I notice when I relight my tobacco, the center is ash and a ring around the center next to the side of the bowl is unburned tobacco. Initially I try to light the entire tobacco surface (several charring lights and several full lights) to obtain a complete burn. Also I checked to make certain I had not packed the tobacco too tightly. Any help and opinions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks, VA Gent
Hello, I'm a New Pipe Smoker and Have a Burn Question
- Thread starter VA Gent
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Think of a campfire: it burns in the centre and you push the fuel (logs in this case) around the fire towards it. Do the same in your pipe using your tamper: carefully and gently push the unburnt tobacco in the periphery towards the centre, making a kind of pyramid, not unlike a campfire.
I find the 8deco tampers, with their concave ends to be excellent for this task:
I find the 8deco tampers, with their concave ends to be excellent for this task:
yeah don't worry about it. Seriously I'd just dump out the ash from the middle (poke the ash a few times with the stick part of a pipe tool or match, turn the pipe over and the ash will fall out) and tamp the stuff from the sides into the middle of the bowl. And this is important you don't have to get all the ash dumped just a decent percentage of the ash. Honestly I've never come across anyway to really completely get rid of this issue. Though it does seem like the less you care about it the less it happens.
I view it as a sign of smoking at a proper speed. If you’re able to keep just a small ember going, it’ll be a cooler, longer, more flavourful smoke than if you had a big one the size of the entire chamber. The cost is that you need to tamp a bit more purposefully, as described above.
I feel like the ember in a pipe is naturally cone-shaped. The surface of the tobacco might be burning evenly across the bowl, but underneath the surface, the ember narrows towards the center. Just does it naturally. I find fairly frequent, light tamping helps spread the ember towards the edges a bit as you smoke down, as the wide part of the ember is pressed down on the unburned tobacco beneath. Tamping the edges is pretty important. The picture @olkofri posted shows this really well.
Sometimes an even packing of the pipe will help eliminate the “cone,” but it’s really not a big deal. Just shove the unburned stuff into the center, as the others have said. Dump the ash and collapse the unburned sides in. I have to do that all the time, especially when smoking folded flakes.
Sometimes an even packing of the pipe will help eliminate the “cone,” but it’s really not a big deal. Just shove the unburned stuff into the center, as the others have said. Dump the ash and collapse the unburned sides in. I have to do that all the time, especially when smoking folded flakes.
That's why they invented a tamper. Occasionally scrape the edges in lightly.
This ^^ I tend to forget my tamper so I use my finger a lot.Think of a campfire: it burns in the centre and you push the fuel (logs in this case) around the fire towards it. Do the same in your pipe using your tamper: carefully and gently push the unburnt tobacco in the periphery towards the centre, making a kind of pyramid, not unlike a campfire.
I find the 8deco tampers, with their concave ends to be excellent for this task:
Since I’m not a carpenter I use my finger as a tamper, if I was a carpenter I’d use my stub as a tamp
I have found thst matches are better for lighting a bowl. I only smoke outside and my zippo can be uneven at times especially if there is a breeze but the tobacco catches up. Not every smoke will be the same and with experience we learn to tame each smoke to our perfered burn rate.
I was a carpenter and I still have my fingers..lol. Not that I didn't have close calls. Had a saw kick back once and graze three fingers. Mangled up the flesh. Old timer came up, wrapped my fingers in paper towels and duct tape. Told me to get my ass back to work. It was a man up moment and I manned up. Little shit like that molds a boy into the man he'll become. My boys didn't stand a chance.
Right, poke the unburnt sides down into the ember, and sometimes it helps to move the flame around a little bit on relights. It's all standard procedure. I too like the 8deco tamper that lets the ember breathe during tamping.
I wish to thank all of you that replied to my question. I very much appreciate your insight and advice.
In addition to proper tamping, I find that as you get used to packing the tobacco right for your preference, the tobacco also burns more evenly.
In the beginning, I would experience the same thing (ash in the centre, unburned around the edges) much more than I do now.
I think it is a sign that you are drawing too hard on the pipe, and the ember is burning straight down to where the airway meets the chamber.
I think it is a sign that you are drawing too hard on the pipe, and the ember is burning straight down to where the airway meets the chamber.
Your doing fine just keep doing it. Smoking slow is something most of us would give our eyeteeth for.
Usually i try to light the tobacco as evenly as possible. Then just let it go. Normally I would relight once or twice during smoke. Even out the top of the tobacco before relight. When the relight is below 1/3 bowl, I usually stop playing with tobacco. Too much chance of killing the ember. I might tamp really gently if I feel flavor going away.