I'm having trouble burning the tobacco all the way to the bottom of the bowl. Is this necessary? Do you have any tips for doing it?
It is generally considered a good and desirable thing to smoke your tobacco down to the bottom of the bowl. Doing this during the break-in process helps to properly develop a carbon cake, which will make your pipe smoke cooler and drier. The cake on the inside of the bowl insulates the briar from the heat of combustion. The carbon itself absorbs or deflects much of the heat and protects your pipe in the process. This also has a positive effect on helping to keep your pipe lit. Since the heat will stay in the chamber, rather than dissipating through the wood, it is easier to keep the tobacco ember burning. One additional benefit of a good carbon cake lining your bowl is that it can help intensify the flavors of your tobacco. This is especially true if you smoke only one type of tobacco in the pipe. This is called "dedicating" a pipe and is not necessary, but I thought I would at least mention it.
But as you're discovering, it can be very difficult smoking all the way to the bottom of the bowl, especially on new or refurbished pipes. One of the chief reasons for this difficulty is the moisture that collects in the bottom of the bowl. This moisture is a result of combustion and is unavoidable. However, excessively moist tobacco or heavily cased (i.e., flavored) aromatic tobaccos can be especially problematic. (This doesn't mean you should avoid aromatics--I've broken in many pipes using nothing but aromatics.) As you smoke through the bowl, the tobacco at the bottom soaks up the moisture that collects there. This makes it very difficult to keep your pipe burning and requires frequent relights. Unfortunately, frequent relighting at the bottom of the bowl often causes the smoker to draw the heat from the flame directly into the mouth, which can lead to serious tongue bite.
So, how do you burn it to the bottom? Well, I'm afraid there is no "secret technique." I've broken in dozens of pipes and no two have been the same. Some broke in very quickly and easily. Others required far more smokes than I would have imagined before a good cake began to form. Below are few general suggestions that may help.
1. Try smoking only small, partial bowls in your pipe. This will help prevent excessive moisture building up in the heel throughout the smoke. Since you're only filling the very bottom (say 1/4 or 1/3 of the way full), there should be less buildup of moisture. This means the tobacco will stay drier and should make it easier to burn down to ash. You still have to exercise care not to draw too heavily or you run the risk of scorching your tongue. Once you notice the cake starting to form at the bottom of the bowl, you can begin filling the chamber more fully. Keep in mind, as I noted above, the cake itself will ultimately help to keep your pipe lit and aid in burning the entire bowl of tobacco.
2. Make sure you're smoking slowly and steadily. Puffing too rapidly or sporadically can cause uneven burning and makes it difficult to reduce the tobacco to ash.
Tamp regularly to make sure the tobacco ember stays in contact with the unburned tobacco. Tamping also maintains the ash "crust" on top of the tobacco which aids in burning.
3. If you notice a large amount of moisture in the bottom of the bowl, it may simply not be possible to burn all the tobacco down to gray or white ash. In those cases, don't worry about it. In my opinion, it's much better to tap out the dottle (unburned tobacco) than to fry your tongue by puffing too hard or drawing the hot flame through that moist tobacco.
4. Lastly, keep in mind that there is absolutely nothing wrong with relighting your pipe--even many times. Even the most experienced smokers often relight their pipes frequently depending on a number of conditions. In fact, some actually prefer to allow their pipes to go out on purpose, let the pipe rest a few minutes, and then relight it again. But the point is, there is no shame in having to relight.
In the final analysis, I encourage you not to be overly concerned about burning the entire bowl of tobacco. Even though burning the tobacco all the way to the bottom of the bowl is a worthy goal, it is not something that should become the focus or emphasis of your pipe smoking. Sit back, relax, and puff away. I have often told my son, who is a novice pipe smoker that smokes very infrequently, that "pleasure comes before precision." That's simply my way of saying that pipe smoking is more about your enjoyment of the hobby than it is about perfecting your techniques. Good technique comes with time. It takes patience, practice, and perseverance. But if you don't enjoy it, you'll never spend the time necessary to develop good technique.
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