Coals and Foil

[Aggroman]

My best foil experience (that sounds funny, doesn't it?) was with a
technique that a Lebanese friend here showed me.  Using the
thinnest foil you can get your hands on (storebought or made-for-shisha
circlets - it seems the same to me as long as it's not the thick heavy
duty stuff), try doubling-up the foil.

Seems to defeat the purpose of having thin foil, but for some reason it
seems to work really well.  Just make sure your holes pierce both
sheets.

Anyone else use two foils?

And I'll second your request as to where one might get some decent natural charcoal.  Everything I get here is crap.

[King Mo]

the foils from shisha sites are very convenient, but regular foil will do the job fine. In fact, although I use the pre-cut foils due to laziness more than anything else, I find them to be rather thin, and would prefer to use regular foil instead.
I personally don't use natural coals as it's not very practical for me. If you do decide to venture into the realm of quick lighting coals, then a well lit Golden coal or a well lit Three kings coal is near enough perfect. Other brands are no-where near as good.
If you have the right setup to use natural coals (i.e. a container to carry them and naturally something to light with -stove etc) then they provide a fantastic smoke. Only thing to watch out for is the size of the coals, which is easy to mess up with natural coals, especially the things that come in long fingers.
 
 

[the hookah hitman]

While we are on the subject of coals . . .I would like to hype up a secret weapon which is scheduled to hit US shores in about a month.
Pharoah's Elite
Its a new self lighting coal that puts 3 kings to shame.  They are made in Western Europe, but not sure which country.  Anyways, these coals are the sh*t, they last 40 mins and burn clean.  I was lucky enough to test out some of the samples. . .

[yashman19]

Pharoah's Elite even sounds cool

As for natural coals, I just use Nour Finger coals. There a bitch to
light without a stove or a propane torch (home depot 12bucks), but they
do a magnificant job.

Other natural coals that I've used are Diamante's, which come in a red
bag with fire all over it. These coals work ok, but make sure you get
them completly red hot before using them. If not, you're gunna stain
the taste of your ma'assel.

And then I've used Manara Natural coals. These work well too, but while
lighting them, they give off a pretty heavy odor. Once they're lit
though, they work fine as well.

[mopower84]

Hey Nick, welcome to the smokey world of Hookah.

I use regular old food store brand aluminum foil and it works just fine
for me, just make sure you get the unglased kind. The cheap stuff is
ideal. Also remember to put the shiney side toward the tobacco.

As for coals I used a quick light once and had a bad experience so its
natural all the way for me. I have heard very good thing about nour
coals but I have not used them personally. I use Al Kemma wood coal,
they work just fine, and have no smell or taste. I can find them for
sale locally so I don't have to mess with shipping or waiting for a
week to smoke.

Natural coal can be quite easy to use if you have an electric stove top
at home. I just put the peices on the coil directly, turn the dial to
high, and in a few short minutes I have red hot coals. The blowtorch
method can be a bit more of pain but it works.

[nickdeveau1]

I've heard something about using regular tinfoil can be bad because its
processed with so many chemicals and has aluminium content or something
and isnt good to smoke. Although that could just be wrong. THanks for
all the quick and great responses you guys are great!

[Aggroman]

On the topic of coals, I'm having a lot of trouble with my naturals.

I fire them up on a gas stove in one of those little pots with holes in
the bottom and get them going and set them outside to smolder. 

When I take a few that are nice and white and put them on the shisha I
get about 5 minutes of smoking before at least 2 out of 4 go half black
and the whole thing starts to taste like sh*te.

Any advice?

[Aggroman]

I should probably mention that this happens even when all the coals are
intitially completely glowing red on all sides and even if I blow on
them all individually for good measure.

[Smougman]

I have an additional question to add to this thread:

Whenever I had the chance to smoke, we used foils that were made/cut
for use with a Hookah. Now, I see that a lot of hookahs come with metal
screens for charcoal.

Are these temporary, re-useable, do they provide better or worst
experiences when compared to foiling, is that a different thing
entirely?

[tjt486]

I like the convenience of screens for a few reasons. They are reusable,
sturdy, quick.  However it seems like I get a thicker smoke from
foil.  My egyptian bowl is a bad size for my screens, its too big
to bend the prongs over.  Problem is I typically use a wind guard
(seems to help a lot with the shortcomings of a screen) and I have to
be very careful when I take it off to be sure the screen doesnt get
tipped by it.

[tjt486]

 One
last problem with foil is that my butane torch tends to burn right
through it (I usually try to hit the spot where the tongs covered it
from the original flame after I set the coal down, with foil I have to
pick it back up in a different spot and repeat.

[runride]

how do the lemonwood coals work?
 

[runride]

i believe i have tried finger coals, and they didnt work to well. i felt like i had to ash them every 5 minutes. do the wood coals do the same?
 

[nickdeveau1]

I ordered some Vivi natural coals with my hookah from hookah hub and
I'll let you all know how they are when I get them since no one has had
any experience with them it seems. As for the hookah foil.. I was
mostly just asking whether or not it was regular foil cut to the right
size and packaged or if it was something special for hookahs and better
to smoke on (by better i mean more healthy)

[mushrat]

 I tend to use natural bulk charcoal. Right now its al wadi-al gidi from egypt. I get it from a local middle-eastern market. Natural bulk is just chicks of wood charcaol, in variouse sizes and shapes, that I have to chop into workable chunks. Kinda messy but there is NOTHING in them to give you an off flavour besides the wood itself.
Finger coals like vivi and nour's are made WITH natural charcoal, but i believe they are processed with added cellulose binders and then reformed into the "fingers". Spaking of which, Mopower: have you ever "ashed" those al kemma's? I picked up a bag of those, and test lit a chunk. It was fine until I knocked the ashy layer off it after about 20 minutes and it let off the WORSE smell after that. I'd Noticed smoking at the Marakesh Cafe that if you ashed the coal, the bowl went nasty. The owner said he used the Al Kemma's and suggested i try them. Now I know why.
As for screens...I use one all the time now, you just have to learn the heat levels needed for each type of Ma'sell, same as you would using foil.

