Building Cake

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sparrowhawk

Lifer
Jul 24, 2013
2,941
219
I've read much about the importance of developing cake in the bowl, but I wonder how to go about it. That is, obviously, cake develops as you smoke a pipe, but it seems where you really want a good portion of cake to develop is at the draw hole (or whatever it's properly called), but by the time you smoke the tobacco to that point, the heat is like a nuclear reactor going into meltdown. So cake doesn't get to develop significantly to that point? Are my assumptions mistaken?

 

rmason

Part of the Furniture Now
Jan 27, 2013
765
0
While we wait for roth, I want to give my theory; first off your pipe should not be getting that hot so I would say slow down, second its draught hole (I think), and my idea would be if you want to develop cake on the bottom of the pipe I would guess to say if you only load that much in and smoke that much for a while it would work. Please remember that these are guesses and theories that go through my head, for best results wait for someone else to tell you what the right thing to do is.

~Ron

 

sallow

Lifer
Jun 30, 2013
1,531
3,771
Smoke your pipe, cake happens.
Sometimes if I remember I will shake the ash around in the bowl when I'm done for a more even coverage. I am not sure if this works, but it pleases me.

 

snagstangl

Lifer
Jul 1, 2013
1,606
768
Iowa, United States
technique, just smoke it slowly, and after it cool wipe the inside of your bowl with a papertowel and watch it grow. Im sure many will tell you the same thing. Oh, and the shaking your ash around after the smoke, then let it cool down and wipe out the bowl.

 

northernneil

Lifer
Jun 1, 2013
1,390
1
I run into the same problem. I do my best to smoke to the bottom, but smoking slowly means it takes me about 1.5 - 2 hours of constant smoking to get there. And on my pipes where I did purposefully develop the cake at the bottom of my bowl, it just wipes away when I clean my pipe after time cause, again, I don't always smoke to the bottom. Basically, I've given up trying and just make sure to take my time when I'm getting close to the bottom.

 

barleynbaccy

Can't Leave
May 31, 2013
436
0
sallow, they say that tossing the ash around causes a softer cake to build. I just smoke the pipe like I usually would just taking it a bit slower on a new pipe. I usually wait 24 hours and then run a paper towel around in the bowl and shank. I used to just bend a pipe cleaner but the rolled up paper towel in the bowl keeps the cake way more even. It will take longer to break a pipe in imo than just not cleaning it for a bunch of smokes, but the cake that forms will be harder.

 

zekest

Lifer
Apr 1, 2013
1,136
9
sallow, and others,
Shaking your ass around will not build cake!
It might make your hips more flexible, but build cake, no!

 
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gnatjulio

Lifer
Mar 22, 2012
1,945
937
56
New York
Sometimes if I remember I will shake the ash around in the bowl when I'm done

This was one of the first things recommended to me from this forum. Cover the bowl with your palm/heel of your hand and give it a shake. Seems to work okay.

 

sallow

Lifer
Jun 30, 2013
1,531
3,771
Shaking your ass around will not build cake!
What about pilates? Crap, I've been doing it wrong!
Like I said, it pleases me. And I find my cake builds up fine. I do occasionally have to use the senior reamer.

cake-600x448.jpg


 

zekest

Lifer
Apr 1, 2013
1,136
9
Cover the bowl with your palm/heel of your hand and give it a shake.
So this is why all the "Exclusive Virginia Flake" smokers complain about the ashy taste.

 

cigrmaster

Lifer
May 26, 2012
20,249
57,280
66
Sarasota Florida
Swirling ash around the inside of your pipe will not promote cake, I dump my ash every time I need to re light and when I am done with my bowl, I dump the ash immediately, leaving ash in your pipe will definitely cause a nasty ashy taste. I always let my pipes cool over night to let the cake harden and then in the mornings I will take a fluffy pipe cleaner, double it and then run it around the inside of the bowl gently getting any loose tobacco and ash that may have still resided after I dumped it the day before. I then blow through the pipe making sure everything is out. I am not a proponent of jamming a paper towel into the bowl and rubbing it around because I believe it will take off some cake. Just my opinion. I can build a nice hard cake in a dozen or so bowls using my method.

