Bottom of the bowl & tongue bite
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I normally keep smoking till I get a mouth full of burning hot ash. I don't get any wet dottle and I keep smoking till the flavor is gone which usually means there is nothing left. I only smoke flake tobacco so it is probably the reason it is never wet at the bottom. If I did not get great flavors at the bottom I would just dump it, no reason to smoke something that tastes nasty.
Aha!! You're back!! Another ashhole smoker, ha ha. It's great to see you post again, or have I been missing your posts? Either way, I raise my pipe to ya.
For me, much of this goes back to break in. If you form some cake in the heel of the bowl by smoking the first several bowls down to ash, much of this goes away. Repeatedly digging out the damp dottle will leave the heel naked and vulnerable to burn out at some later date perhaps depending on what is smoked and who may be smoking it. My personal break in process involves smoking full bowls of dry tobacco, usually a Virginia or a Burley, whatever, but pretty dry. I smoke slowly and cool and rest the pipe for several days between smokes. I'm not a proponent of building thick cake but I feel the heel needs a bit to allow that pipe to become "broke in". So much is discussed on here about break in but rarely is it defined. My method is old school and is learned it from old school pipe smokers who've long forgotten more than I'll ever know about the hobby. Just my 2 cents. Ymmv.
settersbrace, I think this depends not only on what is smoked, but also the pipe being smoked. A bent pipe with the draft hole well above the heel will probably not form cake all the way down. The portion of the bowl below the draft hole will likely have damp/wet tobacco remaining at the end of every smoke. There will be waste in each bowlful, but the risk of burning out the heel is slim to none. All of that being said, when breaking in a bent pipe I still try to avoid digging out dottle/ash in the hope that I can build cake as far down as possible.
For those pipes that tend to be overdrilled the only real solution is to make some pipe mud and build up the heel to level out with the draft hole. It's a pain in the neck I know but it does fix the problem. There are soooo many pipes drilled like this and not just machine mades, I see more than enough handmade pipes that have over shot drilling and I tend to just set those pipes back down and move on. Proper drilling is paramount in my personal pipe selection. It's what others refer to as engineering and it's also something that's lost on many of the overnight artisan pipe making celebrities.
So, virtually every tobacco advertisement and review contains the line "Smoked down to a fine white ash". Its almost laughable when I read it...its the excepted and required statement.
This constant presence has seemed to drive the feeling that you're "smoking wrong" unless you smoke until you look into your bowl and find there's nothing left and you've consumed the last molecule.
However, many of the experienced smokers here will agree on a general concept: Do what works for you, and stop worrying about everyone else. How to pack, when to tamp, dump the ash, smoke to the bottom or not, yadda yadda....everyone eventually finds their stride.
I stop smoking when I can tell I'm going to have tongue burn or there's just no more flavor. As cigrmaster mentioned, no point in smoking something you don't enjoy anymore. And you're throwing away probably 10 cents or less.
When do I hit that point? Varies all the time. Sometimes, I smoke to the bottom. Sometimes, I toss half the bowl. Usually, its somewhere in the middle and I end up tossing maybe the bottom fourth or fifth.
Enjoy the tobacco and pipe, and worry less about being perfect. Paradoxically, the less you worry about it, the more you'll probably smoke all the way through.
This constant presence has seemed to drive the feeling that you're "smoking wrong" unless you smoke until you look into your bowl and find there's nothing left and you've consumed the last molecule.
However, many of the experienced smokers here will agree on a general concept: Do what works for you, and stop worrying about everyone else. How to pack, when to tamp, dump the ash, smoke to the bottom or not, yadda yadda....everyone eventually finds their stride.
I stop smoking when I can tell I'm going to have tongue burn or there's just no more flavor. As cigrmaster mentioned, no point in smoking something you don't enjoy anymore. And you're throwing away probably 10 cents or less.
When do I hit that point? Varies all the time. Sometimes, I smoke to the bottom. Sometimes, I toss half the bowl. Usually, its somewhere in the middle and I end up tossing maybe the bottom fourth or fifth.
Enjoy the tobacco and pipe, and worry less about being perfect. Paradoxically, the less you worry about it, the more you'll probably smoke all the way through.
Take everything you learnt about smoking a pipe from the inter webs and take a pragmatic approach to the action you are participating in.
Slow the bowl and slow your roll. Have a half a pound of hakchuma in the bowl? then yes of course it's gonna be wet and soggy at the bottom.
I don't care if the bacco you're smoking cost you thirty bucks an ounce. Put less bacco in your pipe. Don't pack it so tight.
Be a poet and don't even know it.
If ya done it right you have some loose bacco in your pipe, it's gone out and you can tap it out of your pipe onto your hand. Look at it. Give it a shake and put it back into the pipe and smoke the mofo.
Just don't come complaining to me when you dirty your red dress when wiping your hand off.
Slow the bowl and slow your roll. Have a half a pound of hakchuma in the bowl? then yes of course it's gonna be wet and soggy at the bottom.
I don't care if the bacco you're smoking cost you thirty bucks an ounce. Put less bacco in your pipe. Don't pack it so tight.
Be a poet and don't even know it.
If ya done it right you have some loose bacco in your pipe, it's gone out and you can tap it out of your pipe onto your hand. Look at it. Give it a shake and put it back into the pipe and smoke the mofo.
Just don't come complaining to me when you dirty your red dress when wiping your hand off.
At the risk of sounding like an old fart or be accused of beating a dead horse, (I much prefer poking them with a long stick), I'll just say that yes, much of what's been said can be considered good advice. Yes, one can plod along and learn painfully slow as they work out a regimine that works for them. One of the most important benefits of our modern technology and forums such as these is the ability to flatten ones learning curve, drastically. A person can take the advice off someone who's been puffing their pipe for 6 months and have watched hundreds of videos produced by many with equal or less experience -or- that same person can take on some of the trial and error lessons learned by those who've been burning through the briar for 10, 15, 20 or more years and are willingly trying to help solve some of simpler problems that face newer pipe smokers.
I also whole heartedly agree that as long as a person is content with whatever they are doing as they enjoy the leaf albeit not fully, more power to them.
I also whole heartedly agree that as long as a person is content with whatever they are doing as they enjoy the leaf albeit not fully, more power to them.
Yesterday I had a fine smoke! I am learning to pace myself, that's my issue. Taking the time and puffing smaller sips with ample time between the goes allowed me to smoke without tongue bite and the dottle wasn't nearly as wet as I've had in the past.
my personal conclusion is that I'm way too eager. It tasted better too
my personal conclusion is that I'm way too eager. It tasted better too
I am a pretty fast puffer and the last of the bowl is my favourite part of the smoke. To avoid steam roasting my tongue, I run a pipe cleaner down the stem a few times while I smoke to absorb the gunk and keep the heel from getting soggy. When I get down to the dottle, I crush it with a tamper then puff gently on the last light. I know that doesn't save money, but it is an old habit and I get the taste I like and break in the heel with a good cake.
Alexnorth, it sounds like you are starting to get it, it's about making time and taking your time. If you feel compelled to stuff a bowl, run outside for a short smoke just for the sake of smoking you are just cheating yourself. It's always nice if you can load a bowl with the anticipation of carefully enjoying the whole bowl. I know it doesn't always happen that way for very many of us, myself included but if I'm called away I simply set it down and come back to it, sometimes hours later.
settersbrace,
"If you feel compelled to stuff a bowl, run outside for a short smoke just for the sake of smoking"
When that happens I smoke a cigarette.
"If you feel compelled to stuff a bowl, run outside for a short smoke just for the sake of smoking"
When that happens I smoke a cigarette
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