A high quality pipe made of well aged and properly cured briar, really should not require any "break in" to smoke well.
Break-in Time?
- Thread starter coldbowl57
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For you, that is.
Even the best made and hq briar, I don't consider any pipe "broken in" until I have charred the walls- i.e., the beginning of a thin, hard cake.
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Even the best made and hq briar, I don't consider any pipe "broken in" until I have charred the walls- i.e., the beginning of a thin, hard cake.
Please put your location in your Profile, as people are forgetful.
Why:
That will save questions in the future as to where you live when you later mention local stores, weather, tobacco prices, availability, regulations, location of photos, wildfires, air quality, etc. In many instances that saves time for those who read your posts. It cuts down on posts or PMs asking where you are.
How:
Under your avatar, (top right, left most of three symbols) you choose "Account Details", which brings up "My Account". "My Location" is halfway down. Whatever you're comfortable with- town, city, county, state. province, etc.
I normally just smoke my new pipe like all my other pipes to "break it in". I've heard some people suggest Burley blends in the first few smokes to break in your pipe, but I'd say any easy to pack ribbon would do. Briars take 10 or so smokes to break in for me, and cobs only take one or two for me to stop noticing any extra sweetness.
I have no experience with meer, but for briar or cob just smoke them and enjoy the experience. A cob shouldn't give any off flavors unless smoking to hot and fast and burning the wood where the stem passes into the bowl. Not a big deal, but it will taste like burning wood if you go to far with it. I tried "breaking in" my first new briar pipe with half bowls of Carter Hall, yada yada yada. It felt like a chore and wasn't very enjoyable. Ever since that process I just pack and smoke the pipe "normally" whether it's a brand new or trusty old pipe. I get to smoke what I want and enjoy the overall experience for what it's supposed to be. The pipe may change a little bit with each smoke, but don't worry about it. Just enjoy smoking the pipe!
For me, a cob is settled in (broken in) after just a few bowls. I like them to get some ash/cake going just because they do impart a certain taste the first few bowls. For clays, there's no break-in. They seem the same to me on the fiftieth bowl as they do the first (which as I understand would be similar with meerschaums). I haven't smoked a new briar in so long I don't remember enough to answer.
It takes a few bowls to learn the pipe's characteristics which hopefully turn out to be pleasing. More the pipe breaking in me than the other way around. After that, it should be smooth sailing. With favorite pipes, after a few years they acquire a kind of ease and predictability that is a next step, with any breaking in far in the past. After ten or twenty years, pipes can acquire a kind of resonance, the way a Stradivarius violin is kept in shape by playing it regularly and will become brittle and less full in sound without that use. This is as true of good old factory pipes as with masterpiece artisan briars.
Mechanically, nothing’s going to change. If it’s drilled properly it’ll function properly. Its a matter of perception. Are you breaking in the pipe or are you becoming aquatinted?
Personally, I’ve never had a brand new cob I disliked.
but I smoke burley scraps.
Personally, I’ve never had a brand new cob I disliked.
but I smoke burley scraps.
Great answer by hoosierpipeguy. Some pipes are superior smokers right out of the gate and others need to get into the home stretch before crossing the finish line on top. It's kind of like breaking a horse to the saddle. Let it dictate the process. You'll know soon enough whether its a keeper or needs a new barn to stable in.
I find a lot of these responses interesting compared to my experiences.
I personally can't stand a cob for the first 3 ish days at 5+ bowls a day yet have yet to find a new Briar to need more than 2 bowls before it's enjoyable.
As for my meerschaum they are a joy from the first puff ?
I personally can't stand a cob for the first 3 ish days at 5+ bowls a day yet have yet to find a new Briar to need more than 2 bowls before it's enjoyable.
As for my meerschaum they are a joy from the first puff ?
I think a lot of the breaking in had to do with the quality of briar. Back in the day the demand is pretty low so the lowest quality stuff available is above the mid line when more people smoked pipes and bought pipes. The breaking in helped prevent burn out which isn't the issue it used to be (it happens) but much less then it used to. Going gentle on a pipe made that less likely to happen.
Also this part might not be true as it's a rumor I heard. I heard that the guys that harvest and sell briar know more about how to check for what can cause burnout so it's even less likely to happen. Who knows with things you hear about pipes.
my little experience with meers says they take a few smokes to not be kind of bland and dull. Nothing terrible, just noticable.I find a lot of these responses interesting compared to my experiences.
I personally can't stand a cob for the first 3 ish days at 5+ bowls a day yet have yet to find a new Briar to need more than 2 bowls before it's enjoyable.
As for my meerschaum they are a joy from the first puff ?
