Ember Size when Smoking Slowly?

[Pipeh]

How big should the ember be of one is trying to smoke slowly?

If I'm relighting my pipe after it goes out, I find it smokes more reliably if I keep the fire on for about 2 to 5 seconds, trying to spread the flame over the whole surface of the tobacco. But although I try to smoke slowly, (I don't puff, I just keep the pipe in my mouth let my mouth fill with smoke on its own), I wouldn't consider this to be a slow smoke. I think the ember is relatively large in this case.

On the other hand, if I just touch the flame briefly during my relight, and create a small dot of an ember, the amount of smoke is small, but it will soon die unless I start puffing.

Is there a middle ground that will work?

What I really want to know is: when smoking slowly, is the ember small, medium, or large?

 

[bullet08]

I never measured it, nor thought that hard about it. If the pipe isn't hot to touch, and running comfortably.. No. Never really thought about it.

 

[edger]

Generally, when the ember is small you are leaving some unburnt tobacco on the sides of the chamber. I just put a pipe nail on the ember and puff a few times, thus making the draft pull at the edges of the tobacco. Simple and you don’t need to relight.

 

[PipeIT]

It’s whatever works for you, giving you the most enjoyable smoke.

Of course, you want to light the entire bowl at some point, but it doesn’t always have to be in one go.

To much ember and heat can also destroy complexity in complex blends. So the amount of fire and heat can vary, depending on the blend and your palate.

If a blend you are smoking has any level of complexity, then it’s best to always experiment, a little fire, more fire, and small, medium, big sips etc.

For the most part, I never torch up my blends, I typically only light enough to smoke a little, then I let it go out and cool down, as well as giving my mouth a break too.

Enjoy!

P.S. Some blends I’ll barely light, just for a few sips, as I find these blends yield a much richer/complex flavor(s) this way.

 

[OverMountain]

Tamp lightly. You have a great question, and I find that if I can keep the ember (usually in the middle of the bowl for me) going at a temperature that doesn’t heat the outside of the pipe up everything will magically “work”.

If you are smoking aromatics or topped blends, the oils get evaporated right out the chimney with a blazing ember. Smoking cool and slow helps keep the flavor in the smoke, regardless of ember size.

 

[bullet08]

See.. There are few different school of thought regarding that. Some wants ember to be barely there to slowly simmer the tobacco to release the oil and other compound for them to savor. I, on the other hand, want even wide spread ember at all time. Not blazing fire, but just enough so all the top layer are warm enough I can get all the nuances that blend can offer. And I'm sure there are others with other ideas. One thing that's not really suggested is huffing and puffing and letting the ember get out of control.

 

[Papamique]

I light the WHOLE surface and find that it smokes easier and with less relights.

You can try to draw slower as your lighting the whole top of the chamber so you don’t over heat the tobacco or blow a small puff out through the bowl once it’s lit to rid the tobacco in the bowl of any hot smoke.

 

[OzPiper]

I light the WHOLE surface and find that it smokes easier and with less relights.

You can try to draw slower as your lighting the whole top of the chamber so you don’t over heat the tobacco or blow a small puff out through the bowl once it’s lit to rid the tobacco in the bowl of any hot smoke.

^^^^^ Ditto

I find that taste is worst immediately after a re-light.
An even light at the beginning goes a long way towards less/no relights

 

[smmirza]

You should prepare the tobacoo by doing a charring light (first light) on the whole surface. This wont get the tobacco going. The next (and hopefully final) light should be done across the whole surface and take 3-5 good puffs at this stage to really get things going. Good luck!

 

[AJL67]

As i recall Ember was quite large and filled a good portion of the Great Hall, wait that was Smaug never mind.

 

[camaguey]

For normal smoking , the size of a chickpea. For winning a slow smoking competition , the size of a lentil.

 

[bluegrassbrian]

Typically my philosophy is - a complete and thorough charring light that covers the surface and goes maybe 2-3mm deep. Tamp very lightly. Then I'll spot light pea size sections. I'm very satisfied with how my pipes smoke.

 

[Epip Oc'Cabot]

In my opinion, camaguey above has the average experience I aim for just about right….. my ember is roughly chickpea sized in a really pleasant bowlful. I also believe that in this best case scenario, the “chickpea” is somewhat conical shaped as the center experiences more of the draw.

 

[ThermionicScott]

Typically my philosophy is - a complete and thorough charring light that covers the surface and goes maybe 2-3mm deep. Tamp very lightly. Then I'll spot light pea size sections. I'm very satisfied with how my pipes smoke.

I need to try this next time. My habit is to always try to relight the whole bowl!

 

[proteus]

To me tobacco temperature of the ember is one issue. Keeping the tobacco evenly lit is the other. Uneven lighting is like smoking a hole through a t shirt instead of lighting the whole thing on fire. The size of the ember is more of a result which happens organically. Its not the goal. You don't want to combust the tobacco which happens about 900C / 1600F give or take. A match is about 700C/1300F without adding air. Same temp for char cloth which I feel is the best way to light other than a match because char cloth lets you light the tobacco once without any flame and form a quick ash cake. Butane is well over the combust temp at like 1900C. So for tobacco so you just quickly kiss flame to the tobacco. Tobacco gives the best flavor at 200C / 400F. Take some tobacco and put it in an oven at 400F, open the oven and smell. You'll see my point. A dull red ember is about 500C / 900F which is over temp. So the idea is to keep the ember barely visible and if visible then only for a quick time like lighting with flame. Heat over 200C/400F kills flavor so you have to dance with the ember in the pale moonlight. as with anything else its not the size of the ember but how well you use it.