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To cake or not to cake that is the question.

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cigrmaster

cigrmaster

Lifer
May 26, 2012
20,248
57,308
66
Sarasota Florida
The broken in pipe thread brought up a responses about not letting cake build up in their pipes. philo referenced Fred Hanna in regards to having no cake in his pipes and I was wondering what Fred's thoughts on this were. I have also seen some people say they don't like to build up cake in their pipes.
I was told early on that it is important to build a dime to a nickels worth which will protect the pipe, allow it to smoke cooler and also give it better flavor. I would like to hear the theory behind not building cake and have I been doing it wrong all these years.

 
captainprophesy

captainprophesy

Lifer
Sep 27, 2012
1,779
0
Upland, CA.
Well Im in the same boat as you... I have always been from the school of a dime to nickel size cake as well.

Well very curious now as well to see if ive been doing it all wrong all these years LOL

 
kasbah

kasbah

Starting to Get Obsessed
Oct 26, 2012
148
0
I was interested in this as well as I've taken a great deal of care and put emphasis on correctly building and maintaining cake. Good thread that should hopefully shed further light on all the schools of thought surrounding the matter.

 
mikemacrdlnds

mikemacrdlnds

Part of the Furniture Now
Dec 21, 2011
537
0
Could it be that Fred was referring to Meerschaums? I follow the standard wisdom of a thin cake in my briars. My take of a thin cake is a little less than a dime.

 
schmitzbitz

schmitzbitz

Lifer
Jan 13, 2011
1,165
2
Port Coquitlam, B.C.
Could it be that Fred was referring to Meerschaums?
Click to expand...
He was referring to briar.
In his latest book, 'In Search of the Perfect Smoke' Dr. Hanna writes of a friend of his who maintains his stable of smokers absolutely cake-free. He goes on to note that although he doesn't adhere to this practice himself, he attests that his friends pipes are all thouroughly broken in, and smoke just as sweetly as his own (caked) briar despite being cleaned to bare wood after each smoke.
Personally, I feel that the cake acts as a protective layer; I tend to smoke outdoors fairly often, and as such often have to contend with a 'run-away' cherry, especially on windy days. I feel that the cake provides a layer of insulation, keeping the briar from smoldering when this happens.
Really, I suppose it comes down to the usual caveat, YMMV; do what you enjoy...

 
philobeddoe

philobeddoe

Lifer
Oct 31, 2011
7,546
12,247
East Indiana
I believe that a carbonized layer of wood inside the bowl is all that is really needed, adding an inner bowl that expands and contracts at a different rate than the briar seems unnecessary and a bit risky. I'm not telling anyone what to do, I am only speaking from my personal experience of 20+ years of smoking briar. I have never had a burnout or a cracked bowl, I have had no heat related problems at all, using my method. I break a pipe in enough to carbonize the inside of the bowl, I then keep it clean, no measurable cake thickness. My pipes smoke cool and sweet with very little maintainence, outside of a periodic cleaning. Do whatever works for you, but I believe the "thickness of a dime" rule is more tradition and habit than science.
Just my 2 cents.

 
S

smokey422

Can't Leave
Nov 20, 2011
335
0
I'm one of those in the "minimal cake" category. I used to keep more cake in my pipes, about a nickel's worth, then one day I over-reamed one and noticed it smoked better with less carryover flavor from the previous smoke. It also had more bowl capacity, which was another plus. If anyone else wants to try it, I would recommend doing it on just one pipe first until you make up your mind one way or the other.
Smokey

 
gnatjulio

gnatjulio

Lifer
Mar 22, 2012
1,945
937
57
New York
I was taught that cake was important on this very forum. So I'll stick with it. Not much cake in my pipes yet anyways.

 
photoman13

photoman13

Lifer
Mar 30, 2012
2,825
2
From my limited experience I think it might protect the briar but I don't know about changing the taste or smoking cooler. Again though limited experience especially with new pipes.

 
chopz

chopz

Can't Leave
Oct 14, 2011
352
0
i scrape the bowl out with bristly pipe cleaners and with the spoon of a pipe tool after every smoke. i still get cake in all my briar bowls. if i tried to keep them cake free i'd go crazy spending all the time necessary to do so.

 
numbersix

numbersix

Lifer
Jul 27, 2012
5,449
61
Very interesting. I've read time and again to have a thin layer of cake to protect the bowl from burn out.
It does beg the question of how much can a thin layer of cake really protect the briar—does it really do much at all?
Anyway, I think i'll err on the side of caution and continue with maintaining cake, but good topic.

 
cigrmaster

cigrmaster

Lifer
May 26, 2012
20,248
57,308
66
Sarasota Florida
Interesting takes on this subject. I looked at all my pipes and everyone has a dimes worth or so. None have a nickels worth so I guess subconsciously I keep it to a dime. I get a feeling when I look at a pipe when I am cleaning it and say this one looks like it could use a little reaming so I do it. I don't like losing bowl capacity to that is usually how I can tell when a pipe is getting too much cake.
I think the theory behind having some cake is a valid one, I do believe it protects the bowl and provides a cooler smoke so I will continue to keep a dimes worth. To the people who don't like building cake, have you ever experimented with one pipe to see if building cake does make a difference in the way your pipe smokes, or have you always just never let it build up?

 
mattsem

mattsem

Might Stick Around
Oct 14, 2014
74
0
some of the new Savinellis are pre coated. the coat is so thin that you can just wipe it off with a paper towel. and Sav says that these pipes dont need breaking in or anything. just smoke them. So my take is that cake is just a myth. well made pipe doesnt need any precautions. just smoke and enjoy them

 
gregprince

gregprince

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jan 29, 2014
276
0
I am with the dimes worth club. I have, of course, gotten more than a few estates with a stack of quarters worth of cake. They go right back to essentially bare wood and I build up a new dime. I've read both sides of the argument, but at this point I'll just stick with tradition until I see evidence to the contrary.

 
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