Building cake

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colesradioactive

Might Stick Around
Apr 3, 2012
68
0
I've heard from a number of people that honey can be spread in a thin layer on the inside of the bowl of new pipes to help speed up building the cake. It makes sense that all the sugar in the honey would burn and carbonize on the walls of the pipe but I was wondering if you could use something else like maple syrup or corn syrup or if those have to many additives an dyes, in which case it would be best to stick with honey because of the minimal ingredients. Again, being able to ask all you guys is extremely helpful. I've never been to adventurous with trying new things on a $150+ pipe without getting some sort of feedback first. Strange as it may sound, I know of no one that enjoys smoking a pipe, that I see or talk to even remotely other than the guys I see at the B&M when I make my monthly trip. Anyways, thanks for your help

 

pawpaw

Lifer
Jun 25, 2011
1,492
1
cleveland NC
well I have two pipes I got new at the same time and tried the honey on one and just smoked the other plain and six months later I can't tell the diffrence. Really I didnt notice a diffrence in the first week. If it mean anything to you I wont be putting honey in any more of my pipes. But I am trying to give the 1/2 pipe load method an honest try.

 
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orionpyoung

Starting to Get Obsessed
Mar 5, 2012
123
0
Marquette Michigan
Just posted a mini-essay on another topic about this. The method I use is smoking quarter bowls 12 times, half bowls 24 times then full bowl all the way! I do a good scotch clean every 2 smokes when breaking in a pipe and at least 1 day of rest before the next smoke. I know this sounds like a long process... and it is but man it feels like you really earned it when you smoke that first full bowl.

 

spyder71

Part of the Furniture Now
Jul 14, 2011
693
2
I love Russ Ouellette's take on it, and use exactly the same method on all my pipes old or new.

 

adam12

Part of the Furniture Now
May 16, 2011
938
33
I ferment my tobacco for 73.6 hours in a warm dryer in a plastic bag with brown sugar and honey, then spread it exactly 16 centimeters on a plastic sheet encased in formaldehyde for 16.2 minutes, then TURN it using a two-inch spatula for good measure. Don't use the 1 1/2 inch spatulas because it won't cake properly on the plastic sheet. Now, add a SMALL amount of basil to an old Windex bottle and put boiling water into it drop by drop. Spray this lightly on the tobacco obtaining a thin resin. The resin can be scraped off with a knife and cooled. (Once the resin is in a glass jar you can also reheat it for the next process.) After obtaining the resin, mix a small amount of rubbing alcohol in a plastic container lined with Q-Tips. Then, lightly baste the resin in a counterclockwise manner with the rubbing-alcohol-soaked Q-Tip container and gently - GENTLY - rub the inside of your pipe bowl with your finger dipped TWICE in the reheated resin, and ONCE in the plastic container - creating a soft, almost turtle-skin like appearance. After that, leave the pipes alone in a fluorescent lightbulb-lit room for 36 hours or more - it has to dry to a fondant -like consistency which makes the cake more permeable. Smoke only latakia-based tobacco in the pipe for the next 13.5 smokes, and measure 1 1/18 of an inch off the top of the bowl each time in order to obtain a light, fluffy consistency - it will smell like almonds and cat dander. Now, after approximately 2 weeks, you are ready to sand the inside of the bowl with a 2.56 gauge sandpaper (available only at aircraft supply auctions) and the exact specifications for the bowl width on the edge of the stem are indicated on a chart found on page 73 of "The Corporate Reconstruction of American Capitalism". By playing the Beatles' song "Revolution 9" backwards you will hear an equation regarding the addition of a fine amount of perique to two ounces of 1980's Red Ribbon - cut this in HALF because the amount is slightly larger than you will need for an English pipe. If you're smoking an Italian pipe, then reverse the latakia process and divide by 226. The rest of the formula applies only to the 2/10 width of cake available on the side of the McClelland Wilderness can purchased at the 2009 pipe show from a Mr. Edwin K. Foglethorpe in the parking garage of the Marriott at exactly 0615 hours. In order to obtain it, you must leave 75 cents in 1974 Russian coins in an unmarked white envelope at the safe deposit box belonging to the third uncle of Norman Mayer, the individual who was responsible for holding the Washington Monument hostage in 1982 as an antinuclear protest. After smoking the pipe, dip it repeatedly in gasoline and place it in a fur-lined envelope for future research.

