Autopsies Performed On Several Old Pipes

[olkofri]

Aaand, that's why I don't want any cake in my pipes. ?

 

[dunnyboy]

Thanks for bumping this thread. Looking at the charring in these bowls, it makes me wonder whether the briar itself contributes something to the taste of the smoke. It certainly does at the beginning. Unsmoked pipes without a coated bowl do seem to add a particular flavor, usually pleasant and unique to the brand, before they're broken in. My Castellos, for example, have a fresh woody taste at the beginning that soon disappears. Greg Pease says that Castellos smoke bright. Maybe that's what he's referring to. I wonder whether keeping the bowl relatively free of cake (which I do) would allow the briar to continue to contribute to the flavor.

 

[olkofri]

Hmm, and here I am pulling my hair out as to how I can make the woodsy taste from the one uncoated pipe I have go away.

 

[Dusk]

@olkofri I got that from an uncoated Briar too and wasn't a huge fan of the taste. I made a bowl coating using pipe mud from sour cream and ash to neutralize it.

This gentleman goes thru the process but uses activated charcoal instead:

(I mixed mine a bit thicker and just used my finger to apply it)

@dunnyboy I think it still does to some very minor degree but I would think the taste is coming more from the uncoated Briar in the airway instead of the bowl. I wipe the bowl down to minimize any soft buildup and the resulting cake is thin, however I certainly don't taste the Briar anymore.

 

[olkofri]

... but I would think the taste is coming more from the uncoated Briar in the airway instead of the bowl.

This might be my problem too: the long stem (it's a churchwarden) is made of briar too.

Thanks for the video. I might just try that. Now I might've a use for all these Dr Perl filters, yay.

 

[weezell]

I'll stick with my meers...

 

[Dusk]

@olkofri I actually did the bowl coating on a McQueen ranger. However, I left my Grey pilgrim uncoated as the bowl is ash and didn't impart any strong tastes for me. The stems on mine are birch so that may make a difference? Either way, these are so fun to smoke! puf

 

[olkofri]

@olkofri I actually did the bowl coating on a McQueen ranger. However, I left my Grey pilgrim uncoated as the bowl is ash and didn't impart any strong tastes for me. The stems on mine are birch so that may make a difference? Either way, these are so fun to smoke! puf

Hah! Look at that. It's actually a MacQueen Wizard that's giving me such hard time, LOL.

 

[dunnyboy]

Apropos charring, there is a very readable article by Chuck Stanton in the Smoking Pipes Daily Reader entitled "Doting On Dottle: Advice On Smoking To The Bottom Of The Bowl." Bottom line: you risk charring the draft hole if you aggressively relight damp dottle. Which means you probably shouldn't try to smoke your tobacco to the bottom of the bowl unless you can do so easily, without repeated relights, and it's still tasting good.

 

[sablebrush52]

Apropos charring, there is a very readable article by Chuck Stanton in the Smoking Pipes Daily Reader entitled "Doting On Dottle: Advice On Smoking To The Bottom Of The Bowl." Bottom line: you risk charring the draft hole if you aggressively relight damp dottle. Which means you probably shouldn't try to smoke your tobacco to the bottom of the bowl unless you can do so easily, without repeated relights, and it's still tasting good.

"Smoking to the bottom of the bowl" as some sort of necessity to be a "real" pipe smoker is another of those dumbass myths. Generally speaking, it's a bad idea, and you can see in those autopsies how the chamber walls have developed fissures from smokers trying to smoke up every last bit, superheating the pipe at the base.