HMD or foil: what works better on your hookah?

Anyone searching for a shisha HMD is usually done with foil. Torn sheets, holes in the wrong place, a bowl that burns halfway through. An HMD, short for heat management device, solves that. But not every HMD fits every bowl, and not everyone needs one.

Below we put foil, hot screen and HMD side by side, with the sizes of the models we sell ourselves. The full range is in HMDs and Kaloud and in aluminum foil and pokers.

What an HMD does on your hookah

An HMD is a metal cap that sits on top of the bowl. You put the charcoal inside it, not on foil. At the bottom are openings that let the heat through to the bowl, and on top is a lid you use to control the airflow. More air makes the charcoal hotter, less air calms it down.

In shops an HMD is also called a kaloud, after the brand that made them famous, or simply a heat manager. It is the same thing: a holder for the charcoal that doses the heat. Most HMDs are aluminum, some are stainless steel or a mix of aluminum and cast iron.

Why the heat stays more even

With foil, a piece of charcoal of a few hundred degrees sits directly on a thin sheet of aluminum, a few millimeters above the bowl. Where the charcoal sits, it gets hot. Next to it, it stays cooler. That is why with foil you have to move and turn the charcoal.

In an HMD the charcoal sits in an enclosed space at a distance from the bowl. The heat comes through the bottom and through the air drawn past it, and that spreads by itself over the whole top. It is also why the bowl burns less easily.

Foil, hot screen or HMD: the three methods side by side

There are three ways to put charcoal on a hookah. All three work, but they differ in price, ease and control.

• Aluminum foil: the cheapest. You stretch a sheet over the bowl, poke holes and put the charcoal on top. After each session you throw it away.
• Hot screen: a round metal grate with a chimney in the middle. Reusable, no poking, but you cannot control the heat.
• HMD: a cap with a lid. Reusable, no poking, and you control the heat. It is the most expensive of the three, though.

Aluminum foil: cheap, but the most work

Foil costs next to nothing: a 10 meter roll of extra thick foil lasts dozens of sessions, and with pre-poked foil with holes you skip the poking. The downside is that every sheet turns out differently. Too few holes and the bowl does not heat up, too many and it burns. A foil poker makes an even pattern in one go, which already helps a lot.

Hot screen: reusable, but not adjustable

A hot screen, also called a chimney, is a metal grate that sits on the bowl. The charcoal goes on top and the chimney in the middle creates the airflow. The universal stainless steel hot screen is made of stainless steel and fits most standard bowls. You rinse it and use it again. What you cannot do is adjust the heat during a session without moving the charcoal.

HMD: controllable heat without poking

An HMD does what a hot screen does, plus control. With the lid open or closed you adjust the heat without touching the charcoal. That makes a session longer and more even. An HMD costs more than foil or a hot screen, but lasts for years. Kaloud even gives a 20 year warranty on the Kaloud Lotus 1+.

Which side of the foil goes up?

It hardly matters. According to foil maker Toppits, the difference between the shiny and the matte side comes from the factory: the foil is rolled in two layers, and only the side that runs against the polished roller turns shiny. The shiny side does reflect a little more heat, but on a hookah you barely notice it.

What does matter is the thickness and how tight the foil sits. Thin kitchen foil tears and burns through. Use foil made for hookahs, stretch it tight over the rim so it does not touch the bowl, and poke many small holes instead of a few big ones. A 25 meter roll of foil is about 15 centimeters wide, which makes it suitable for wider bowls too.

Does an HMD fit my bowl?

Usually, but check it. Most HMDs have a diameter of around 7.5 centimeters. That is the size of the Kaloud Lotus 1+ and the Dum Kaloud Magic Smoke, and they fit most standard bowls. For the WD Hookah HMD all sizes are known: about 7.4 centimeters overall, 6.8 centimeters at the lower rim and 5.6 centimeters inside.

Measure the top of your bowl and compare it with the size of the HMD. If the rim of the bowl falls inside the bottom of the HMD, it stands steady. With a very wide bowl, such as some large clay bowls, or a very narrow one, measure first.

Phunnel or a bowl with holes

An HMD works on both. It works best on a phunnel bowl, with one raised opening in the middle, and models such as the Smokah HMD 2.0 and the WD Hookah HMD are made for that. On a classic bowl with a few holes in the bottom it works too. More on the difference between bowls is in our guide to hookah bowls, and all bowls are in shisha bowls.

