Break-in Time?

[mikecronis]

That being said, a Meerschaum or Cob does not require this effort I listed above.
Cob's are good after 3 smokes with no setup. Meer's are good after 5 with no setup. My discussion above was for Briars and Pears.

 

[anotherbob]

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.

I really wonder about the coating and people saying it's nasty. The thing is like you I never got that. So I wonder is like PG where some people get a taste others don't and it's just something in their make up or...
is it something about the way they smoke. Like if I smoked slightly differently would I go oh gosh this is nasty with the coating. Or is it environmental? I tend to buy new pipes in the fall apparently and maybe if I smoked them when it was warmer or more humid would the coating be nasty?

 

[Pipeoff]

The only advise I would add is building the cake from the bottom up, smoke 1/2 fills then work your way up. It seems to prevent a soggy heal.