What's the secret to smoking to the bottom?

[Piper]

I have a lot of trouble smoking to the bottom of the bowl, which I'm told is where a lot of flavor lives. What normally happens is that I have to tamp and relight more and more frequently as I approach the bottom and even after all the fuss the embers die out. I thought it might be because I'd burnt up all the tobacco but when I relight I get a nice flume of smoke and when I dump out the pipe there's still some (though not much) unburnt tobacco left. What's the secret? Is it the packing, the puffing, the type of tobacco or just experience?

[Hermit]

Are you drying out the tobacco enough?

[Piper]

Hermit, That's a very good point. I think that was a problem in the past. Recently, I've made a point of spreading out the tobacco on a piece of paper for 20 or 30 minutes if it's not sufficiently dry. It certainly helps. But even when I dry out the tobacco I seem to have this problem—although less. Still, I'm going to keep it in mind.

[webjunkie]

Sometimes I get over enthusiastic with my tamping and I just mess everything up so that when I get to the last third it goes out and I just can't keep it going. Could be an issue.

[DubintheDam]

It is actually very difficult to keep your pipe burning without relights while still burning dry all the way to the bottom. If you puff regularly your pipe will stay lit but will also get wet and damp at the bottom of the bowl. People who always get a grey dry ash at the bottom usually dry their baccy out almost to extreme.

If I go into a shop and buy a tin of baccy, open it and put it in my pipe it will not be dry! So according to the 'dry your baccy school of thought' you have to go to a warm cafe, and sit there with you baccy on a tissue waiting for your baccy to dry for 30 mins while everyone looks at you like you're completely nuts! If circumstance permits, I open a tin a week or two before I intend to smoke from it.

The secret is to gentle stir the baccy towards the end of the bowl with your pipe tool. That said many pipes will just not smoke dry to the bottom because of their design, using a pipe cleaner to mop up before the pipe starts to gurgle is also a good tip. Yet another tip is to keep an almost empty chamber in the bottom of the bowl when packing. Also tamp and tip the ash, not too much or too little, tip ash once or twice, tamp 3 or 4 times, per bowl.

But lastly the word 'dottle' exist for a reason...it is a common occurance...and with practice it can be diminished.

[Dzrtrat]

Originally Posted by Piper

............ What's the secret? Is it the packing, the puffing, the type of tobacco or just experience?

Yes

[Dzrtrat]

Okay I guess I should have at least contributed something. I will tell you what I do. First off I smoke bent Peterson's with the lip bit so using a pipe cleaner during a smoke is not an option. (someone said it was easier to pic your nose with boxing gloves) I rarely tamp and when I do I just knock down the ash with my finger, using your finger is a guaranty that you won't tamp to hard. Unless you're a masochist and enjoy pain. Dry your tobacco out some, I do, I don't dry them out excessively but I do let them set a bit (10-20min) I smoke English/Balkan blends Aro's may take longer I don't know. I don't dump the ash durring a smoke why? Well if there is moisture in the well of the pipe and you tip it over you can drown the baccy, when you here that tssstssss sound...yep you just did it. Im not going to talk about filling the bowl there are a thousand threads on this subject and you prolly know if its a good fill or not by the way the draw feels. Hope this helps somewhat.

~Rob~

[Phlegmatic]

Dry the tobac, allways use a clean pipe, and puff slow. Make sure the ash dont form a dent in it where the air gets higher speed, making it burn unevenly, keep stiring as dub said!

And best trick of all: get a filter pipe!

[Mister Moo]

1. Are you smoking aromatics and, if so, what brand and where do you get them? Many humectant-soaked bulk tobaks, aros in particular, may not burn to ash under any circumstances.
2. Is you pipe, if not a cob or meer, caked? Caked briar smokes a little drier. Is the pipe geometry correct?
3. Do you get an even burn after a charring tamp? Bad fill will cause uneven burns; uneven burns may leave a clod of unburned tobak or dottle at pipe bottom.
4. Does your fill and tamping cause you to draw against anything more than a very slight resistance? An overly tight fill will resist complete burning.
5. Are you a hopeless novice, lacking the requisite 12-24 months of practice it takes to become a functional expert? Over time the mysterious nature of pipes and pipe tobacco combustion unravels, one bowl at a time. Look to all advice above (and below?) plus practice and experience. All problems tend to evaporate.

[Mad Hatter]

When I have to relight toward the bottom of the bowl I rake the ash toward the rear and just relight the tobacco toward the front half of the chamber. The tobacco will burn toward the airway and the closer you are to the airway the more quickly it will burn that direction. But if moisture is your problem then maybe its your packing technique, the pipe or the tobacco.

[Piper]

Gentlemen, thanks for the fantastic advice. No wonder I'm not getting to the bottom of the bowl!

Here's what I think I understand: I'm going to open the tobacco cans a few weeks before using them, make sure the tobacco is dry but not overly dry, pack carefully (perhaps not to the bottom), make sure the entire surface lights and burns down evenly, NOT empty the ashes, tamp with my finger, mop up moisture with a pipe cleaner, stir the tobacco and ashes when I get to the bottom, then rake the ashes to the rear (?towards the air hole) and light the front.

One thing I didn't quite understand: Dubin, when you say tap and TIP the ash, what do you mean by tip? Is is another way to stir up the tobacco at the bottom or is it similar to the idea of moving the tobacco to the rear as recommended by Mad Hatter.

Anyway, now I know why Moo made his final recommendation: another 12-24 months of pipe experience. Does smoking three bowls a day speed up the learning curve or just burn your tongue?

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by Piper

Does smoking three bowls a day speed up the learning curve or just burn your tongue?

Tongue burn is a sympton, mostly, of things other than x-bowls/day. You'll figure it out (wet tobak and/or bad fill) and banish it.

[Phlegmatic]

Tounge burn should be left to heal imho, I belive its rather harmful to the cells, naked from blasting with hot smoke, to be subjected to more smoke!

[Hydrated]

My secret when it comes to smoking all the way to the bottom:

Don't smoke all the way to the bottom!

I don't smoke cigars all the way down to the nub, and I don't usually try to smoke a bowl all the way to the bottom. I don't like the taste that you normally get as the tobacco burns toward the bottom of the bowl. I guess the tar and stuff gets more concentrated as you burn those last bits of tobacco in the bottom of the bowl... and I just don't like it. I don't visit the Beast who lives in the bottom of the bowl!

I know that this is heresy to many pipers, but so what? I like the first 3/4 of the bowl best, so anytime after that... it's likely to get dumped out. Don't feel like you're a failure if you don't get every bowl to smoke down to a clean gray ash.

[Piper]

Hydrated, I think this is a good point: people should enjoy their hobbies however the want to. I know coffee connoisseurs who think coffee should only be taken black. Personally, I like milk and sugar. But the smoking to the bottom idea seems to be pretty universal. I wonder why that is?