Missouri Meerschaum

Just stuff it and light it. Most folks toss out the filter but that's personal preference. The only thing I'd recommend is stopping when you taste burning wood at the bottom. That's the shank burning that extends into the bowl and it takes several smokes to get that sufficiently coated/charred. I also like to fill the gaps on the sides and under that shank extension with pipe mud to even it out so that unburnt tobacco doesn't get stuck down there and protects the bottom more, but that's not really necessary. Pipe mud is just cigar ashes mixed with water (or spit) into a paste you can stuff in there with your pipe tool, then let dry solid. Enjoy!

Cobs are super resilient. You should have years of smoking enjoyment from them.

Nope, fire away. You'll learn what works for you and what doesn't in terms of tobacco moisture, packing technique and cadence. At the end of the day, if you are enjoying yourself, then you are doing it right.
Have at it!

In the beginning of my piping I thought cobs were odd. I now have three of them and smoke them as much as my briars.

Don’t forget to give her a swish with a pipe cleaner and let her cool down afterwards
The niblets on mine opened up a bit and had a hairline crack near the stem after several smokes , easily repaired with ordinary wood glue and fairing ..

Cobs are easy to smoke and quite forgiving. You'll have a good time with it. I just smoked my first bowl of 1-Q in years, and it brought back memories, like eating a popsicle.

I have a drawer full of MM cobs, not all of them but still most of them.

But as it turns out, I almost only smoke my MM Rob Roy cobs.

They’re light so they’re nice to clench while I drive to work, and bowl is the right size for my commute.

A little light sanding in the bowl before use might be good if you see any errant varnish in there. First bowl will not be good. Some people love cobs and some hate them. I personally greatly prefer a broken in cob to a briar. YMMV.
I could be wrong. IMO. YMMV. A broken in cob provides a porous mixture of cake and charred cob which absorbs juices and tars much like a meerschaum. Thus the name.

Hi Stormydog,
Corncob is really nice pipe for all day smoking, regardless the shape, just perfect. I've smoked corncob more than 10 years, and never have one burnt out or retired, I have purchased some bigger bowl shape like general/freehand from smokingpipes, and 2 packages of second MM pipes.
I've tried aromatic tobacco in both falcon and a MM Pony Express, Pony worked well, seems the tobacco to be sweetened, and as cool as in a Falcon pipe.

Love my cobs! I can often get better smokes out of them than my briars.

This may help you with corn cob pipes.

https://pipedia.org/index.php?title=The_Complete_Corncob_primer

I have a great cob that I have been smoking since 2013. No issues at all, smokes great. I did add a forever stem.

A footnote: I really like my MM cobs with acrylic stems, so I either buy those from MM for a little extra, or I have refitted others with Forever stems. For me, MM's are not disposable pipes. They can last for years and smoke really well. I have mostly briars, then cobs, then Mountain Lauarel, and one new-to-me Meerschaum, and one Cocobolo.

You are in for a life-long journey of incredible smoking with your MM cobs! I have about 5-6 briars that are decent to good. I have a dozen MM cobs that are all excellent smokers. I have never had a bad smoke from a cob. I have the Country Gentleman in both plaster and natural "neked" finish, Legend Rob Roy, Diplomat 5th Avenue, Morgan in both natural "neked" and plaster, Markus in both plaster and special order natural "neked" finish. My Markus is my favorite MM pipe. It is a smaller Mark Twain style and is dark stain. My special order natural finish one smokes like a champ! This size is the perfect overall pipe (IMO). Light, great clincher, and 30-minute smoker. I also really like my natural finish Country Gentleman because it breathes so well and is light weight for clinching. It is a bent style.
Do yourself a favor and smoke Burley in your cobs. I think Burley 'baccy really shines in them. I also like 1Q too.
Cobs can take a lot of abuse and keep coming back for more. And, I think that a well used and loved cob really has a charm all it's own. I think a beat up and well loved cob is a beautiful thing!
And....I like the Danish plastic bits that Missouri Meerschaum sells. They are softer on my teeth than the aftermarket ones, and they are dirt cheap. I can buy a dozen of them and still not come close to the price of an aftermarket bit. And, an amber Danish bit darkens nicely as you use it over the years.
Enjoy those cobs. You may find they push your briars to the side. It happened for me.

Don't eat it.