Since opinions vary, I believe there is a consensus that agrees one way or the other, when it comes to uncoated chambers, to allow them to get some carbon build up, some prefer a bit of cake, others like myself wipe the chamber out lightly after smoking.
Most of my pipes have been uncoated chambers, so I smoke it very easy, never allowing the pipe to get hot, just a little warm, until carbon has formed a little. This has taken me in the past around 15-20 bowls.
I was told in the past, I mentioned this before, Jose Rubio once told me, in an uncoated chamber with a new pipe, if you aren’t careful and smoke it to hot, you can get small hairline cracks inside the chamber.
Most of my pipes have been uncoated chambers, so I smoke it very easy, never allowing the pipe to get hot, just a little warm, until carbon has formed a little. This has taken me in the past around 15-20 bowls.
I was told in the past, I mentioned this before, Jose Rubio once told me, in an uncoated chamber with a new pipe, if you aren’t careful and smoke it to hot, you can get small hairline cracks inside the chamber.
Don't know if anyone has mentioned it but..... Years ago it was common practice among some to speed the break-in of a new pipe by rubbing a thin coat of honey inside the bowl. Note the "thin" part. Honey is almost pure carbon.
My last 12 pipes I purchased were all commissions with Jack Howell. He ships the pipes with a naked bowl which is how I like it. I have my system for breaking in my pipes, other people have their ways. I fill them to the top, smoke it to the bottom. I only use a Va, Vaper or Vabur flake.
I have found that around 12-15 bowls and the pipe is either broken in or very close to it. . I have a nice hard cake that makes my pipes smoke better for my tastes. I dedicate all my pipes to either a genre or specific blends. When I find those magical combos, I stick with them. I have a decent sized number I guess.
I have found that around 12-15 bowls and the pipe is either broken in or very close to it. . I have a nice hard cake that makes my pipes smoke better for my tastes. I dedicate all my pipes to either a genre or specific blends. When I find those magical combos, I stick with them. I have a decent sized number I guess.
In my very limited experience, none of my pipes really had a break in period. My cobs and meer don't have a lining, the briars I have all have/had a coated bowl of which I didn't get any gnarly aftertaste like some have. I now smoke a few blends out of a dedicated pipe after I used those pipes for several other blends and I do get a difference in flavor after smoking that blend solely in that pipe, which brings your question to another level. Some say it doesn't matter.
My grandfather mentioned it, but i have only just receantly got in to piping, i might try it in future.
As for meerschaum, it smokes well from the first bowl, and maybe a little better as the meer absorbs some tars. I keep my meerschaum pipes wiped as clean as I can.
I use a thin coating of honey to start off a cob pipe. The cob is naturally sweet from the first smoke, and after a half dozen or so smokes it loses the sweet cob flavor, I think, but it’s still a wonderful smoker. I wipe out a cob clean like I do briar and meerschaum.
High quality, well cured, and aged briar is the king of pipes, in my opinion and experience. If oil cured, like Lee pipes were, there’s a sweet briar taste from the first bowl. If not oil cured, there often is a strong, smoky briar taste from the start. I coat all new briars with a thin film of honey, just a little to start off the pipe.
Even an oil cured Lee, and certainly all other briar pipes, will in my experience smoke hot until something happens to the briar from the heat, that increases it’s insulating properties. I think the heat cures out the last bit of saps and tannins left in the briar, but I’m not arguing over it. What I know, is after maybe a dozen bowls every briar pipe smokes cooler and doesn’t sweat moisture if you smoke it slowly all the way down.
It’s difficult to describe how much cake I leave in a briar. The chamber is black, but ideally not charred, just an extremely thin layer of carbon. I start wiping out the tars with a twisted paper towel after this thin layer of carbon appears.
An ideal briar for me has at least a dozen careful smokes all the way down to the air hole, it won’t smell or taste like burning briar, and I firmly am if the opinion good briar adds a little something to the taste of the smoke, but not so much as to identify that taste as briar.
I keep the tars wiped clean after smoking, because I also believe after who knows how many thousands of smokes a briar absorbs tars (like a meerschaum obviously does) and eventually that briar pipe will lose it’s almost magical goodness.
And if I’m wrong, that makes a great excuse for me to rotate pipes between more pipes than I ever dared dream I’d own fifty years ago.
I use a thin coating of honey to start off a cob pipe. The cob is naturally sweet from the first smoke, and after a half dozen or so smokes it loses the sweet cob flavor, I think, but it’s still a wonderful smoker. I wipe out a cob clean like I do briar and meerschaum.
High quality, well cured, and aged briar is the king of pipes, in my opinion and experience. If oil cured, like Lee pipes were, there’s a sweet briar taste from the first bowl. If not oil cured, there often is a strong, smoky briar taste from the start. I coat all new briars with a thin film of honey, just a little to start off the pipe.
