Cake or no cake?

bassbug · Feb 19, 2017

In a different thread, another forum member mentioned that he wipes down his bowls after smoking and does not build up a cake on his pipes. I do this as well, but only because I got into the habit when I started pipe smoking, not even thinking or knowing anything about building up a cake. It appears we are in the minority here.
So, give us your best reasons for letting a cake build up or not.

pagan · Feb 19, 2017

I dont build cake, that's how I was taught

toobfreak · Feb 19, 2017

I wash and/or wipe my bowls out with a damp paper towel. I build cake, you want a little cake, but you don't need much.

ray47 · Feb 19, 2017

Very thin cake here, just to protect the bowl from burnout. Cobs get no cake at all.

addamsruspipe · Feb 19, 2017

When I do the initial deep clean on a estate pipe I've gotten I do my best to take it down to the briar. After that I clean all the pipes I smoked for the week with everclear so only the barest cake develops. That way I don't get any taste of the prior tobacco I smoked.

davet · Feb 19, 2017

I like cake :mrgreen:

jpmcwjr · Feb 19, 2017

Same on estates I acquire, but after, I rinse thoroughly with very hot water, then towel dry. I don't like ash in a new load, so I rinse the chamber with water, towel dry, then reload in a few hours.
So, I am a thin cake guy, too.
Edit/// Cake: Hmmmmmm. Cake with silicone!

didimauw · Feb 19, 2017

I believe the pipes don't smoke well enough without a good amount of cake. Nickel sized usually. I think I get a better flavor, since I only smoke one or two tobaccos that are both burley.

tinsel · Feb 19, 2017

I let mine build up just because I'm too lazy too wipe it out after every bowl.
When it starts getting thick I scrape it out with a reamer or a pocket knife. This is true of my briars as well as my cobs.
My meers (which don't get smoked near as often as they should) don't really build cake. If they do start to get a little something built up in the bowl I wipe em out real good with a paper towel.

philobeddoe · Feb 19, 2017

No cake here, I allow the inside of the bowl to carbonize and that's it, no cake. I wipe the bowl out with a paper towel after every bowl and they stay cake free.

stickframer · Feb 19, 2017

Most of my pipes have a thin cake built up.
Reasons include insulating the briar, being old school, and wanting to spend as little time as possible maintaining pipes.
I might do a quick wipe down or ream with a czech tool while cleaning a pipe, depending. I want the cake no thicker than a nickle.

toobfreak · Feb 19, 2017

I've bought estates where they were caked up like no tomorrow. Great pipes, but I removed it all to build by own fresh, thin layer because I often wash out bowls and that thick cake is like a sponge that traps flavors from old tobaccos and water from the rinse.

warren · Feb 19, 2017

Still allow a bit of cake in the briars. Makes for a better smoke in my opinion. Some can't tell the difference or have the patience I suppose.

woodsroad · Feb 19, 2017

I've bought estates where they were caked up like no tomorrow.

Same here. Some to the point where there was just a little tunnel in the bowl the width of a pencil.
I brush out the bowl after a few smokes with a nylon bristle brush, like this:

It gets the ash and dottle out, but leaves some of the harder carbon deposits to build slowly. That would be a good name for a tavern The Ash and Dottle.

mso489 · Feb 19, 2017

I think I just started wiping out the bowl, and when I learned more about cake building, it didn't sound appealing. Eliminating reaming seemed good. Many enjoy building cake and think of it as part of pipe smoking, but since I took a different road, and it works pretty well for my pipes (some 30 or 40 years old) I've stayed with not cake building.

aimlesswanderer · Feb 19, 2017

I not really bothered whether I get cake or not - and as a result I get cake!
I don't own a reamer, but I'll occasionally have a scrape around with the spoon implement on a Czech tool, or even with a pocket knife. I tend to do this immediately after a smoke as it seems to be easier to work then.

deleon · Feb 20, 2017

I'm not too crazy about cake building, I clean my bowl with a pipe cleaner after I finish smoking. I have some pipes which I only use a certain tobacco so I don't feel I need the cake layer, tobacco taste better that way for me.

jpmcwjr · Feb 20, 2017

Cake does not make for a drier smoke, nor does the bowl need "protecting", nor does cake make the smoke cooler. Those are all functions of other variables. Not to say that cake is wrong, or that liking a thick cake is wrong, or following your druthers whatever way they take you is in anyway wrong.

toobfreak · Feb 20, 2017

What are the opinions on cake keeping the bowl cooler (to the touch)? IMO, I don't see that it does. Maybe you need more cake built up than I ever have for it to do that.

jpmcwjr · Feb 20, 2017

A thick cake provides some insulation, so it will keep the pipe cooler on the outside, though the difference may be too small to notice. The length of the shank and stem together also have little bearing on perceived temperature of the smoke, also. Well, perception is something, ain't it! Scientific measurement may show little difference, but one's experience may be different; it is so if you think so!

Cake or no cake?

Log in

SmokingPipes.com Updates

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

Site Sponsors

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

Lifer

Lifer

Lifer

Lifer

Part of the Furniture Now

Lifer

Moderator

Moderator

Part of the Furniture Now

Lifer

Part of the Furniture Now

Lifer

Lifer

Lifer

Lifer

Starting to Get Obsessed

Part of the Furniture Now

Moderator

Lifer

Moderator