I just tamped the bottom of a bowl of Dunhill RR in very conical dublin and I fear it may never stop burning now. It tastes fine.
Very rarely do I smoke an entire bowl, sometimes only half. Depending on the tobacco though, I'll come back and finish it off later. For example, Peterson early morning is good for about 2-4 hours in the bowl depending on conditions. G&H #20, 1 to 2 hours, then its bitter and sour.I may be on the sensitive end of the taste spectrum but once I lose interest in the bowl I’m smoking, I dump it. I do my best not to be wasteful but if the magic of the smoke is over and the fat lady has sung, I clean the pipe and start a new bowl. Furthermore, when I’ve attempted to smoke all the way to the bottom, the moisture of the tobacco that’s left requires so many relights that it just doesn’t seem worth it. That’s usually my main cue to end it.
Amen!I just dump. The destruction of flavor when mixing with ash isn't worth the extra few puffs. If I want more, I'll just load another bowl.
Greetings,
I actually enjoy the attentive art of pipe tamping. I am careful not to overly compress the tobacco beneath the ashes and embers.
I have mixed thoughts when I get near the bottom of the bowl. When there is a mixture of dottle, ash and a small amount unburned tobacco, I usually use a pick to gently lift the tobacco from the bottom and gently resettle the surface layer. I get a few more minutes of good smoke with a couple relights. What are your thoughts about stirring the remains together to extend the smoke even more? I generally smoke non-aromatics but seeing the remaining tobacco with a grayish color and covered with ash makes me wonder if I should just stop and empty the bowl.
That’s exactly what I do. It keeps the draft hole at the “bottom” and makes sure you don’t leave too much unburnt tobacco opposite the draft hole. I think it also helps break in the lower portion of the chamber.I was wondering if anyone else does what I do toward the bottom of the bowl : since the draft hole is toward the back/stem side of the pipe, as the tobacco gets to be a more shallow amount at the bottom, I use the spoon/shovel portion of the Czech pipe tool to push the remaining tobacco up against the draft hole. This way you are in a sense lighting the remaining tobacco plug at an angle, since the tobacco is pushed up in a kind of “snow drift” against the back portion of the bowl. I’m not saying this always works, and you have to be careful not to push too hard against the draft hole. But it has always made sense to me, rather than leaving a shallow layer of tobacco at the bottom where you are more likely to be sucking in ash, or else air.
I've never had to do that. I smoke fairly large pipes and frequently when dumping ash the tobacco ball and cherry will rise up in the chamber allowing me additional smoke time. I haven't had wet dottle for a long time. I generally smoke to bottom of the bowl until pipe goes out on its own. But that's just my experience. YMMV. I do find that its easier to achieve this if I twist the tobacco into the chamber like a screw when loading the top third. It also makes it easier to light. I also rarely have to do relights unless I put the pipe down for too long and it goes out. Just my 2 cents.I usually use a pick to gently lift the tobacco from the bottom and gently resettle the surface layer.
Same. I usually end up with a mouth full of ash before realizing that it's that close to the bottom.I put nothing foreign in the heel when loading a bowl. Never had a problem with the heel in the slightest, and I usually smoke to a fine grey ash....... YMMV.