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Another newbie question...


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So what am I supposed to be left with when I finish a bowl of
ma'assell?  I have been smoking pipes for years, and am always
left with a bowl of ash, but after I have a smoke with the hookah, it's
just a dried up cake of tobacco.  I was assuming that this is
because the ma'assell never actually gets burned or comes in contact
with the coal.  Is this correct?  I guess I should also talk
about how I smoke.  I have a stainless steel bowl (I know, I know,
BLASPHEMY!) which is pretty shallow.  I loosely fill it up to just
below the rim with ma'assell.  I use a metal screen, two 3 Kings
coals, and I'm off and smoking.  I usually go for about an hour or
so with this setup, if I don't add any more coal (which I usually do
not).  Anyway, thanks for any input.  
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Good question. No good answers. If you are going for an hour, and you're getting the smoke thickness you want, and the flavor that pleases you, then I'd say you are better off doing what you're doing. Simple. Some will tell you the steele bowl isn't as good as the clay, and I have to wonder how it's not getting burned with that and 2 three kings, but it works just fine for you. And yes, you are correct about the tobacco cake at the end. This is the by-product.
MR Bubble
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[quote name='MR Bubble']Good question. No good answers. If you are going
for an hour, and you're getting the smoke thickness you want, and the
flavor that pleases you, then I'd say you are better off doing what
you're doing. Simple. Some will tell you the steele bowl isn't as good
as the clay, and I have to wonder how it's not getting burned with that
and 2 three kings, but it works just fine for you. And yes, you are
correct about the tobacco cake at the end. This is the by-product.
MR Bubble[/quote]

Yeah, I am actually quite surprised I am not burning the ma'assell as
well, especially after reading quite a few posts on this board
regarding the steel bowls.  I tried 1.5 coals, and the smoke was
good, but the half coal burned away quite quickly, and I found myself
adding another one to keep the thickness and taste going.
Thanks for the feedback on the remains of the ma'assell.
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hi there,
Keep in mind that the reason you are left with a cake of tobacco, as
opposed to the ash found in pipes and cigarettes, is that the tobacco
burns at a much lower temperature in hookahs than it does in
pipes/cigarettes. The hookah tobacco reaches about 450 degrees celcius
while a pipe or cigarette can burn at up to 800.
cya
nidal105
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most of it should be burnt. If you try to extract every ounce of flavour then you will get it all pretty much black.

to find a mixture of black and normal tobacco is perfectly fine, as to
be honest, by the time you get through the whole thing you'll find the
taste will have deteriorated considerably.

Just make sure you don't fill it above the rim, otherwise you're wasting too much.
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i would like to add that if the top of the patty is grey and ashed
youve been burning it, and that can screw up the flavor so if the patty
is grey on top ease off the heat or put less tobacco in.
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I've had that similar experience once...like a week or two ago, first
time smoking AF GS Esk...really wet stuff. Ya know though, I have no
idea how that worked out since I was pulling the HUGEST clouds...so big
we had to stop playing poker each time someone took a hit...and once
the coals were about 1/3 original size, I moved them to the middle
(since we figured we'd be done after the coals were out) and actually
pressed down with tongs whenever it was being hit. It lasted for a good
hour and a half...not sure how, and even less sure as to why this
particular session gave me a perfectly symmetrical cake at the end, but
mine's usually burnt, even when not packing all that much. Then again
I'm still in the stoneage sucking in the Aluminum Oxide stuff =) I
think I might invest in a screen.
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