 

bentmike

Lifer
Jan 25, 2012
2,422
40
I like cake threads! They seem to pop up quite regularly. I tried the honey thing once but I didn't notice any difference. I used to go with 1/2 bowls at first but my last couple pipes I just fill 'em up to just under the rim and go for it. Of course I take it real slow on the first few bowls, even let it go out from time to time to keep the new pipe cool.
I love breaking in a pipe and watching the carbon start to build. It's a slow but enjoyable process for me.

 

markw4mms

Lifer
Jun 16, 2011
2,176
2
Bremen,GA
If you want to build a nice cake in short order, just load your pipe with Carter Hall, or another good burley, and enjoy, it will be off to a good start quickly.

 

adam12

Part of the Furniture Now
May 16, 2011
938
33
why the reversal on the Italian jobs
It is to ensure that you don't have to use the cement molding technique where you create cement molds for each flake of tobacco and fill them with hot apple butter.

 

bentmike

Lifer
Jan 25, 2012
2,422
40
Ah I see! Thank you sir. The cement molding technique does seem a bit labor intensive.

 

topd

Lifer
Mar 23, 2012
1,745
11
Emerson, Arkansas
Agreed! Nothing is needed but tobacco. Start half full or fill 'er up as some have suggested. The one mistake a new pipe smoker my make is not smoking all the way to the bottom. You definitely don't want a thicker cake half way up or toward the top. But it can all be fixed after you have a good cake going with proper reaming.
TopD

 

colesradioactive

Might Stick Around
Apr 3, 2012
68
0
Thanks for all the good ideas, the main reason I was wondering about building it quicker was more or less just to get a quick, thin coat of carbon on it as I had to take an unexpected trip today an I had planned on being back this evening so I brought my new pipe, hoping to break it in alittle on the 4 hr road trip but it looks like I won't be able to leave until Saturday night or Sunday morning, and since I only brought my one pipe, I just didn't want to scar the bare bowl by smoking to much. Also, I saw individual packets of pancake syrup in the lobby of my hotel by the breakfast bar an thought it might help me out

 

cortezattic

Lifer
Nov 19, 2009
15,147
7,641
Chicago, IL
I think the wives' tales and myths surrounding new pipe break-in started back when briar pipes were sold in a much "greener" state,

i.e. still loaded with natural moisture and resins. So in order to drive-off this moisture smokers were cautioned to start with a pinch

of tobacco and very gradually increase the amount.
As for coating the bottom of the bowl to prevent burn-out, I like Russ Ouellette's take on it: if you never smoke a bowl that far down, you don't need to worry about how much carbon cake is down there.

 

alonso2

Lurker
Feb 20, 2012
31
0
Another idea is to coat the insikde of the bowl with honey and then tip old ash from previous pipes into the bowl, shake it about and empty it out. I have done this with pipes I have made.

 

steyrshrek

Starting to Get Obsessed
Apr 1, 2012
252
1
Can't really see the logic in this. You plan on smoking the pipe, so I don't see the big deal in smoking it in half bowl increments or so. What's the hurry, enjoy the process of breaking in the

pipe it's not like it's work.

 

bobby46

Starting to Get Obsessed
Feb 11, 2012
254
0
The only pipes I ever break-in with honey are homemade maple or cherry construction. The honey is brushed in sparingly and let dry. An alternate method is liberal pipe-mud, instead. If you try to smoke a hardwood pipe without either pre-carbonization, you will have a mini-campfire aroma and the bowl might split. Although Yello-bole used honey, I never found it necessary with briar.

 

ohin3

Lifer
Jun 2, 2010
2,455
44
I'm a fill and smoke kind of guy. I really like the taste of the charring briar at the bottom of a new pipe.

 
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