Thoughts on Tongue Bite.

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I just went and had a look at what a candle flame heat is recorded to be,
I Googled that earlier too, and got numbers like 3,000F to 35,000 degrees. I think some folks on the internet just don’t understand temps.
Just think, wood can be piled into a 5o gallon steel drum and burned down to ash, without melting the drum. Or propane heaters, how do they not melt the aluminum and brass heaters?
 
I just called and asked my guru metalsmith about why there are so many wild temperatures posted all over the internet. Ha ha.
There seems to be two problems. One is use of infrared thermometers, which are designed to rate surface temperatures by vibrations. Using one to rate a candle flame is first the wrong way to use one. You have to point it at a surface, not the flame or ember or your reading is wildly off, and may explain why a science website would say a candle is 3,000f-35,000. They are not designed to rate the vibrations going on inside the actual reaction of a flame.

And, while you may have on a molecular level a microscopic bit of 3,000 or 35,000F reaction, that is not the temperature of that flame.

If, you wanted to know the actual temperature of the fire in a pipe, you would hold a thermometer above to measure the heat. And, he guessed about 500F also, since you can cup a lit bowl in your hand for a short duration. Also, anything above 600F will not leave ash, as carbon dissipates at that temperature.

So, we can probably blame misuse of infrared thermometers for most if the problems with numbers on the www.
 
Also, as a side note… if you see a TV show showing off how someone can walk on hot coals… they use an infrared thermometer, which as I said above will not read an ember correctly, saying, “the coals are 5,000F, enough to evaporate skin and bone.” It’s probably 500F at the core, but the ashes on top may only be 200-300F, like touching a hot pan briefly. Not such an amazing feat of magic. It can burn you, but you just don’t want to stand too long in one place.
 
May 9, 2021
1,676
3,588
55
Geoje Island South Korea
I don't think smoke can be hot - who measures the temperature of smoke?
Tongue bite is typically caused by heat from the burning tobacco, caused by over zealous lighting techniques and smoking too fast.
Agree.
The smoke entering ones mouth is cool. The coolest it can be is ambient temperature. During this time of year, in the northern hemisphere the smoke entering my mouth is very cool.
Of course, if I started drawing on my pipe, the smoke will increase in temperature.
 

mortonbriar

Lifer
Oct 25, 2013
2,678
5,725
New Zealand
I just called and asked my guru metalsmith about why there are so many wild temperatures posted all over the internet. Ha ha.
There seems to be two problems. One is use of infrared thermometers, which are designed to rate surface temperatures by vibrations. Using one to rate a candle flame is first the wrong way to use one. You have to point it at a surface, not the flame or ember or your reading is wildly off, and may explain why a science website would say a candle is 3,000f-35,000. They are not designed to rate the vibrations going on inside the actual reaction of a flame.

And, while you may have on a molecular level a microscopic bit of 3,000 or 35,000F reaction, that is not the temperature of that flame.

If, you wanted to know the actual temperature of the fire in a pipe, you would hold a thermometer above to measure the heat. And, he guessed about 500F also, since you can cup a lit bowl in your hand for a short duration. Also, anything above 600F will not leave ash, as carbon dissipates at that temperature.

So, we can probably blame misuse of infrared thermometers for most if the problems with numbers on the www.
Thank you! This is the closest I have to come to illumination today, concerning candles, internet and temperatures.
 

HawkeyeLinus

Lifer
Oct 16, 2020
5,602
41,063
Iowa
Tongue doesn’t need smoke to smite:

And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
 

UrsaMinor

Lurker
Jan 30, 2023
28
44
And why is “tongue” nothing to do with it at all yet …..
Heh. That burning sensation you feel when extremely hot particulate matter enters your mouth... who knows what's causing it?
My brother in Christ, try thinking with your head instead of your rear end. It's smarter. Well, mine is. Mostly.
 

Briar Lee

Lifer
Sep 4, 2021
4,836
13,902
Humansville Missouri
No way. What chemical does it have that other tobaccos don't? Tobacco smoke in general has chemicals that cause cancer, but something toxic enough to burn your mouth is another story. If toxic chemicals were the cause, then how come cigars don't cause tongue bite until you smoke down to the nub?

I'm telling you blokes, tongue bite is caused by hot matter entering the mouth. Hot oil isn't too far off the mark, because there are oils in the smoke.





It looks like the temperature varies depending on who does the study.

Look at this one:

"When a conventional cigarette burns, the burning tip reaches a temperature of about 900 degrees Celsius."

I should have looked at more articles. Plus, I was looking at the burn temp of cigarettes, which apparently contain jet fuel.

Regardless, my point stands. yanoJL's google findings show a temperature hot enough to damage the tissues in the mouth.


Ya think doctors just make stuff up? Smoker's kerotosis is real, and roughly half of pipe smokers have it. It's caused by extreme temperatures in the mouth, which I believe also causes tongue bite.

If it was just heat, then cigar and cigarette advertisements would have been promising “no bite” for a hundred years.

D6BBBA6B-4491-42BB-8D57-03C38B7526F4.jpeg

And yet it makes a lot of sense that lighting fires that burn near a thousand degrees in little wooden pipes and sucking the hot smoke through straws is apt to burn our tongues by hot smoke. It would cook a brisket, why not our tongues?

Bite must be caused by a combination of heat and chemical irritants, concentrated by a tiny hole, on the tounge. That’s why the Peterson P lip helps avoid tongue bite, or a Kaywoodie stinger, or a filter does.

I welcome the debate though.

Not everyone that disagrees with me is wrong.

Query, if cigarette and cigar smokers who used holders with pipe sized buttons would get bit?