When are you "done"?

[Bakker1964]

Second bowl today . . . only loaded about 3/4 full, as my intent was to keep relighting until I was certain I had nothing left unburnt in the bowl.

Well, mission accomplished, to a degree. the carbon within the bowl now reaches down to where the shank enters and there is carbon on the shank itself (the portion which stick into the bowl). The bowl underneath remains relatively carbon-free for now, however, but I assume that will change over time.

I suffered some tonguebite this time, as I was so focused on keeping the tobacco lit I was likely overworking my draw (if you follow what I mean).

How do you guys know when you have reached the end of your bowl. I found that, near the finish, I was drawing a fair bit easier, and it felt hotter, as well. I would liken it to the nubbing a cigar, where your puffs are shorter due to the increased heat and intensity of the "cherry".
I don't think the intensity was greatly increased, but there was more heat. So, I guess I kind of answered my own question . . .

 

[steveclarkus]

This is a very interesting question and I look forward to reading the comments. I generally begin with a full bowl packed but not too tightly. Over packing seems to diminish flavor as much as smoking too hard. I find the mid-bowl the most pleasurable and prefer a taller narrower chamber to extend the mid-bowl experience. Once past that point, my interest wanes and I rarely smoke to the absolute finish. I’m finished at the first taste of ash and dump the dottle. If I’m not through smoking, I just refill and start over sometimes with the same pipe and sometimes with a fresh one.

 

[Kentos]

I smoke it until it tastes bad, becomes hard to light, or I get ash in my mouth . The first two happen all the time, the third very rarely.
Also, your tongue bite is probably burn from sucking down the hot gases from your lighter trying to light the last remnants.

My personal opinion is to not worry about smoking down to ash, or getting cake on the heel.

 

[Bakker1964]

Not overly concerned with it based on the design. I did find that, as the level got deeper into the bowl, relighting was harder (matches), but hey, still a newb here.

On the plus side, my Morgan seems likely to deliver tomorrow at work.

 

[ChefJohnBoy-ardee]

Not overly concerned with it based on the design. I did find that, as the level got deeper into the bowl, relighting was harder (matches), but hey, still a newb here.

On the plus side, my Morgan seems likely to deliver tomorrow at work.

Go until it tastes bad or hard to light. Tongue bite isn't worth a penny worth of tobacco.

And as a newbie. Don't sweat anything. Just relax and perfect smokes will come. Just takes time and practise.

 

[Alacrity59]

I'm probably a newbie still compared to many folk here. I agree with all the previous comments. A bit of what I hear in your post is with regard to re-lighting. It is pretty normal to light a bowl and have a few puffs . . . the tobacco dries a bit and expands and goes out. From there you tamp it down gently and light it again.

I don't know what other people do but personally I find success by very gently tamping from time to time. By gently I mean just keeping a bit of a flat top of tobacco such that the tobacco is in contact with the part that is burning.

Burning a pipe down to the ash is not so much of a goal for me but an occasional pleasant surprise. More surprising to me is that I do get down to the ash with tobacco that I think is quite moist. Most recently this occurred with some St. James flake Kent sent me when we had a bit of a get together to enjoy the 2020 B&B pipe.

There are funny things I find myself doing just because I grew up when smoking was more common and I saw folk doing these things. You are smoking your pipe . . . and then you are in a discussion . . . the embers are burning down and your pipe is just about going out. I fold my fingers over the bowl . . . and give a few quick puffs to re-ignite.

 

[Bakker1964]

I saw that very video on Muttonchop piper's channel this afternoon . . . LOL. Love that guy's stuff.

 

[Alacrity59]

Neither he nor I would be unique in the advice. Do check out his top choices in tobacco.

 

[Claudel Xerxes]

The bowl underneath remains relatively carbon-free for now, however, but I assume that will change over time.

It's been awhile since I last worried about breaking in a fresh pipe, but I'm pretty sure that licking your finger, rubbing the bottom of the chamber, then sprinkling ash in it should help to speed up the process. I remember doing something along those lines with a few pipes. The ash is mainly carbon, so it should create a base for more carbon to build up on.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I can't really add much to what's already been said. I abort when I stop enjoying it, whether that's taste decline, inability to stay lit, or simply run out of stuff inside to smoke

 

[oc_in_fw]

I smoke it until it tastes bad, becomes hard to light, or I get ash in my mouth . The first two happen all the time, the third very rarely.
Also, your tongue bite is probably burn from sucking down the hot gases from your lighter trying to light the last remnants.

