A broken in pipe?

[cigrmaster]

How many bowls do you think it takes to break in a pipe? Obviously it is different with each pipe, but in general terms how many? Do you think naked bowls take longer than pre carb, does the type of tobacco smoked make a difference? What do you consider a broken in pipe to be? I though this might make for a good discussion.

 

[cigrmaster]

Roth, do you feel a pipe needs a dimes worth of cake to be fully broken in, or is the forming of cake enough? I have heard Peterson's take a while, I wonder why that is.

 

[gwtwdbss]

I would say roughly 15ish full bowls smoked all the way to the bottom. I haven't had many naked bowls in my experience(three I think) but it is a whole lot more enjoyable to me to break in a naked bowl. I love to taste the naked briar during the break in as opposed to smoking out the taste of the pre-carb. That will definitely be a factor in future new pipe purchases. So to me, the feeling that the pipe(naked bowl) is breaking in nicely seems to make me satisfied with the smoking experience somewhat sooner than with one that is pre-coated. I never really noticed the pre-carb vs naked bowl to be an issue until I really started to enjoy Va's. I didn't taste the pre-carb coating in a new pipe when I began with Aro's and English blends.

 

[garyovich]

It happens so gradually, it's hard to say. In fact I think a good question would be does a pipe ever stop breaking in? And if so is there a bell curve where it gets progressively better and then begins to deteriorate? Or does it become the best smoker it's going to be and plateau off?
A tale of two pipes...My newest pipe is without a doubt the best smoker I've ever had out of the box, time will tell if it holds up or gets better. A tobacco mentor of mine has some dunhills that he claims took 20 years to break in.

 

[morton]

Harris, lonestar made me a beautiful straight grain dublin pipe not too long ago, and it took at least 8 - 10 bowls, maybe even 15, before I felt it was broken in or at least close. I use it solely for VAs and VaPers and find that it really shines now, after it developed a small amount of cake. I usually wipe out my pipes to try to lessen the cake build but in the case of of this pipe, I shook the ash and tried to build cake. It was worth the effort because this pipe is absolutely perfect for that sweet VA taste. The cake is not even as thick as a dime but that pipe is showcasing those Va flavors just the way I like them.

 

[nsfisher]

Depending on the pipe, and the baccy your smoking, between 15-25 bowls is a good average. I leave little or no cake. Can't stand cake in the bowl, it bothers me. My bowls are not down to bare wood by any means, just not a dimes worth of cake.

 

[doctorthoss]

Most folks seem to say about 15 bowls, and I agree. It depends on the briar and the tobacco you smoke. I ALWAYS break in my briars with a burley, either Carter Hall or Prince Albert, as I find they do the job quicker and better than anything else (and without "ghosting" the bowl). I usually smoke half bowls for the first smokes, then go to full ones. The main thing is to smoke every bowl to the bottom, as establishing a good base layer is important for protecting the wood.

 

[baronsamedi]

I will remark, however, that my Peterson briars seemed to take the longest.

+1 I'd say my Pete took a year. Now I smoke it maybe once every week or two so that could be a factor as well. I haven't had a bad smoke from it and I only smoke Black House in it. Had I used 1-Q or some stoved VAs I think cake might have built up quicker, but it is my best briar for BH other than my Dunhill, which just loves Balkans.

 

[philobeddoe]

I agree with others that it's usually between 10 or 15 bowls to get a pipe broken in. For me, broken in means that all I taste is tobacco, with no over taste of briar or char. Also, I keep no cake in my pipes, after every smoke I wipe the bowl out with a paper towel. The bowls have a nice carbonized wood interior, but no traditional cake. I used to think I was an oddball for this, but after reading Fred Hanna's book I realized I am not alone.

 

[grafikchaos]

I may be alone in this, but to me, the whole "breaking in" of a pipe is irrelevant to having a good smoke. It's been my experience that a pipe either smokes well, or it doesn't. My Savinelli is a fantastic smoker, and it has been from day one. It has a thin layer of cake in it, but I can't argue that it is better now than before. My Peterson, on the other hand, is finicky. It doesn't matter what type of tobacco is in there, she will gurgle about one third of the way in, and that is me taking my sweet time. I figured that some cake will help insulate it and keep it from gurgling, but that hasn't been the case. I think the engineering is a touch off and it smokes how it smokes. Now, I know that neither of these pipes are high end pieces, and I'm sure arguments can be made for or against breaking in more expensive models, but on the cheaper side of the issue, I have to go with the engineering of the pipe being much more important than breaking in. Anyone agree with me about this? Bueller?

 

[gmwolford]

Very good thread idea, Harris :clap: Lots of good thoughts going into this one!

 

[numbersix]

Harris - good topic. It seems to be different for each pipe.
Both of my Peterson's had a carbon lining, but they took a long time to break in. I don't blame this on the carbon layer, but to production issues and staining methods.
My L'Anatra had no lining and smoked great from day one and is building cake rapidly - even without a lining. My other pipe that had no lining broke in very quickly - I'd say about 8 smokes.

 

[cigrmaster]

In my experience it takes around 15-25 bowls before I feel my pipe is broken in. I have noticed that my naked bowls seem to break in faster than the pre carbed ones. I only use va or vaper flakes to break them in so a dimes worth or so builds rather quickly. I have always filled a new pipe to the top to break it in, I know some do the half bowl thing in the beginning, but I like seeing how a new pipe performs with a full one.

 

[kris]

Every pipe is different. But I'd agree on an average of 15-25 bowls to get it behaving.
I am also in the camp that finds Pete's take quite a bit longer until they're whipped...