Natural Coals Don'T Seem To Stay Hot

[ryeguy]

I'm relatively new to smoking hookah, especially with natural coals. I have the exotica square finger coals and I'm lighting them on my stove. Once I put them on the stove, I rotate them once a small fire/glow starts underneath it. My problem is when smoking, after awhile it seems like I'm not getting much smoke and I have to rotate my coal because the bottom of it is black (the sides and top are still red, though). Why is this? And no, I'm not taking like 5 minutes between pulls. More like 30 seconds to a minute.

[Travis]

Thats generally going to happen, especially with exoticas.
Just flip them when needed and keep smokin, eventually the side that was black, by now should be red again.
Its part of heat management, you just gotta keep flippin em.

[PSU Smoker]

[quote name='tpatt90' date='05 March 2010 - 11:40 PM' timestamp='1267850421' post='455528']
Thats generally going to happen, especially with exoticas.
Just flip them when needed and keep smokin, eventually the side that was black, by now should be red again.
Its part of heat management, you just gotta keep flippin em.
[/quote]

+1 I used to do the same thing when I had used natural finger coals...a little pain but if you tend to em enough they get the job done. Also maybe try a few more holes to get a little more air flow...dont know how much that will really do tho if you already have ok pull

[mattarios2]

[quote name='PSU Smoker' date='06 March 2010 - 01:55 AM' timestamp='1267854942' post='455539']
[quote name='tpatt90' date='05 March 2010 - 11:40 PM' timestamp='1267850421' post='455528']
Thats generally going to happen, especially with exoticas.
Just flip them when needed and keep smokin, eventually the side that was black, by now should be red again.
Its part of heat management, you just gotta keep flippin em.
[/quote]

+1 I used to do the same thing when I had used natural finger coals...a little pain but if you tend to em enough they get the job done. [b]Also maybe try a few more holes to get a little more air flow[/b]...dont know how much that will really do tho if you already have ok pull
[/quote]

BINGO, thats the ticket. If you use naturals and they go out, you need more airflow ... either more holes, or bigger holes, whatever works best in your situation.

[rhineholt]

Or!
Quite possibly you have juices on the foil. That could put the bottom of the coal out without you even realizing it.
So, once your done packing the bowl and poke your holes, wipe it off with a paper towel.

[Skoozle]

How smooth is your foil on top of your bowl? I think if it is really smooth/flat it will mate up with the bottom of your coal and stop air flow even if you have holes under your coal. Try to crinkle your foil before you wrap your bowl; this will give the air a pathway to the bottom of your coal.

[ryeguy]

Thanks for the tips, I didn't know this was normal. And regarding the airflow, I'm actually using a screen, not foil, and it has pretty decent holes in it. Should I switch?

[ryno]

I wold ditch the screen and go with foil. Also, with the way exoticas ash, smaller holes would better, as bigger holes would allow larger pieces of ash to get in the bowl.

[A7mad]

With a screen, the first set of coals you put on, the bottom will always go black as the metal is still cold. Try heating up the screen a bit before you let the coal touch the metal. I usually hold the screen over my coals then put it on, but I can tolerate heat well so it's probably safer to hold a coal over the screen. It doesn't have to be burning hot, just warm enough so it doesn't need to absorb too much of the coal's heat when they touch.

[antouwan]

[quote name='ryeguy' date='06 March 2010 - 11:52 AM' timestamp='1267897949' post='455607']
Thanks for the tips, I didn't know this was normal. And regarding the airflow, [b]I'm actually using a screen[/b], not foil, and it has pretty decent holes in it. Should I switch?
[/quote]

...aaaaaaaaaaaannd there's your problem. that's what we're here for just ditch the screen, keep the foil flat, and poke a decent amount of large holes. everything should be in proper order at that point.