Even an oil cured Lee, and certainly all other briar pipes, will in my experience smoke hot until something happens to the briar from the heat, that increases it’s insulating properties. I think the heat cures out the last bit of saps and tannins left in the briar, but I’m not arguing over it. What I know, is after maybe a dozen bowls every briar pipe smokes cooler and doesn’t sweat moisture if you smoke it slowly all the way down.
It’s difficult to describe how much cake I leave in a briar. The chamber is black, but ideally not charred, just an extremely thin layer of carbon. I start wiping out the tars with a twisted paper towel after this thin layer of carbon appears.
An ideal briar for me has at least a dozen careful smokes all the way down to the air hole, it won’t smell or taste like burning briar, and I firmly am if the opinion good briar adds a little something to the taste of the smoke, but not so much as to identify that taste as briar.
I keep the tars wiped clean after smoking, because I also believe after who knows how many thousands of smokes a briar absorbs tars (like a meerschaum obviously does) and eventually that briar pipe will lose it’s almost magical goodness.
And if I’m wrong, that makes a great excuse for me to rotate pipes between more pipes than I ever dared dream I’d own fifty years ago.
If you’re buying an extremely expensive pipe, let’s pick a number $400 and upwards, are you going to run a thin coating of honey in you expensive Rubio?
I seriously wouldn’t and never will, so why rub a thin coat of honey in a supposedly inexpensive pipe?
Remember, the cost of a pipe doesn’t always mean it’s a good or bad smoker.
If you have an uncoated chamber, I say leave it alone, smoke it slowly and keep the pipe cool, and smoke it this way until forming a little carbon in the chamber.
Good reading by Dr. Fred Hanna! ?
I seriously wouldn’t and never will, so why rub a thin coat of honey in a supposedly inexpensive pipe?
Remember, the cost of a pipe doesn’t always mean it’s a good or bad smoker.
If you have an uncoated chamber, I say leave it alone, smoke it slowly and keep the pipe cool, and smoke it this way until forming a little carbon in the chamber.
Good reading by Dr. Fred Hanna! ?
Nothing wrong with speeding up the formation of a thin and hard cake.
If a pipe has a coating, I wet the chamber, fill it with sugar, pour out excess and let dry. That is pure carbon in the making.
If a pipe has a coating, I wet the chamber, fill it with sugar, pour out excess and let dry. That is pure carbon in the making.
Definitely a few "levels" of being broke-in. If I get a Peterson, I immediately remove the interior stain with a cloth and let it air-dry a day, then rub bourbon into the bowl and let it rest another day before its first smoke (this is just my thing to get the cake started with sugars and pre-seasoning). I'm sure there are people who would disagree with this but it's worked for me.
After 3 smokes of FULL bowls, you'll get a cake started with some carbon (after light cleaning a few hours after each smoke using just the cotton pipe cleaner and no alcohol). This, to me, is the Stage 1 break-in.
Stage-2 takes a few months of smoke and 3-day resting as the cake builds with also standard cleaning. Full bowls are encouraged but not required at this point.
Stage-3 is the FINAL stage where it's "a honey of a pipe" in its complete form of perfection which takes about a year of standard smoking. The cake rind of carbon lines the bowl lightly and evenly and I find re-lighting is never necessary after the initial light-up and smokes all the way down with no effort and burns smoothly and coolly. At this point, the bowl almost never gets hot even when over-smoked quickly or packed too lightly, and can self-light if pocketed with a few stoking (thumb-over) puffs. This is the "perfect" pipe and will maintain this nature for decades.
I've salted the bowl to remove what I perceived to be "too much" caking but this was a mistake as I can sense it's lost some of its spirit so I've started-over the process with Stage 1 and it's coming back.
After 3 smokes of FULL bowls, you'll get a cake started with some carbon (after light cleaning a few hours after each smoke using just the cotton pipe cleaner and no alcohol). This, to me, is the Stage 1 break-in.
Stage-2 takes a few months of smoke and 3-day resting as the cake builds with also standard cleaning. Full bowls are encouraged but not required at this point.
Stage-3 is the FINAL stage where it's "a honey of a pipe" in its complete form of perfection which takes about a year of standard smoking. The cake rind of carbon lines the bowl lightly and evenly and I find re-lighting is never necessary after the initial light-up and smokes all the way down with no effort and burns smoothly and coolly. At this point, the bowl almost never gets hot even when over-smoked quickly or packed too lightly, and can self-light if pocketed with a few stoking (thumb-over) puffs. This is the "perfect" pipe and will maintain this nature for decades.
I've salted the bowl to remove what I perceived to be "too much" caking but this was a mistake as I can sense it's lost some of its spirit so I've started-over the process with Stage 1 and it's coming back.