Help On Using A Specific Bowl (pics Included)

[Majid]

Just recently broke my favorite and only bowl, had been using it with different hookahs for 3 years now. It's this model :


Had hundreds of great smokes with it, i would just pack it slightly below the rim and put two coals on the outside of it, no problem whatsoever.

Now i bought a replacement, two of them actually, one was too tiny to hold enough tobacco so i stopped using it. The other seems large enough, but i can't get it going properly. I was wondering if there's a specific way to pack it (underpack, overpack?) and how much heat it needs. The airflow is decent, my hookah is not leaking at all so that's not the problem, it has to be how i handle the bowl.
Seems like with this design, half your tobacco burns, while with the deeper bowl i used to have only about 10-20 percent on top gets charred and it doesn't even stick to the foil.
I use Coco Brico coals (basically the same as coco nara) and smoke mostly Nakhla.
Anybody have advice on how to handle it? It's this model:



Thanks in advance!

[Stuie]

Looks like a standard Egyptian. Not much experience with Nakhla just smoke my first bowl last night. But how I pack my Egyptian with just about every other tobacco is lightly drop it in until it's over the rim, then push it down even with the rim. Poke holes through the tobacco into the holes in the bottom of the bowl, ad foil and coals and smoke away!

[Endlesssummer63]

i know some people will disagree with me, but with an Egyptian bowl I dont let the tobacco touch the foil... dont over pack!

[Johnny_D]

i know some people will disagree with me, but with an Egyptian bowl I dont let the tobacco touch the foil... dont over pack!

I'd be one of them

If your packing a bowl so that the foil and tobacco don't touch, your WAY underpacking it. Espcially in a standard bowl.

JD

[spoolinspoon]

That looks like a very shallow bowl.........

[Endlesssummer63]

id rather under pack because then the coals burn the tobacco especially in a shallow Egyptian like that one

[jakescakes]

that bowl looks bad, its not deep enough like your old trusty bowl.

I would overpack it just to experiment. Edited June 6, 2008 by jakescakes

[Stuie]

I have to say I like the shallow bowls, like when i am running low on a flavor or need a short session, I pull that bad boy out, pack it tight and throw 3 cocos on there and be super buzzed within 3 pulls

[Majid]

Thanks for the advice everyone. It does seem way too shallow, always wondered how people smoke out of these things. I'll try three cocos on the outside later today. Two is not enough and putting them anywhere near the centre gives you that oh so tasty paint and woodchips flavour. If all else fails i'll just have to pay out the ass to order a good one.
Oh btw..would the size of the holes in the foil make any difference? In the past i'd just use needle size holes, few on the outside many in the middle. Edited June 6, 2008 by Majid

[SafeSearchOff]

needle sized holes seem fine.

i havea bowl like that - i use it when im pressed for time or just dont feel like packing a huge bowl. obviously you cant underpack it alot, or your going to have no shisha in there. just be careful about the foil hitting it too much, and be careful with your heat management. a small bowl like that can overheat pretty quickly.

[Majid]

needle sized holes seem fine.

i havea bowl like that - i use it when im pressed for time or just dont feel like packing a huge bowl. obviously you cant underpack it alot, or your going to have no shisha in there. just be careful about the foil hitting it too much, and be careful with your heat management. a small bowl like that can overheat pretty quickly.

Just had another go, overpacked it and the airflow was crap. Couldn't draw properly. Time to hang up the hose untill i can find a better bowl.

[Dr. Atkins]

needle sized holes seem fine.

i havea bowl like that - i use it when im pressed for time or just dont feel like packing a huge bowl. obviously you cant underpack it alot, or your going to have no shisha in there. just be careful about the foil hitting it too much, and be careful with your heat management. a small bowl like that can overheat pretty quickly.

Just had another go, overpacked it and the airflow was crap. Couldn't draw properly. Time to hang up the hose untill i can find a better bowl.

Poke your holes in the foil down through the tobacco a bit. When finished, poke up through the 5 holes on the bottom of the bowl (not all the way through to the foil) a bit to make sure nothing is clogging the holes. You'll never experience restricted airflow again.

[Majid]

needle sized holes seem fine.

i havea bowl like that - i use it when im pressed for time or just dont feel like packing a huge bowl. obviously you cant underpack it alot, or your going to have no shisha in there. just be careful about the foil hitting it too much, and be careful with your heat management. a small bowl like that can overheat pretty quickly.

Just had another go, overpacked it and the airflow was crap. Couldn't draw properly. Time to hang up the hose untill i can find a better bowl.

Poke your holes in the foil down through the tobacco a bit. When finished, poke up through the 5 holes on the bottom of the bowl (not all the way through to the foil) a bit to make sure nothing is clogging the holes. You'll never experience restricted airflow again.