A separate grip for an HMD without a handle

Some HMDs and hot screens have no grip, or one that gets hot. A silicone grip slides onto the rim. It fits most HMDs and hot screens, including brands such as Amy Deluxe, Smokah, Dschinni and Oduman.

How much charcoal goes into an HMD?

Usually two pieces. With a large bowl or a long session you can add a third. The Dschinni The Crown is made for up to three pieces, and the Dum Kaloud Skull Dome is a large model with room for three. Start with two and only add a third if the bowl stays too cool.

Use natural charcoal, such as coconut charcoal. Quick-light charcoal burns shorter and runs out sooner, so an HMD does not stay at temperature long enough. The difference between the two is explained in coconut charcoal or quick-light. Natural charcoal is easiest to light on an electric charcoal burner.

Lid open or closed

The rule is simple: more air means more heat. Open the vents wide at the start so the bowl comes up to temperature. If it gets too hot, close them further. On the Oduman Carbo One that works with three fixed settings, on most other models with a rotating lid.

Why your hookah burns, and what an HMD does about it

A bowl burns when too much heat lands in one spot. With foil that happens when a piece of charcoal stays in the same spot too long, when too many pieces lie on it at once or when the foil touches the bowl. An HMD makes those mistakes smaller, because the charcoal sits at a distance and you control the air.

Burning with an HMD is not impossible, though. If there is one piece of charcoal too many, or the vents are open too far, the bowl still gets too hot. Then take a piece out or close the lid, instead of replacing the bowl.

Which HMD suits you

There is plenty of choice, from a simple aluminum cap to a complete bowl with built-in heat management.

Entry level, mid range and top models

Entry level, around 10 euros: the HMD heat manager and the aluminum kaloud are made of aluminum and do exactly what they should. Fine for trying out whether an HMD suits you.

Mid range, between 15 and 20 euros: the Smokah HMD 2.0 with vents at the bottom and sides, the Dschinni The Crown in gold, the Dum Kaloud Magic Smoke in aluminum and cast iron, the stainless steel WD Hookah HMD and the Amy Deluxe Heat Box with built-in vents.

Top models, from 25 euros: the Kaloud Lotus 1+ and the Kaloud Lotus 1+ Niris, both with a 20 year warranty, the Tsar Booster V2 with a built-in bowl and the Oduman Carbo One with three settings.

Kaloud Lotus 1+, 2 and 3

The Lotus 1+ is the model that made HMDs famous. According to Kaloud it is made of aerospace-grade aluminum, with an adjustable vent system shaped like a lotus flower. Kaloud also makes the Lotus 2, with deeper cutouts for more airflow and less charcoal use, and the Lotus 3 as the newest version. We sell the Lotus 1+ and the Lotus 1+ Niris; the other two are not in our range.

System bowls: bowl and HMD in one

If you would rather not combine a bowl and an HMD yourself, there are system bowls. The Kaloud Samsaris Vitria II is a silicone and glass bowl that comes with a Kaloud HMD and needs two to three pieces of charcoal. The Amy Deluxe silicone heat manager replaces foil and hot screen in one, has adjustable vents and fits almost any hookah without an adapter. More glass versions are in glass bowls.

When foil is simply enough

If you smoke now and then, want to spend as little as possible or take your hookah traveling, foil is still a fine choice. It weighs nothing and costs next to nothing.

How to get more out of foil

Use extra thick foil, stretch it tight and poke many small holes. Want the heat spread a little better without buying an HMD right away? Put a Flavor Saver on the foil. It is a stainless steel spiral that sits between the charcoal and the foil, so the charcoal does not press directly on the foil. An in-between step for a few euros.

HMDs, hot screens and foil at ShishaSmaak

At ShishaSmaak you find everything for the heat on your hookah: HMDs and Kaloud Lotus models, hot screens, aluminum foil and foil pokers, the shisha bowls they fit on and natural charcoal to put inside.

Ordered before 18:00, it arrives the next day within the Netherlands, with free shipping from 89.99 euros. Not sure which HMD fits your bowl? Check the size in the product description or ask us.