Un-Carbonated Bowl Question

[requiemsoup]

As the title suggests, I have been looking at the more indie pipe makers and Ive noticed that a lot of them leave their bowls au naturale. So my question is: how do I take care of these bowls? I am the type of person who lightly cleans the bowl with a folded pipe cleaner before I pack my pipe.

And to clerify things, if Ive wrote this confusingly, I am talking about the inside of the bowl.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Just load it and smoke it. It will still carbonize and cake up. Some even prefer their pipes to start off this way. I would suggest that you just not get too evasive with cleaning the chamber until you have at least a hint of cake started.

 

[numbersix]

Just load it and smoke it. It will still carbonize and cake up. Some even prefer their pipes to start off this way. I would suggest that you just not get too evasive with cleaning the chamber until you have at least a hint of cake started.

+1
Many experienced pipe smokers hate carbonized bowls (I am okay either way). The issue of cake and protecting the bowl comes up every now and then. Opinions run the gamut. Some believe cake is not necessary and these people actually prevent any cake from building up.
Personally I prefer a little cake if only because I believe there's got to be a good reason why building cake has been recommended for over a hundred years. But IMHO a solid piece of briar can easily handle the breaking period with no carbon or cake.

 

[lordofthepiperings]

I've had a few uncoated bowls. I broke them in just like my coated bowls, smoked slow and cleaned the ash out lightly with a paper towel to let the cake form. I'd also say be more aware of the flame when relighting the bowl. Try to keep it centered so you don't singe the bare briar.

 

[cortezattic]

No carbon pre-coating? Just smoke more slowly to keep the heat down as much as possible.

I'm in the camp that cleans the bowl after every smoke by stuffing it with a paper towel and reaming until it is burnished.

This is a very slow way to develop a carbon cake, but it produces a thin, yet very hard cake.
I have read many different philosophies and approaches to this topic, and I have yet to hear anyone complaining

that a method they used ruined their pipe. So I guess anything goes -- within reason.

 

[jkenp]

You've gotten good advice to just have at it. I've only had one pipe that needs more than just smoking it normally. When you see a bit of crust forming, you done you nicely neglectful job and can consider it broke in and subject to how you treat all your pipes.
Next time though, go with carbonize. Carbonate reminds me of cokes.

 

[sfsteves]

I've found very little, if any, difference between the pre-carbonized bowls and those left natural. For me, nothing different is required between the two.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I love my Virginias, so I have a lot of narrow stackers and piuma sized bowls. If the cake gets any thickness at all, I have greatly reduced the volume of leaf that I can burn in them, so I keep my cake beaten back. I just keep a thin hard layer. The rest gets wiped out between bowls, and occasionally I take the sandpaper to it.
But, you'll find the gambit of opinions on cake.

 

[petes03]

As these guys said, smoke slowly and you'll be fine. I always do the folded or U-shaped pipe cleaner after each bowl and I rarely have to ream a pipe.

 

[wilson]

Sound advice here. Cake will form in it's own time. Smoke slowly and try to smoke to the bottom. As with some, I have a slight preference for uncoated bowls, but am willing to admit that it's not based on any real data. I think I'm just sort of old-school about things.

 

[cigrmaster]

When I am buying a new pipe I want a naked bowl, I am not a fan of pre carbed bowls. I break mine in by loading it to the top and smoking it to the bottom. I let the pipe cool over night then the next day I break the pipe apart. I will take a flluffy pipe cleaner and gently wipe the inside of the bowl getting any left over ash or tobacco. I then blow through the shank to clear it. I then take a bristle pipe cleaner, douple it and run it through the shanke a few times, throw it away, grab another bristle cleaner and keep doing it until they come out clean. It normally takes 2-3. I then take a bristle cleaner, run it through the stem, toss it, grab a fluffy cleaner and run that through the stem. I the put the pipe up to rest at least one day. if I am breaking in a new pipe, I will smoke it every other day for a month of so until a nice cake has built up. I keep my cake to about a dime's thickness as I feel it makes my pipes smoke cooler and taste better. I have been using this procedure for a while now and my pipes smoke very well. After every 10-15 bowls I do a deep clean with shank brushes and Everclear, but that is nor another topic.

 

[carcosa]

Some pipes like Peterson's you might have to clean the stain out of the inside of the bowl before you smoke it the first time so you don't get a bad taste from smoking the stain. Just use a cotton swab and some drinkable high proof alchohol and wipe it out until the swab comes out white.

 

[zack24]

Todd Johnson had an interesting video showing the difference between a coated and uncoated piece of briar when suspended over a candle. The uncoated caught on fire and burned through in 5 minutes- the coated took 11 minutes to burn through. Basically coating prevents guys who smoke like a train from burning out the pipe...and it photographs a little better....I personally don't use a coating on pipes I make(Can't seem to find the video on Youtube-seems to have disappeared)

 

[volyd]

If I may, this is the video zack24 was talking about:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcDMaHT1khI

 

[zekest]

A number of Estate Pipes I have purchased were 'cleaned and reamed' down to bare wood. I guess that is -almost- like breaking in a new un-coated bowl.
I just smoke them like any other pipe.

 

[gray4lines]

That's an interesting video... sort of a straw-man experiment. I don't think anyone believes a naked piece of wood can take prolonged heat better than a piece coated with carbon. I'd also question how relevant burning wood over a candle is to a smoldering ember in a pipe! Lol! The take-away is, cake protects the briar. Whether it comes factory made or naturally doesn't matter.
Just don't hold your pipe upside down over a lighter for 5 minutes, and you'll have no reason to worry!
I am pretty indifferent between bowl coatings and none, but if I could pick I'd take a natural bowl just because I like to see em color.

 

[cigrmaster]

I believe that a coated bowl is an abomination and an affront to mankind and should not be allowed. How is that for a strong opinion? LOL
Seriously though, I can see why a maker wants to pre carb a bowl as they do not trust their customers to properly smoke a new pipe without burning it out. If the makers of pipes could be guaranteed that all their pipes would be broken in by me whose technique is flawless( :nana, then there would never be a need for a pre carbed bowl.

 

[zack24]

Harris, you should charge people $100 just to properly break in a pipe...
..and I think the whole thing is a lot of concern about a problem that's fairly rare- I saw some numbers once from one of the factories regarding pipes returned for burnout and it was somewhere around 1 out of several thousand...

 

[brdavidson]

I've had both uncoated and coated bowls. My pipes with the best cake developed over the last year all had carbonized bowls. My uncoated bowls all smoke well but the cake has taken far longer to develop on those and is nowhere close to the others. I'm a rank amateur compared to folks like Harris and Zack, but for a complete newbie the carbonized bowls might be easier to learn on and then transition to uncoated bowls when you get your cadence, packing and technique down pat.

 

[cigrmaster]

Brian, next time you get a new un coated bowl, smoke some VA flakes exclusively in it and watch how fast the cake develops, I think you will be amazed.