[lickirish]

[quote name='Aggroman']  Using the thinnest foil you can get your hands on (storebought or made-for-shisha circlets - it seems the same to me as long as it's not the thick heavy duty stuff), try doubling-up the foil.
Seems to defeat the purpose of having thin foil, but for some reason it seems to work really well.  Just make sure your holes pierce both sheets. Anyone else use two foils?[/quote]
This is exactly what I do. 1 Regular sheet is too thin. One Heavy Duty sheet is too thick and you get a thin smoke. I just rip the regular stuff off in a shinny rectangle, and fold it in half. I pay something like 4.00 for 250 yards I think, it has been so long since I had to buy it though. It lasts forever despite the 1-2 bowls we smoke daily.

[mushrat]

So as not to double post, check out my post on this thread.
[url="http://www.hookahforum.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1898&PN=1"] [url="http://www.hookahforum.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1898&am"]http://www.hookahforum.com/forum/forum_pos...asp?TID=1898&am[/url][/url] p;PN=1
As for the charcoal i use, this is what it generally looks like:

 
I have to chop it up, but it does give about the cleanest smoke you can get.

[mopower84]

Hey Mushrat, I have ashed those coals but I usually don't get a bad
flavor from them. I think it might be that I tend to "power puff" so
the coals don't get much time to cool down.

I like them fine but maybe there are variences from bag to bag. I'm
fairly new to hookah so I'm only on my second bag of the things. Who
knows, one day I might break down and buy a bag of those noir coals and
never look back.

For the time being I'm kinda stuck in a position where I probably
should not buy anything on my credit card that I don't really need. I
prefer to buy something I can find locally and pay cash for it, If I
don't have the cash then I should probably put it off. Also I tend to
get a little miffed paying like 5 or 6 bucks in shipping charges for an
item that only costs 5 or 6 bucks.

[mushrat]

hmmm... I'll try another chunk on the al kemma, but DANG it was a strange smell on the piece i tried, the instant I ashed them. And I'm not genteel puffer myself. Too bad no one sells nour's around here. Perhaps I'll try Cary, everything is fancier there anyway.
I agree with you as well, I've managed to find most of my stuff locally for that very reason. Going to have to save up for an online purchase and get a bunch of crap at once. Plus I DO prefer supporting local businesses. Before they changed management, the middleastern place on Hillsborough street next to No Regrets tattoo's had these awsome bowls, great bulk charcaol i havent seen again, and actualy MYA washable hoses in stock. Now...*fah*.
Once all this House crap (we're hoping to close on a place in the next week) is settled perhaps we can go in on a shipment. Split the shipping and some 250g tubs.

[ahwahoo2006]

[quote name='tjt486']I like the convenience of screens for a few reasons. They are reusable,
sturdy, quick.  However it seems like I get a thicker smoke from
foil.  My egyptian bowl is a bad size for my screens, its too big
to bend the prongs over.  Problem is I typically use a wind guard
(seems to help a lot with the shortcomings of a screen) and I have to
be very careful when I take it off to be sure the screen doesnt get
tipped by it.[/quote]

do windcovers really help that much with heat management??

[tjt486]

in my experience, it makes a difference.  I usually have good air
circulation in my room, window a/c unit has been going all summer
long.  Especially with screens, I get a much better smoke with the
guard up.  If it ever starts to get too thick, I can remove it and
it will lighten up.

[mopower84]

Hey mushrat,
 I have had luck with the al kemma's but then again that is pretty
much all I've ever used so I could very well be missing out on some
other fine coals out there. Anyway we can definatly exchange notes on
them when I actually get some time off and we can get together for a
smoke.

It looks like my next actual day off will be nov. 13th. I've been
putting in 50 hrs a week at my gas station, 20 hrs a week at the
Frightmare haunted house(security) The show I manage has a show
halloween night and I am organizeing a pretty large airsoft event on
the 6th. I haven't even been able to have a smoke in over a week. OK rant over

As for stuff in Cary, I know there are several Indo-Pak markets in East
Chatham square shopping center over where East Chatham st. becomes
Hilllsboro st. I havn't been to any of them as I tend to get some dirty
looks in places like that (pretty tall mohawk).

Know of anyplace I could find an egyptian style bowl? I need one for one of my projects.

[mushrat]

Mopower: Egyptian as in over the top of the stem? if so, ya, A bunch of places for between 2.99 and 4.99 depending on how nice you want it.
We can continue this via e-mail if you want, spare these folks the gory  local details...
 

[cobrabyte]

We have been using Best of the West Mesquite Lump Charcoal in our cafe.Up until recently, they carried it at Krogers and Randalls. You can still snag it on their site (http://www.twotreesproducts.com/). Also, we've experimented with B&B Charcoal (Oak and Mesquite) and they both been very nice. We prefer the mesquite lump charcoal because it adds virtually no taste to mix. And, after all, that's what you're after.-Chris

[mushrat]

HA! I smoke a turkey for the in-laws every year (hard to keep the moist ones lit, and they are too big even for my bowl.) and Have wondered about using hardwood bbq stuff. real cheap and comed in nice sized chunks..now i'm gonna have to give it a go. (yes, only the 100% wood stuff i promise, no kingsford's mesquite briquettes)