Will a pipe be properly broken in if it is not smoked right down to the bottom of the bowl? It gets pretty hot by then.
Breaking Pipes In
- Thread starter sparrowhawk
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Some say a cake at the bottom of a bowl is critical.
Me, personally, I've never really had much luck building a cake in the bottom of the bowl.
That may be; because, I smoke primarily Aromatics blends.
I have noticed that English or Latakia based blends; however, will tend to build a better cake in the bottom of the bowl, owing (possibly) to the dryer smoking characteristics of an English or Latakia based of blend.
Some say; that with out a cake in the bottom, one runs the risk of burn out...
I have never had a pipe burn out.
So, to address your question directly....
Maybe... maybe not.
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Me, personally, I've never really had much luck building a cake in the bottom of the bowl.
That may be; because, I smoke primarily Aromatics blends.
I have noticed that English or Latakia based blends; however, will tend to build a better cake in the bottom of the bowl, owing (possibly) to the dryer smoking characteristics of an English or Latakia based of blend.
Some say; that with out a cake in the bottom, one runs the risk of burn out...
I have never had a pipe burn out.
So, to address your question directly....
Maybe... maybe not.
:
:
I like to try to build a bit of cake on the bottom. Lawrence does not and so, I guess, is proof that it is not essential.
For a new pipe, it is often recommended that you start with something like a quarter bowl for the first smoke, maybe the first couple. Then half bowls. Then 3/4. A less than full bowl will help with the overheating a bit. Also, remember that it is not essential that you smoke the entire bowl in one sitting. If you puff for a while, and it gets too hot or you have other things to do (how annoying) you can simply set it down and come back to it later. Also, if it is that hot towards the end of the bowl you are probably puffing too quickly and need to slow down a bit.
You should never feel like you need to puff away like a madman in order to simply finish the bowl. You can always come back to it after it has cooled down.
I'm quite sure that if you could measure the cake thickness in one of my bowls it would be uneven. It is probably thickest around mid bowl and probably thinnest in the heel. I'm also guessing that this is pretty common. There are, like, 6 guys who have perfectly uniform cake -- these are the same guys who use two matches to smoke a bowl and never, ever, re-light. The rest of us mere mortals just have what we have and, in the end, we get by and enjoy our smokes despite our obvious limitations.
For a new pipe, it is often recommended that you start with something like a quarter bowl for the first smoke, maybe the first couple. Then half bowls. Then 3/4. A less than full bowl will help with the overheating a bit. Also, remember that it is not essential that you smoke the entire bowl in one sitting. If you puff for a while, and it gets too hot or you have other things to do (how annoying) you can simply set it down and come back to it later. Also, if it is that hot towards the end of the bowl you are probably puffing too quickly and need to slow down a bit.
You should never feel like you need to puff away like a madman in order to simply finish the bowl. You can always come back to it after it has cooled down.
I'm quite sure that if you could measure the cake thickness in one of my bowls it would be uneven. It is probably thickest around mid bowl and probably thinnest in the heel. I'm also guessing that this is pretty common. There are, like, 6 guys who have perfectly uniform cake -- these are the same guys who use two matches to smoke a bowl and never, ever, re-light. The rest of us mere mortals just have what we have and, in the end, we get by and enjoy our smokes despite our obvious limitations.
I always smoke to the bottom so building cake in the heel has never been an issue for me. I like a dimes worth of cake and I also have always filled every new pipe to the top and smoked away. I build a nice even cake in my new pipes this way and I am not a proponent of partial bowls to break in a pipe.
So, I JUST lit up for the first time (ever) today with a new pipe. I followed the typical break in advice of smoking 1/3 of a bowl. I found that my pipe became quite warm. I'm also using a blend that the local humidor recommends for new smokers. The problem is that all I taste is an ashy kind of flavor. The room note is great, but I taste straight up ashy smoke.
Could this be a result of my unsmoked *inexpensive* pipe? Or is that typical flavor?
I keep hearing everyone talk about taste and such... was I expecting too much?
Could this be a result of my unsmoked *inexpensive* pipe? Or is that typical flavor?
I keep hearing everyone talk about taste and such... was I expecting too much?
studlyspud, I'm new but I have recently had a similar experience. I got the ashy taste you described and fixed it by adjusting my packing procedure. I believe I had the tobacco too loose. I also had a new pipe with a stained bowl that gave off a terrible ashy/chemical taste for at least the first 20 smokes.
Rather than start a new "cake" thread, I'm just going to throw out a quick question here. A number of smokers recommend "reaming" the bowl with a clean paper towel right after smoking. Doing so not only keeps the pipe clean, but eliminates the need for true reaming because you never build up a thick cake. It just occurred to me, though, that this could be detrimental to building up any kind of cake during the breaking in of a new pipe.
Thoughts?
Thoughts?
Hmmm...so I should probably let my little Boswell go 10-12 smokes without wiping it out to build up just a little cake. Might solve the one bowl and done problem.
My new pipes build cake very quickly. I only smoke VA, Vaper and Vabur flakes, I let my pipe cool over night and then take a fluffy pipe cleaner, double it and gently wipe away any ash or loose tobacco, I NEVER EVER us a paper towel. I can build a nice hard cake using this method after only a dozen or so bowls.
zeke, you may not care about cake, but most experienced pipe smokers agree that a good cake will make your pipe perform to it's optimum level. The pipe will definitely smoke cooler and dryer with a good cake, that is not something that is just made up, but a definite fact. Everyone is of course free to do what they want, but telling a newbie that cake does not matter is doing them a disservice in my opinion.
zeke, you may not care about cake, but most experienced pipe smokers agree that a good cake will make your pipe perform to it's optimum level. The pipe will definitely smoke cooler and dryer with a good cake, that is not something that is just made up, but a definite fact. Everyone is of course free to do what they want, but telling a newbie that cake does not matter is doing them a disservice in my opinion.
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