Tobacco Only Burning Down in the Center, Not Around!

[Ryszard]

Dear all,

I'm experiencing a problem where my tobacco only burns down to whitish ash in the center but the rest of the tobacco around remains largely unburned or only a bit burned. The ember basically gradually disappears into the bottom of the bowl instead of setting the tobacco in its vicinity on fire. I can smoke and the pipe doesn't go out often, but I can't actually tamp down because it just ends up compressing the unburned tobacco around the "hole" of burned tobacco (which is in the middle) but the level stays the same. This way I can never really finish a pipe and end up dumping a large amount of halfway burned tobacco at the end. Re-lighting the top layer of burned & unburned tobacco over and over again ends up not tasting very well eventually. What am I doing wrong? Is the tobacco too moist or perhaps I pack wrong? I'm using the three pinch method but I'm open to suggestions here. It's really frustrating to never get the feeling of progressing through a pipe and always only smoking through the middle column.

Thanks a lot!

EDIT: Fixed Capitalization in Title

 

[jaytex1969]

I have that situation quite often.

It helps to use a smaller, more precise flame and work to evenly ignite the entire top surface. A few minutes in, you can give a GENTLE tamp and see where the coals are burning, then hit the remaining surface area with a touch up light.

About half way in, gently poke and dump the soft ash. Then, use the spoon end of the tamper to poke around the perimeter, persuading the unburnt "halo" more towards the center. Give the whole surface another gentle tamping around to even it out and give another full surface touch up light.

Touch up lights need not be long, but should be moved around to reach wall-to-wall surface area. After the light, if you look quickly in the bowl, you can usually see the glowing areas to determine where to focus any follow up torching.

 

[olkofri]

What kinda pipe?

 

[dcon]

It sounds to me like you are tamping too hard. A lighter touch is usually all that is needed. Also, slightly angling the tamper to bring not burning tobaccos to the ember may help.

 

[olkofri]

[...] Also, slightly angling the tamper to bring not burning tobaccos to the ember may help.

This. I think Warren once compared the tobacco in the bowl to a campfire: you have to keep pushing the logs towards the centre as the fire burns. For that effect, I find a tamper such as this one: Pipe Tools & Supplies 8deco Club Tamper Electric Blue - https://www.smokingpipes.com/accessories/pipe-supplies/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=212497

I find that the concave shape of the tamper's foot, along with its sharp, tapered edges are very effective for gently pushing the leaf towards the centre, and also for scrapping leaf adhered to the chamber's walls.

 

[logs]

It happens, particularly with flakes. Just move things around with your pipe nail and relight

 

[Bowie]

I have this issue, too. In addition to the good advice already posted, one piece of advice that has worked well for me is to gently tamp once or twice immediately after a relight. It seems to force the heat toward the edges of the bowl and ignite the tobacco.

 

[Dusk]

I get that too and I find that tamping around the edges to form a little cone, followed by a very gently tamp in the middle works well for me. I only dump ashes if it goes out and there's little left at the end of the bowl.

 

[wolflarsen]

I have had this happen on occasion. It seems to occur most often with conical shaped bowls. Sometimes I'll poke and stir around with the tamper and relight but sometimes I just let it ride and tell myself that it tastes better that way because the best flavor comes from the warm leaf surrounding the ember, not the burning tobacco itself.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Just adjust your tamping and Jack's your monkey.

 

[64alex]

[...I find that the concave shape of the tamper's foot, along with its sharp, tapered edges are very effective for gently pushing the leaf towards the centre, and also for scrapping leaf adhered to the chamber's walls.]

I have the same tamper and it is the best not only for the concave surface but also because it has holes in the surface which makes possible to puff while tamping.

 

[Chasing Embers]

You could always try ember chasing.

Dottle Diggers by Lawrence :: General Pipe Smoking Discussion

While discussing ember chasing with our lovely forum member chasingembers, we realized that some nice articles written by our forum member Lawrence were lost, I managed to find them using Wayback Machine:

pipesmagazine.com

 

[derhammer]

Try using matches or butane lighter. With matches you'd have a bigger flame and have a larger spread. With butane lighter you can just circle around the bowl

 

[buck17]

Does anyone have a photo of the dowel type or the Brebbia type mentioned here? This is a helpful thread, thanks!

You could always try ember chasing.

Dottle Diggers by Lawrence :: General Pipe Smoking Discussion

While discussing ember chasing with our lovely forum member chasingembers, we realized that some nice articles written by our forum member Lawrence were lost, I managed to find them using Wayback Machine:

pipesmagazine.com

 

[Chasing Embers]

Does anyone have a photo of the dowel type or the Brebbia type mentioned here?

What I use.



And a Brebbia.

 

[warren]

One should stamp with a purpose instead of idly pushing on the blend. I also slowy turn the tamper, usually my finger, as I gently press the tobacco towards the fire.

 

[mso489]

I'd use the softest flame to light and re-light, probably a match, that you can move gently around the chamber to get the edges lit. I'd dry out the tobacco even a day or two, to give a more combustible bowl. Pack loosely enough so there is some air throughout the bowl, not hard-packed, but not loose either. Tamping is a key here, and you want to move the edges down over the middle so unburnt leaf is ignited. But don't tamp until you have to relight. For now, I'd suggest a MM cob, since they are among the easiest for new smokers to pack and smoke.

 

[renfield]

A technique I use to encourage the edges to burn is what I call the “venturi”. Doubtless people have been doing it forever, not my invention.

Hover your tamper just barely touching the tobacco and lightly draw air into the bowl around the edge of the tamper. Doing this occasionally seems to help.

The other methods mentioned above help too. Try them all and see what works best for you.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I try to light across most the tobacco surface on the initial light. That may go against some conventional wisdom but I like getting my tobacco good and out from the start. As several already mentioned, I'll scrape unburned tobacco down from the walls when necessary.

 

[thefishguy]

I cut my tampers at a slight angle for this very reason.