New To Hookah. Need Expert Advice Please

[elkwoodandy]

After 20 years of heavy cigarette smoking I have successfully QUIT and have found hookah to be an extremely pleasant way of "taking the edge off". I smoke about once a day and have been for about a month but I have been running into some problems that I need advice on:

1. I use "Stargate" natural coals. Some people say just use a small piece but I've found that if I use 2 or 3 pieces (about 1" each) I get much thicker smoke. 1 piece tends to give me light smoke only. I like the thick clouds but I've been told I'm burning too quickly. I place the coals on the edge of the bowl.

2. After 15 minutes, I notice the taste change and when I open the foil I notice the top layer of tobacco is hard and black, almost creating a "Cap" over the fresh stuff. (I sprinkle it in the bowl, not pack it).

Basically I have an airtight hookah about 18" tall. I sprinkle tobacco into the bowl, leaving a tiny space between the tobacco and the foil. I punch several circular patterns in the foil with a safety pin and lay 2-3 pieces of coal along the edge of the bowl and smoke. The first ten minutes provides rich, thich white clouds and great taste but then it strats to change.

Do I need to periodically open the foil and stir the tobacco? What should I be doing during the smoking session...?

I appreciate your advice.

[Johnny_D]

First questions - What kind of tobacco bowl and what kind of tobacco?

JD

[elkwoodandy]

First questions - What kind of tobacco bowl and what kind of tobacco?

JD

I use STarbuzz blueberry/grape, al fakher double apple, or layalina blueberry. I don't know what kind of bowl it is, but it is one of the very shallow clay ones, not a deep one.

[MechAnt]

Generally this is caused by too much heat. Try packing a little bit less so it sits just under the rim so that the foil doesn't touch it too much. Generally, shisha touching the foil doesnt affect it too much, just that people have a conception that shisha touching foil is bad when it really isn't. Most of what your problem is, is too much heat. Stargate coals are good coals, you only need two 1" pieces opposite each other on the rim of the bowl. Most of what you're doing is spot on, just some practice will make it better. Work on your heat management and you should get there well. Starbuzz is a forgiving shisha. Before trying again, give your pipe a nice deep clean.

[AKammenzind]

Sounds mostly right. I think where the problem might be coming from is that you start off with too much initial heat. I know sometimes I get impatient and want to toss on more coals to begin with for the thicker smoke, but after a while once the shisha gets all hot you don't need so much heat to get nice hits

[mathuv]

yep, pretty much all these posts are correct. you could also be making holes a bit too big. it sounds like you're burning your bowl too quick is all..

[Johnny_D]

I use a windcover indoors to help with this.

Use a little less coals and use the windcover to start the bowl going, then take it off.

When the coals are getting cooler - again replace the windcover.

JD

[Dom]

here's something i said in another thread regarding heat management:

the rule of thumb i use for the smoke thickness in the vase is as follows: if you can't see the stem, you are wrong. the smoke should be so thick that you can barely see the stem through the smoke, but not too thick that you cannot. with Tangiers, this is VITAL. Smoke too thick means that it's getting too much heat on the tobacco, and it'll be way too harsh. with other, lighter tobacco brands, it's okay for the stem to dissapear inside ths smoke - no big deal.

i put my heat on one side of the bowl at a time, then once those coals are out, i put another equal amount on the other side. that seems to work best for me.

hope this helps

[MagicHookahs]

I would recommend trying smaller pieces of coals spread out more evenly. Also a nice trick is to use a couple of layers of foil, it tend to ad a little air buffer between the heat at shisha.

[gaia.plateau]

I use a windcover indoors to help with this.

Use a little less coals and use the windcover to start the bowl going, then take it off.

When the coals are getting cooler - again replace the windcover.

JD

Sage advice (precisely what I was going to recommend )

[Codename067]

Not much I can add to what's already been said.

Just nail down the process of managing your heat with the bowls. Different bowls require different management.

[addicted2shisha]

Maybe the reason you're not getting good smoke without a lot of coal pieces are the sizes of your holes. As MechAnt said 1" on the rim of both sides should give you enough smoke.... I know safety pin holes are quite small i use a board pin slightly larger. So less coal better holes might do the trick if your still struggling! People assume that if its not smoking good you need more coal... That will just make your smoking session harsh and short.

[mj_b90]

Although its best in the long run to learn proper heat management like everyone is saying, there are a few tricks you can do to buffer the heat a bit too. Such as using two layers of foil with a small ring to add air space between. This method has been discussed here- http://www.hookahforum.com/index.php?showtopic=12508

[mathuv]

I would recommend trying smaller pieces of coals spread out more evenly. Also a nice trick is to use a couple of layers of foil, it tend to ad a little air buffer between the heat at shisha.

i used to think my shisha was getting burned and harsh because my foil was too thin,and started using 2-4. then i saw the guy at my regular hookah lounge use just one layer and 2 coals and i figured it was my heat management, so i worked on it a bit and now i only use 1 layer of thin (thinner than reynolds wrap) foil.

oh P.S if you can get your hands on some reynolds wrap, its a great foil Edited February 7, 2008 by mathuv