Thanks i'll give that a shot. Airflow should make a big difference in the smoke developpement.
That, and strangling the guy who refused to order me the same bowl i had before. What hose is good for strangling? One that properly restricts airflow.

[liquidglass]

After poking all your holes put your mouth on the bottom of the stem on the bowl then put a puff of air through the bowl it'll puff up the foil and get the air flow going.


If you want a cheap new bowl Hookah-shisha has some in their clearance section for $1.95 not bad bowls either I got some to keep around just in case.

[ryno]

If you want a cheap new bowl Hookah-shisha has some in their clearance section for $1.95 not bad bowls either I got some to keep around just in case.

+1 to that, or you could spend the few extra bucks on there and get a non-clearence one. The ones from HS are deeper than the one you have pictured.

[Webbles]

That bowl is horrific. Why would you even try to smoke anything out of that? Its soooooo shallow that there is no way you can pack it with anything and not have it burn.

There are plenty of bowls from MN hookah or HC that are cheap ($7.00 and under) that will smoke great.

Mya bowl - i use this quite often when im looking for a quick smoke. love it!

[Majid]

After poking all your holes put your mouth on the bottom of the stem on the bowl then put a puff of air through the bowl it'll puff up the foil and get the air flow going.


If you want a cheap new bowl Hookah-shisha has some in their clearance section for $1.95 not bad bowls either I got some to keep around just in case.

If you want a cheap new bowl Hookah-shisha has some in their clearance section for $1.95 not bad bowls either I got some to keep around just in case.

+1 to that, or you could spend the few extra bucks on there and get a non-clearence one. The ones from HS are deeper than the one you have pictured.

That bowl is horrific. Why would you even try to smoke anything out of that? Its soooooo shallow that there is no way you can pack it with anything and not have it burn.

There are plenty of bowls from MN hookah or HC that are cheap ($7.00 and under) that will smoke great.

Mya bowl - i use this quite often when im looking for a quick smoke. love it!

Sadly hookah supplies are very rare around here. And shipping to Europe is expensive. But if need be i'll import. Thanks, i'll bookmark those in case i can't find something around here. I'd have the perfect excuse to get a KM while i'm at it

[ilikemyusername]

mya bowls are real deep like the one you had, try one of those if thats what you like.

[frost91]

I LOVE THOSE BOWLS......I recently bought a egyptian hookah from a local vendor and it came with one of those bowls.....The reason i love them is because you waste less shish and u get more surface area to burn....I just smoked with one of those today. its great....But what you need to do is poke about 5 rings of holes all around the bowl with a very sharp object...aka safety pin or needle....that means less coal will go in...when you pack...mix up your shisha and lightly sprinkle it in...make sure it doesnt come over the rim....that means it will burn...after blow under to get more airflow and finally put the coals and set 3 up in the shape of a triangel and move 15 degrees every 5-10 min b4 it gets harsh.....ALOT of the flavor isnt gonna b burnt/cooked so what u wanna do is uncover the foil and mix up the top wiht the unused shish....i get close to a 2 hour sesh with a bowl like that and i get amazing clouds.

[HookahGuru]

Just duct tape your old bowl

[Majid]

I LOVE THOSE BOWLS......I recently bought a egyptian hookah from a local vendor and it came with one of those bowls.....The reason i love them is because you waste less shish and u get more surface area to burn....I just smoked with one of those today. its great....But what you need to do is poke about 5 rings of holes all around the bowl with a very sharp object...aka safety pin or needle....that means less coal will go in...when you pack...mix up your shisha and lightly sprinkle it in...make sure it doesnt come over the rim....that means it will burn...after blow under to get more airflow and finally put the coals and set 3 up in the shape of a triangel and move 15 degrees every 5-10 min b4 it gets harsh.....ALOT of the flavor isnt gonna b burnt/cooked so what u wanna do is uncover the foil and mix up the top wiht the unused shish....i get close to a 2 hour sesh with a bowl like that and i get amazing clouds.

Just duct tape your old bowl

Thanks, also thanks everybody else. Now i'm getting decent smoke from it, especially unclogging the bowl from the bottom helped a lot. It's still a shitty bowl imo But it'll smooth me over untill i get a better replacement.

[Rani]

Thanks for the advice everyone. It does seem way too shallow, always wondered how people smoke out of these things. I'll try three cocos on the outside later today. Two is not enough and putting them anywhere near the centre gives you that oh so tasty paint and woodchips flavour. If all else fails i'll just have to pay out the ass to order a good one.
Oh btw..would the size of the holes in the foil make any difference? In the past i'd just use needle size holes, few on the outside many in the middle.

Holes definitely make a difference. The fewer the holes the higher the heat buildup under the foil. I generally prefer the standard Egyptian bowls but when I smoke Fantasia for example I cut way, way down on the number of holes because Fantasia smokes better on higher heat. I use the most holes and the biggest holes on....... whatelse? Tangiers.

'Rani