I run a pipe cleaner at this point too. Refreshes the taste.
I started doing this and am noticing a difference with some blends and on some pipes. I'll keep experimenting to see if this will be a universal habit.
Thanks, guys. I appreciate the feedback from each one of you!
Sounds like the group is somewhat divided on the matter.
To interact with a few particulars --
My bowls are all over the place, so far as shape and depth go -- I should pay more careful attention to a possible correlation, here.
As for tobacco, I've noticed this most dramatically with Astley's 44 (which is a darn shame, because the first half is about the most delicious thing I've ever tasted), but to a lesser extent I've noticed it with Union Square. In both cases I've been folding these VA flakes.
The straw which broke the proverbial camel's back, however, leading me to try ash-dumping and to ask this question here, was yesterday when the same thing happened with a bowl of Plum Pudding. I don't remember that happening with that mixture before.
Then you've found that it does have an effect on taste?
Just bustin' your chops, JPM! It's not every day that we get to catch you in a double negative. ;-)
Hm, alright, I'm open to the possibility that I should dry it further.
To date I've done this only when tobacco gets lodged where it shouldn't and I need to open up the draw at the bottom of the bowl.
But maybe I'll start wicking moisture as you suggest, too.
(A few of my pipes don't pass a cleaner, though -- I may take a dremel to them and see if I can't get that corrected.)
Aha, the old threaten-to-bench-the-pipe-to-manipulated-improved-performance technique.
It's possible! I thought I'd dialed in my cadence and learned to keep most tobaccos in a good range, but maybe I've been getting sloppy!
Yes - this exactly describes how flakes go for me, too. I sometimes find that when I try to correct it by tamping the unburnt flake stuck around the walls, I clog the draft hole at the bottom :-/
It's very satisfying when that happens!
FWIW, the only tobacco that, to me, consistently tastes as good or better to the very bottom of the bowl, is Penzance.
This truly fascinates me. I'd be curious to hear others' perspectives on this as well.
Sounds like the group is somewhat divided on the matter.
To interact with a few particulars --
My bowls are all over the place, so far as shape and depth go -- I should pay more careful attention to a possible correlation, here.
As for tobacco, I've noticed this most dramatically with Astley's 44 (which is a darn shame, because the first half is about the most delicious thing I've ever tasted), but to a lesser extent I've noticed it with Union Square. In both cases I've been folding these VA flakes.
The straw which broke the proverbial camel's back, however, leading me to try ash-dumping and to ask this question here, was yesterday when the same thing happened with a bowl of Plum Pudding. I don't remember that happening with that mixture before.
Then you've found that it does have an effect on taste?
Just bustin' your chops, JPM! It's not every day that we get to catch you in a double negative. ;-)Hm, alright, I'm open to the possibility that I should dry it further.
To date I've done this only when tobacco gets lodged where it shouldn't and I need to open up the draw at the bottom of the bowl.
But maybe I'll start wicking moisture as you suggest, too.
(A few of my pipes don't pass a cleaner, though -- I may take a dremel to them and see if I can't get that corrected.)
Aha, the old threaten-to-bench-the-pipe-to-manipulated-improved-performance technique.
It's possible! I thought I'd dialed in my cadence and learned to keep most tobaccos in a good range, but maybe I've been getting sloppy!
Yes - this exactly describes how flakes go for me, too. I sometimes find that when I try to correct it by tamping the unburnt flake stuck around the walls, I clog the draft hole at the bottom :-/
It's very satisfying when that happens!
FWIW, the only tobacco that, to me, consistently tastes as good or better to the very bottom of the bowl, is Penzance.
This truly fascinates me. I'd be curious to hear others' perspectives on this as well.
As to: Sounds like the group is somewhat divided on the matter.
Pretty usual! But to me it's not close to a critical matter in my smoking.
It might even be a triple negative!Then you've found that it does have an effect on taste?
Hm, alright, I'm open to the possibility that I should dry it further.
Around the half way point my pipe usually goes out. I gently use the picker on my tamper, gently stir the ash and the gently spill what is in the bowl. Once I get all the ash out, I scrape the sides of the bowl( as I always fold and stuff) I relight and then usually have to dump ash one one more time.
Doesn't figure into my smoking at all. If it needs it I do it and if it doesn't I don't. Very tobacco dependent.
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