Breaking 3k Coals

[rez]

what is the best way to break one of these bad boys apart. every time i try to break one in half to use 1.5 coals i can never get a clean break.

[cymptom]

I cut about halfway through with a pocket knife saw and then snap it.

[EvansLight]

Light it first. The combustible material inside of the coal will cause stress cracks throughout it, and then you can usually just snap it in half with tongs.

[ASUSEAN1]

Light it first. The combustible material inside of the coal will cause stress cracks throughout it, and then you can usually just snap it in half with tongs.

+1. Make sure you get it fully lit though. otherwise you will jus get a bunch of tiny pieces

[Allia22]

Make sure you do it in a safe place, I have a nice circular burn mark on the passenger car seat where one piece landed!

[sicklecow]

I usually break it before it's lit, actually, but if you're having trouble then light it first.

[nuschultz]

+1 for the pocket knife saw.

I light my coals in a round kitchen bowl. saw, snap, put in bowl. Make sure u dont have the dust floating around, since its also flammable.

[benmandude]

I take a knife and hammer. Put the knife on the coal and gently hit it with the hammer. Works pretty well, only a little bit of mess and I always get a nice even break.

[SafeSearchOff]

let it fully light, then find the center of the coal. with the long pointy thing that comes on all tongs place the pointy end in the center, and apply direct, hard pressure (make sure ur supporting ur ash tray from beneath). itll split into two.

[cymptom]

I find that breaking the coal after it's lit can be rather treacherous -- you don't always get an even break, and often you'll get small fragments that break off, potentially landing in the wrong places, and in any case just making a wasteful mess. As EL said, once the coal is lit it will have stress cracks all throughout it -- I see this as a bad thing though, as it leads to odd breaks and fragmentation if you mess with it. I once tried to saw a coal while it was lit... bad idea

[ShishaFred]

I break it with 4 fingers. 2 thumbs and 2 indexes. I either get 2 or 3 pieces.

[[LB]]

saw it slowly with a fine toothed kitchen knife. works for me.

[KillZedKill]

I usually dont even break them, I just put them on one side of the bowl, and rotate occaisionaly. When I do break them, I usually just putt hem in a steel pan and light them, then push in the center with tongs.

[nuschultz]

I am officially blaming this thread for the recent loss of my round kitchen bowl which I use for coal lighting.

I dropped it tonight.

[zachslusser]

SO i put my lit coals in a kitchen bowl that was class or porcelin or something and after being n there the bowl just cracked from the heat. I didnt think it would get that hot

[billy]

Sledgehammer!

[nuschultz]

Sledgehammer!

this man delivers.

[NorthEastSmoker]

I've found that wirecutting pliers work great, if you've got some kicking around your basement, garage or tool tox... clean cuts, and you don't need to have the coal lit either.

[martamus]

I break it with 4 fingers. 2 thumbs and 2 indexes. I either get 2 or 3 pieces.

works for me too

[gower]

i take ti and just snap it over the ash tray on the hookah... you only get one half out of it... but coals are cheap... so its not that big of a deal to me at least...

[SAEPhoenix]

The thing that I do rather than breaking one in half is just resting the second coal partially on the first. That way it's leaning on the other and you don't have 2 directly on the bowl. Benefits I've found to this- if you need extra heat, put the second down; less heat, you can put mre of the second on the first, and when you ash the coals using both on a e spot is perfect as they get a bit smaller. Just my 2 cents

[MR Bubble]

We all knew it was just a matter of time before I added my .02 cents, and by the time I'm through, I've laid out $1.50.

I usually use the serrated steak knife to score a Japanes coal when breaking them, but a 3 kings? C'mon. But there is a technique.

You all know they are rounded on one side and concave on the other, right? I usually have the concave side facing me, and that is where my thumb tips go. I have my index fingers on the other side (middle digit) and snap inward. It seems a little hard at first, with your thumbs at that angle, but after practice, it is easy, and usually makes a pretty clean break. Now, if I want to break it into quarters, I rotate the halved pieces with the concave facing away from me, and snap inward. That makes a good break for the smaller pieces.

Did I spend over .02?

MR Bubble

[jordanneff]

Well... tonight I broke a coal in half just trying to get it out of the damned roll wrapper... only it broke in half the other way, so I had 2 extra thin disc charcoals haha

[Zerodynamic]

This isn't rocket science guys... I light it.. then use my tongs and break it.

[Allia22]

Hey, some of us are a little slower on the uptake, myself included!