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bhpdrew

bhpdrew

Can't Leave
Oct 8, 2010
367
0
Washington State
I have several new pipes and I was thinking about some short cuts to building a cake on these. I have heard several different tricks to building a cake.

The one I hear most often is a trick where you smear a light coating of honey in the bowl and then dump fine ash like that from a cigar into the bowl, cover the bowl and shake the pipe. Dump out the remains and then smoke a full bowl of light tobacco to "sear" the cake to the pipe.

Has anyone tried this? Does it work? Or are there any better ideas out there?

 
ohin3

ohin3

Lifer
Jun 2, 2010
2,455
44
I have one foolproof method for building a cake in a new pipe. Pack, smoke and repeat till cake has formed.

 
buck67

buck67

Can't Leave
Aug 4, 2010
448
1
Little Rock
The salesman at my local baccy store where I bought my Savinelli coated mine with a mixture of honey and water, just a small film on the inside. Don't know if it helped or not but I did get a good cake fairly quickly.

 
hauntedmyst

hauntedmyst

Lifer
Feb 1, 2010
4,014
20,805
Chicago
Tim West has the best cake building method I've read. I recently tried it and find it works great. Take a very small amount of grape jelly and smear the inside of the bowl with a super thin coating. Take your favorite tobacco and put it spread out on a sheet and in the oven at 150 degrees or so. Bake all the moisture out of it but no more. Take it out and grind it with a mortar and pestle until its dust. Now sprinkle it into the bowl and shake out the excess. You should be left with a super fine layer. Now comes the hard part, waiting until its all dry which should take at least a few days but I give it a week. I find it works better than most methods. Honey is the traditional method but it never dries until its scortched in the bowl so it can smoke hot.

 
cortezattic

cortezattic

Lifer
Nov 19, 2009
15,147
7,642
Chicago, IL
This came up several months ago in a thread called Breaking in.
I usually do nothing at all; just smoke ½ a bowl at a time, using mostly Perique-heavy blends, slowly, for 50 - 100 smokes. In my own anal-retentive way I think it's a lot of fun.
I experimented with a honey coat dried to a tack, and again smoked ½-bowls. I didn't notice any difference or advantage over the completely bare method.

 
pstlpkr

pstlpkr

Lifer
Dec 14, 2009
9,694
31
Birmingham, AL
I can go along with Cortez and Ohin3 on this issue.
Just stuff and puff; you'll have a cake before you know it.
It might have been Ernest that recommended smoking Prince Albert in them. If you want a cake fast, PA will deposit one for you... However; it might be a bit soft and require some dry tobaccos like a burley to really bake it in. (something that will burn to a fine white ash)

 
cortezattic

cortezattic

Lifer
Nov 19, 2009
15,147
7,642
Chicago, IL
PA will deposit [a cake quickly...] However; it might be a bit soft and require some dry tobaccos like a burley to really bake it in
Click to expand...
What Lawrence says merits repetition. Using the spoon side of a pipe nail to smash it into the wall of the smoke chamber helps too.

 
S

strongirish

Can't Leave
Aug 20, 2010
343
1
Lake Conroe, TX
I am not one for taking a good pipe and putting honey, jelly or any other edible in it and forcing a cake to form. If you want to get a cake fast, get some Five Brothers and smoke two or three bowls in it and you will have a cake. Smoke then a couple of bowls of a VA based blend in it and it will harden the cake.

 
seakayak

seakayak

Part of the Furniture Now
Sep 21, 2010
531
1
It all seems a bit long and complicated. I'll cast my lot with OHLN3. Keep smokin'.

 
digitalshave

digitalshave

Might Stick Around
Jun 21, 2011
80
0
All of the above seem like good methods. I didn't want to create a new thread for this question so posting here.
Some months ago Kevin had a tip for new members about building cake. His tip was to stop wiping out the bowl after smoking. So far this has worked very well for me.
The other day I was on the Just For Him site reading their pipe tips and and I noticed a section on making sure to wipe out ALL bits of unburned tobacco out of the bowl or it could cause flare-ups leading to burnout.
Just wondering who is right, or are they both right? Although my tamper doesn't have a "spoon" tool I still do a fairly reasonable job of getting most of the tobacco out, but some times it's just too small and sticky to get out without wiping. Would welcome suggestions.

 
romeowood

romeowood

Lifer
Jan 1, 2011
1,943
161
The Interwebs
I can't help myself...it's just so wrong that it's right.

(IF YOU ARE EASILY OFFENDED DO NOT PLAY THE FOLLOWING VIDEO) :twisted:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQp5l4-sfFA

 
dongreyface

dongreyface

Starting to Get Obsessed
Oct 6, 2011
156
0
Marietta, Ohio
I have the same question digitalshave. I've been wiping out my bowls everytime I smoke, and I've been worried that I'm not getting a good cake....since I don't really know what a good cake should look like. God it sucks not having anyone local to show me tricks of the trade.

 
spartan

spartan

Lifer
Aug 14, 2011
2,963
7
Thank you for that video hobie. Been a while since i've seen that lol.
Anywaz, serious question... What's the reasoning behind a certain toby making a good cake... and then smoking another one to "harden" the cake? I need some further explination please.

 
S

strongirish

Can't Leave
Aug 20, 2010
343
1
Lake Conroe, TX
Gentlemen, there is no mystery to building a cake. Smoke your pipes all the way down to the bottom each time you smoke and the cake will form. You don't need to put anything in the bowl but tobacco. However, if you wipe the boel out, you will be removing the cake or most of it. Dump your pipe, blow out through it and put it up to dry. Burley will form a cake faster, but it will make a softer cake, but this is not really a problem unless you let the pipe dry out for an extended time. Virginias will form a harder cake, almost shellac like, but it takes a lot longer to form. I have smoked over 41 years and the end result is I just fill up my pipe and smoke it with what I like, again all the way down. I like a nice cake and I have one pretty quick as I will smoke a new pipe several times before putting it away. Use Five Brothers and you will have a cake in no time.

 
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