Tobacco Burns Uneven

[Slabmaster]

EDIT: Fixed Capitalization in Title - Bob

Why Can I not get tobacco to burn even in the bowl. The tobacco is dry. Thanks

 

[workman]

Try paying attention when you light. If the light is uneven, let it go out, tamp and relight until there's an even burn.

 

[olkofri]

How wide is the chamber? Wide chambers won't have the cherry expand over the whole diameter: you'll just get an igneous ball in the centre, which means you should use your tamper to gently push the tobacco from the outer areas towards the centre, creating a kind of mound.

 

[BROBS]

or you are leaving air gaps in the packed bowl.
The tobacco must be evenly dispersed.

also if this happens to me when I tamp I just set the tamper on the top of the tobacco and lightly move it in a few circles over the top to spread the ash out evenly.

 

[diamondback]

On the false light bloom I notice where little gaps are at the top. I’ll usually move it around a bit and tamper it into a little mound like Olkofri mentioned. That’s not a science though as it depends on which tobacco gets more flame rather than exposing inconsistent packing. Nonetheless I ‘herd’ the top of the bowl around a bit.

On the true light I repeat the process, my goal is to maintain a little mound/hill. It’s not a huge factor or rule for me really, and half way down or so I just tamp across evenly and very lightly. Sometimes I’ll dump the ash half way through, sometimes not. You just get ‘a feel.’

It’s hard for me to think out my exact method as I just kind of do it without a lot of thought, but I also agree with packing evenly.

If your experience is like mine was, it just sort of falls into place over repetition.

 

[oldred]

I fixed this when I realized I had to make sure the whole bowl is lit like @workman said.

 

[warren]

A proper light and, tamping when required should solve your problem.

 

[hauntedmyst]

Tamping my boy! It's all about tamping! After packing and lighting correctly, it's all about the tamping!

 

[bullet08]

never really thought about this. usually i just move the tobacco on top to even things out or if i empty the ash out, i'll level out the top before light again.

tobacco burning in the center don't bother me much, but on occasion i get tobacco burning on the side and give hot spot. not sure if it's truly burning next to wall or my hand/finger sensitivity issue. usually stop smoking and rest the pipe when that happens.

 

[Frozenoak]

I keep the top of my ash flat and level, crushing any high points into it. I get a pretty even burn but almost always end up with some dottle that I consider “filter”, similar to the but of a cigar.

 

[olkofri]

end up with some dottle that I consider “filter”, similar to the but of a cigar.

That's a very nice way of putting it!

 

[mso489]

Good advice from the posts. Also, if possible, try a different pipe and a different tobacco in case either of those is at fault. As someone has pointed out more than once, technique is usually the key, the learning curve. You could be packing too tight, and tamping is a technique to be perfected. I think through trial and error, you'll get things going.

 

[gervais]

My bowls typically give me a center cherry as well. I move the edges inward with my pipe tool when I'm paying attention to it