Who Stirs His Tobacco Towards the End?

[sittingbear]

Towards the last quarter of the bowl I will stir the ash and dump it out. Then I lightly cover the bowl with my index and middle fingers and blow a short blast of air into the pipe. The two fingers direct the ash that comes flying out away from you. This way you don't get a mouth full of ash the next time you puff. Then I stir, lightly tamp, and relight. It's especially effective with Virginia blends and greatly improved the flavor of the last part of the bowl.

 

[luigi]

Unless a dottle is mixed with other tobacco stirring is ok. I sometimes crumble some chunks when they don't get lit so easily.

 

[carolinasmokes]

In my opinion, stirring ash and dottle towards the bottom of the bowl is a recipe for disaster. I did this a few times in my early years of pipe smoking until I learned how to lightly tap down ash until the finish, at the time I was smoking McClelland Virginias. When I started there was definitely a learning curve to prepping, packing and smoking flake tobacco. Endeavor to persevere! You'll get there with patience and practice. Good luck.

 

[Servant King]

I don't to this; never had a reason to. But if I did:

 

[krizzose]

I do it with the last 1/4 or so of a folded and stuffed flake when necessary. Just an indication that I packed it a little too tight. If I dump all the loose ash before I scrape the edges and stir a bit, it lights up and tastes just fine; a minor irritation that takes all of 15 seconds to fix.

 

[elvishrunes]

Nope, never even crossed my mind…. I just smoke and tamp until the bottom stuff is too stubborn to light easily, and then I’m out. Having said this in theory it sounds like a good idea, to loosen the backy with air. Worth a try!

 

[shermnatman]

"...shaken, not stirred." LOL!

I dump the ash; then, re-lite. If things are a bit wonky with the burn or draw at that point, I'll disrutp everything with the Czech-tool, re-pack, and re-lite. - Sherm Natman

 

[drrock]

One of the best pipe smoking tips I was given early on was "Stir the dottle".

I soon realized that if you stirred it like stirring the sugar into your coffee I wound up with a mouthful of ash.

Then one day as I watched my next door neighbor - the only regular pipe smoker I know - gently take the torn end of a paper match & gently fluff the edges of the burnt tobacco I realized what stir the dottle meant.

Now I take the pick on a Czech tool & gently fluff the top part of the dottle along the walls of the bowl before relighting. Works like a charm!

 

[Sweet Home Alabama]

In my opinion, stirring ash and dottle towards the bottom of the bowl is a recipe for disaster. I did this a few times in my early years of pipe smoking until I learned how to lightly tap down ash until the finish, at the time I was smoking McClelland Virginias. When I started there was definitely a learning curve to prepping, packing and smoking flake tobacco. Endeavor to persevere! You'll get there with patience and practice. Good luck.

I do agree with “lightly tap” .

One of the best pipe smoking tips I was given early on was "Stir the dottle".

I soon realized that if you stirred it like stirring the sugar into your coffee I wound up with a mouthful of ash.

Then one day as I watched my next door neighbor - the only regular pipe smoker I know - gently take the torn end of a paper match & gently fluff the edges of the burnt tobacco I realized what stir the dottle meant.

Now I take the pick on a Czech tool & gently fluff the top part of the dottle along the walls of the bowl before relighting. Works like a charm!

Paper match, oh the humanity....lol!