hookah pt deuce: shisha packing
SO, here's a topic that has parallels in espresso-brewing, steam-powered engines, pipe smoking, and all other varieties of tobacciana (is that the word?). Really, any filtering or combustion engineering problem is relevant here, and probably other areas. That's one of the many reasons why I have no idea what I'm doing.
For problems like these, it's impossible to control all of the variables involved, and that's the main problem with optimizing hookahing. Not to mention, if I smoked enough to really have sufficient statistical power, I'd have emphysema next week. Anyway, so I've been trying to keep the heat, distance from heat, water level, temporal puffing consistency, etc. constant and changing the type of packing.
I've got one useful finding so far: optimizing for past the shisha is ineffectual.
I dipped a nail in some vegetable oil to create holes in the shisha straight through to the holes in the bowl. This left direct paths for the heated air to pass the tobacco and ideally heat it enough to create tobacco steam. This failed miserably. The puffs were tiny and weak. The shisha burned through, but it was useless. I'm not sure how this is possible, (that the shisha burned but did not produce smoke). Anyway, I've ruled out that extreme.
I'm also pretty sure from my memory that when people pack as much shisha as possible, air does not pass and smoking is very difficult. Pulling as hard as possible only leads to burning and overall discomfort.
So, not surprisingly, the ideal is somewhere between these two.
I'm trying to quantify this somewhat by using about the same amount of tobacco each time, then looking through the bowl towards a light and counting the holes in the bowl through which the light passes substantially... Anyway, the last time I saw 3 of 5 holes. It burned, but otherwise seemed good. This time, there are only 2 holes, but the smoke was thin. So, I'm guessing the post-smoke analysis of the tobacco is inadequate.
In sum, I think if there was a continuum between most possible air-flow and complete blockage, the optimal packing lies on the blockage end. So, I'm going to try, with my standard shisha mass (which is pretty small for the bowl size) to pack it as tightly as possible without exposing any holes next time.
Anyone have any input?
C
For problems like these, it's impossible to control all of the variables involved, and that's the main problem with optimizing hookahing. Not to mention, if I smoked enough to really have sufficient statistical power, I'd have emphysema next week. Anyway, so I've been trying to keep the heat, distance from heat, water level, temporal puffing consistency, etc. constant and changing the type of packing.
I've got one useful finding so far: optimizing for past the shisha is ineffectual.
I dipped a nail in some vegetable oil to create holes in the shisha straight through to the holes in the bowl. This left direct paths for the heated air to pass the tobacco and ideally heat it enough to create tobacco steam. This failed miserably. The puffs were tiny and weak. The shisha burned through, but it was useless. I'm not sure how this is possible, (that the shisha burned but did not produce smoke). Anyway, I've ruled out that extreme.
I'm also pretty sure from my memory that when people pack as much shisha as possible, air does not pass and smoking is very difficult. Pulling as hard as possible only leads to burning and overall discomfort.
So, not surprisingly, the ideal is somewhere between these two.
I'm trying to quantify this somewhat by using about the same amount of tobacco each time, then looking through the bowl towards a light and counting the holes in the bowl through which the light passes substantially... Anyway, the last time I saw 3 of 5 holes. It burned, but otherwise seemed good. This time, there are only 2 holes, but the smoke was thin. So, I'm guessing the post-smoke analysis of the tobacco is inadequate.
In sum, I think if there was a continuum between most possible air-flow and complete blockage, the optimal packing lies on the blockage end. So, I'm going to try, with my standard shisha mass (which is pretty small for the bowl size) to pack it as tightly as possible without exposing any holes next time.
Anyone have any input?
C
posted by FretlessC at 6:18 PM
2 Comments:
if you had a way to put a known pressure on it, (like draining water out of a big sealed vessel, say, or a little pump) you could measure how much blockage you have. suppose you have a milk jug full of water with the hose sealed to the top. then you jab a hole in the bottom and time how long it takes to drain the water. it will be fastest with no blockage and won't move at all if the blockage is complete.
This might also be a good start to thinking about testing an individual hookah's sealedness and the best ways to seal each juncture.
At the same time, the laziness factor will probably be much stronger than curiosity and/or thirst for empirical knowledge...
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