Clay Pipes!!!

Hi, I purchased clay pipes from this website Penn Valley Pipes & Tobacco a few months ago.
First of all, they are great pipes. I love them more than my cheap briar pipe and the owner is very kind-hearted.
However, after smoking happily for numerous times, something bad happened....
Recently, I visited my friend's house for thanksgiving and used his fireplace to clean my pipe.
Everything was going perfect and I could see that my pipe was becoming as white as when I first got them from the package.
However, as time went by, I realized that the place where fire did not really touch was getting charred and black... it almost seemed like somebody rubbed a charcoal on them.
I tried to lay my pipe on woods in different position, but the place where flame didn't touch directly became black again.... (very frustrating....)
And after "cleaning" them, I drew some air through the pipes and was disappointed by heavy taste of log and ash.....
So please, tell me, how can I clean my clay pipes in a proper way?
I also have another question.
I also noticed that there are some cracks in my pirate pipe!!!! (NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
I guess carrying the pipe around wrapped in bubble-wrap was not really protecting the pipe.....
So, how do you carry your clay pipes?
Thank you

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Ok guys, I figured out a really good way to clean these pipes...
Bed of coals ain't gonna clean them well... it will only make them charred (just like in my photos...)
Oven is not the best way to clean pipe either because my pipes smelled funny when I got 'em out from the oven
because my friend used the oven for his pizza.
So MY best way to clean clay pipes is to use stove; just burn those pipes with the blue flame!!!
Just be careful with this method because you can burn your hand while trying this method, so wear oven-mittens or
use tongs!
Don't believe me? Pictures speak for themselves.

Yeah, I guess it's pretty a good idea to build patina and even "cake" in your clay pipe, but I just thought that my tobacco's taste was getting marred by all those residues built inside. Besides, those clean-white pipes look so good again!!! McClelland's Classic Samsun tasted so good when I smoked it with a cleaned pipe. (such a lovely blend...)

I'm assuming that it might work... but you are talking about blow torch aye? Well, then I'm pretty sure that it will clean the pipes faster since it produces flame with higher temperature. Just be careful with it because the pipes get red hot (literally glowing red like scorching iron in blacksmith shop) when they make contact with flame for a long time. I am not really sure if they are going to shatter after being exposed to high temperature, but just be cautious.

For those who are thinking about getting clay pipes:
Buy them from this website Penn Valley Pipes & Tobacco.
Before I tried the "stove-method" I sent an email to KC Ellis (the owner of the shop) about my trial-by-fire, cracking and ultimately, failure. And today, he replied to my letter this morning, saying he would send me A NEW SET OF PIPES!!!
This man knows what he's talking about, he's very approachable, kind-hearted, his customer-service is fantastic and his pipes smoke great.
Of course, Dawn Mist Studio has more variety of clay pipes which are hand-made by the owner. However, I think Penn Valley Pipes & Tobacco has very good pipes with way cheaper price (almost half of Dawn Mist's pipes)
So yeah!!! Go check 'em out!!! My pipes are called "The Buccaneer Detective Combo" or "Sherlock and the Case of the Dutch Pirate Pipe" There are more combinations of course...