I myself rarely tamp until the ember does go out then it's tighten up my packing a bit,very light on the tamp.I have found that packing my bowl a day ahead of time has helped tremendously.I still have to relight a full bowl 2 to 3 times,but with a light tamp it lights pretty easily.I use the Frank method to pack and try to load half to 2 thirds of a bowl.Smoking too fast will burn hotter and more likely to cause toung bite.Also cold burn out your bowl.