Plenty of good info here.
In my view a pipe smokes better as it gets used (broken in). As for cake build, to me it is a by-product of smoking and must be kept down to a minimum. Certainly bare briar is risky business, but it takes little time for some rich oils from the tobacco to put enough residue on the bare wood as a protective coating. The problem then becomes controlling cake build up rather than creating it.
As far as the blend used goes would depend on a few factors. If you tend to dedicate your pipes and know what it will be dedicated to use that blend type. Conversely, if you don't know which blend you will be dedicating it to, just avoid the known ghosters, i.e., heavy aros, lats, etc.
If you don't tend to dedicate your pipes, smoke what ever you normally smoke, and enjoy. After a few smokes, any tobacco blend will give you enough residue to reduce the risk of burn out.
A typical briar pipe rarely gets burned down to the briar.