My personal opinion is to not worry about smoking down to ash, or getting cake on the heel.

Same here

 

[oc_in_fw]

I'm probably a newbie still compared to many folk here. I agree with all the previous comments. A bit of what I hear in your post is with regard to re-lighting. It is pretty normal to light a bowl and have a few puffs . . . the tobacco dries a bit and expands and goes out. From there you tamp it down gently and light it again.

I don't know what other people do but personally I find success by very gently tamping from time to time. By gently I mean just keeping a bit of a flat top of tobacco such that the tobacco is in contact with the part that is burning.

Burning a pipe down to the ash is not so much of a goal for me but an occasional pleasant surprise. More surprising to me is that I do get down to the ash with tobacco that I think is quite moist. Most recently this occurred with some St. James flake Kent sent me when we had a bit of a get together to enjoy the 2020 B&B pipe.

There are funny things I find myself doing just because I grew up when smoking was more common and I saw folk doing these things. You are smoking your pipe . . . and then you are in a discussion . . . the embers are burning down and your pipe is just about going out. I fold my fingers over the bowl . . . and give a few quick puffs to re-ignite.

I have several tampers, but still find myself using my thumb 95% of the time.

 

[Bakker1964]

I have several tampers, but still find myself using my thumb 95% of the time.

My wife mentioned her grandfather doing this . . . no burn?

 

[oc_in_fw]

My wife mentioned her grandfather doing this . . . no burn?

Not yet.

 

[steveclarkus]

I have several tampers, but still find myself using my thumb 95% of the time.

My father never owned a tamper or any other pipe tool that I recall.

 

[Columbo]

Second bowl today . . . only loaded about 3/4 full, as my intent was to keep relighting until I was certain I had nothing left unburnt in the bowl.

Well, mission accomplished, to a degree. the carbon within the bowl now reaches down to where the shank enters and there is carbon on the shank itself (the portion which stick into the bowl). The bowl underneath remains relatively carbon-free for now, however, but I assume that will change over time.

I suffered some tonguebite this time, as I was so focused on keeping the tobacco lit I was likely overworking my draw (if you follow what I mean).

How do you guys know when you have reached the end of your bowl. I found that, near the finish, I was drawing a fair bit easier, and it felt hotter, as well. I would liken it to the nubbing a cigar, where your puffs are shorter due to the increased heat and intensity of the "cherry".
I don't think the intensity was greatly increased, but there was more heat. So, I guess I kind of answered my own question . . .

Everyone has their own standards on this, and leaving behind some dottle is a matter of preference.

I don’t like to draw ash at the end. It can ruin what was a supremely good smoke. So I’m often comfortable leaving behind 1/4 of a bowl as a sacrifice to the ashtray gods.

Once you’re down that far, don’t fret about cakemaking.

YMMV.

 

[Columbo]

My father never owned a tamper or any other pipe tool that I recall.

On a fresh fill, I’ll scoop, pinch, finger and thumb it in. That’s an acquired art of every piper.

But try tamping down a lit bowl, and you’ll soon want a tamper.

A Czech tool is a buck or two, and should last a lifetime if still made the same nowadays as the 49 cent ones were.

Or ... if in a pinch, a tamper can be found in the nail box.

 

[Columbo]

It's been awhile since I last worried about breaking in a fresh pipe, but I'm pretty sure that licking your finger, rubbing the bottom of the chamber, then sprinkling ash in it should help to speed up the process. I remember doing something along those lines with a few pipes. The ash is mainly carbon, so it should create a base for more carbon to build up on.

Dampened cigar ash has been the classic bowl fill for as long as I remember.

It is not the same as a true cake, but can help adjust a floor issue on a less than ideal boring.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

A Czech tool is a buck or two, and should last a lifetime if still made the same nowadays as the 49 cent ones were.

Or ... if in a pinch, a tamper can be found in the nail box.

I do have a Czech tool, but my preferred pipe tool is a 3" woodscrew. It does everything I need from a pipe tool, including cake reduction, and I don't get upset when I lose it.

 

[Bakker1964]

On a fresh fill, I’ll scoop, pinch, finger and thumb it in. That’s an acquired art of every piper.

But try tamping down a lit bowl, and you’ll soon want a tamper.

A Czech tool is a buck or two, and should last a lifetime if still made the same nowadays as the 49 cent ones were.

Or ... if in a pinch, a tamper can be found in the nail box.

Currently using the brass cigar punch on my keychain. It's about 8 mm in diameter, so it works.