How to Know that a Pipe is Broken In
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Pretty much, once you've formed a little cake it is broken-in in my book. Probably in the neighborhood of a dozen smokes? Mostly, I just get to the point where I stop thinking about the pipe as brand new. Others may disagree -- some have much more refined palates and may taste things with a new pipe that I simply don't.
In my opinion, it is when the pipe is when a briar is properly caked and delivers the same quality smoke with every bowl.
I minimize cake to just a carbon layer, but when a pipe is thoroughly coated, there is a smoothness in its lighting and draw that is unmistakable. It's subtle, but you can tell. A few of my pipes have taken a year or more to completely break in, but when they get there, it's evident. I have a rusticated Peterson slightly bent author where that was true, and an artisanal ball. But they've finally arrived. Most pipes I think it's about twelve to twenty smokes.
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