 

wilson

Part of the Furniture Now
Apr 17, 2013
719
1
Relax. Cake will build. If your pipe is too hot by the end of the bowl, slow down. You are puffing too fast. If it gets too hot, put it down and come back to it later. You don't have to smoke the whole bowl in one siting. Try to smoke to the bottom. If you happen to have a little dottle once in a while it's not the end of the world. It almost sounds like trying to finish a bowl has become a chore. Smoking your pipe should never be a chore. Maybe try packing a bit lighter so that your pipe will smoke a bit easier and you'll be finished a bit sooner?

 

boudreaux

Part of the Furniture Now
Apr 7, 2013
676
1
Related to cake building is something I've been wondering. Does cake formation contribute to enhanced flavor of the smoke? Or is it mainly a protection agent for the inside of the bowl?

 

bryanf

Part of the Furniture Now
Jul 16, 2013
742
8
I also agree- don't shake the ash as a shortcut to building cake! You will just build a very weak cake, which will crumble apart easily!
Just smoke often as you can, and it will build up. The cake in my pipe is so hard that my swiss army knife couldn't cut it. I had to make a reamer out of a piece of 3/8th diameter drill rod the other day for my pipe, as they don't make reamers that small, I don't think?
Burley's build cake quick, but it's soft and crumbly. Virginia's (which I smoke all day) create a really hard cake, but build up slower. Like someone on here mentioned, it's probably because of the high sugar content. I smoked aromatics for a time, and they built cake just fine also, albeit a bit gooey if not rested. (Yup, I said "rested"! I only smoked them once a week or so, so that pipe gets RESTED!)
My opinion on heel cake, is that it's not so important. I have a pipe that smokes great, but will never build heel cake, and I really don't worry about it. I rarely smoke to the bottom anyways, as once it starts to smoke wet, I dump my bowl.

 

cigrmaster

Lifer
May 26, 2012
20,249
57,280
66
Sarasota Florida
roth, I tried using the paper towel once to clean out my bowl and it seemed that I had to really jam it in and I felt like I was scraping cake off. I feel I get much better control with a doubled over pipe cleaner and only remove lose tobacco and any ash. Maybe I am just to spastic to use a paper towel. lol

 

haroldt

Starting to Get Obsessed
Aug 4, 2013
243
2
Melbourne, Fl
So I was wondering about all of this cake biz, and was going to post a question; but being a "good doobie," I searched first and found this rather lively and some what contentious post.
So Lets talk "Heel Cake"
I think most of us novices can keep the pipe lit long enough for the top half or 2/3 of the bowl to develop cake (even if by accident). But heel cake alludes me. So how does one develop that section of cake?
Like Bryan stated above, by the time you get that part of the bowl, the baccy is often wet, hard to keep lit and less tasty - more harsh and less enjoyable.
So what is one to do to develop this allusive heel cake?

 

bryanf

Part of the Furniture Now
Jul 16, 2013
742
8
I see your point, Roth. With a good hard heel cake, I probably wouldn't have to waste so much tobacco in my billiard.
My main pipe (a Peterson 317) builds heel cake faster than anywhere else in the bowl, so that in effect, it is a Dublin shape inside. I believe this is because the "system" keeps the tobacco dry, and most of the time I can smoke close to the bottom. I have literally never seen moisture at the bottom of the bowl. The system works for me. This is one reason I love this pipe. It tastes good all the way down.
I was mainly talking about my old workhorse pipe, which is a straight billiard that I smoked for years, and still smoke. With this pipe, all the moisture just condenses on the bottom. Even when I tried packing a bunch of half bowls, to build heel cake, after a week of regular smoking, the heel cake would be gone. I am sure that if I rested the pipe often, it would have time to dry properly. I may try doing that with this pipe for a few months to develop some heel cake. The sides of the pipe have an even .100" or so cake. Just the very bottom has no cake. Since there's nothing there to absorb moisture, the last few bits of tobacco get very moist, and I can immediately taste the steam, at which point, I just dump it. Hence, I don't smoke this pipe nearly as often anymore.
Maybe, I'll try your pipe mud recipe and "fake in" some heel cake!
Truth is, I much prefer a straight pipe (prefer them for ease of cleaning, looks, control of where the smoke goes in my mouth), but my bent Peterson just smokes so good, I've grown to love it.

 
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