Cob Questions.

[morbious81]

So I've had a few MM cobs in rotation for a few weeks and have a few questions for you guys with more time under your belts.

1. I've noticed no matter what tobacco, and packing technique I use the final third has a cooking corn taste to it. Is this to be expected, and will it fade in time?

2. My cobs are the only ones I clench, they are super light, but I have fangs for teeth... im beating the stems up pretty good. I plan to get softies for my better pipes, but want to look into better stems for my cobs. Looking for educated suggestions on replacement stems...
The draw on these MM's is phenomenal, and I want to avoid having them look like gnawed dog bones....

 

[dottiewarden]

MM cods

Sounds fishy to me!

 

[morbious81]

Dottie, fixed it.... I used to know how to type...

 

[dottiewarden]

@morbious81
Check out this thread:
Cob Replacement Stems

 

[aldecaker]

First of all, cod is delicious, one of my favorites when it comes to white fish.
You can buy tons of the regular replacement stems for cheap. If you want a slightly better, longer lasting replacement, you can buy replacement MM Danish stems. If you want vulcanite, you can buy MM Freehand stems, which are still fairly cheap. Or, if you want long-lasting and not cheap, you can wait for Log Cabin Pipeworks to get all spooled up again, and buy Forever Stems. Or going really expensive, you can have a stem made by one of the numerous pipe craftsmen who make stems.
Your fellow stem-destroying vampire,
Aldecaker

 

[dottiewarden]

@morbious81
You might also find this interesting:
Softy Bits

 

[pipesmokingtom]

I would just hit MMs website and get a gross of replacement stems and chew away.

 

[morbious81]

"That rubber you put in your mouth will make you impotent. Real pipe smokers never use them and we put teeth marks in our stems. Also the pipe Gods will consider you a blasphemer and make all your tobacco taste like shit." :rofl:

... well I wouldn't want that.

 

[morbious81]

I think I'll stock up on stems. Since the forevers are unavailable.

The danish stems fit standard MM cobs?

How about the cooking corn factor? I dont dislike the taste, I'd just like to know if thats just what to expect when I enjoy a cob.

 

[aldecaker]

Yes, the Danish are a direct replacement for any of the filtered MMs. My guess on the cooking corn is that the lower 1/3 of the bowl is not carbonized yet, and still giving a corny taste. Peek in there with a flashlight and see if the bowl is a lighter color towards the bottom.

 

[morbious81]

Thanks aldecaker. The bittom of the bowls are in fact lighter, and dont have the slight glaze to them.
I'll keep puffin away on em, and stockpile some bits.

Thanks again for the guidence, gentlemen.

 

[aldecaker]

I get the same effect on my new cobs. I don't do the "smoke half-bowls" thing to break in new pipes. I'm too impatient, so I just load and smoke (gently, of course!). The downside is that the carbon layer starts at the top of the bowl, and slowly works its way to the bottom.

 

[morbious81]

That makes sense. I subscribe to the same method. I also keep cake out of the cobs, so that adds up. Thanks again.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I hope you don't mind, but I changed the title of the post.
BTW, I'm super sensitive to thay corn taste also. I try to just smoke blends in them that sort of compliement that taste, like burleys.

Carter Hall in a cob is the taste of outdoor work to me. ::

 

[randelli]

Slight hijack - my cob came with the amber plastic stem. Are the black stems more durable, and will they be a direct replacement, or am I stuck with the amber stems?

 

[pipesmokingtom]

All filter bits (and cobbit stems) will fit all filter pipes. All non-filter bits will fit all non-filter pipes.
They're all of similar quality (save for the cobbit stems.) The Danish bits may be a slight upgrade, but really just in form more than function.

 

[thebadkitty]

I've found the amber stems to maybe be a tiny, tiny bit harder than the black, with both the regular Washington size and the little ones for Pony Express and Huck Finn, etc. I have fangs and jags too, and I prefer the Danish aldecaker mentioned to the regulars that they come with, I just think the Danish are shaped a little differently and feel better in my teeth when I clench. The softy bits felt too bulky for me, but the price of the Danish bits is comparable.
They're a direct replacement if you get the same size ones, like the smaller ones...Pony Express, Huck Finn, etc. and the larger size that takes a filter like the Washington, or a Country Gentleman, etc. I switch back and forth between black and amber a lot just for the heck of it.

 

[thebadkitty]

What Tom said there is more succinct than what I said. Took me longer to type too. :D

 

[aldecaker]

The Danish bits are made out of the same plastic as the regular ones. I think they last longer for me because A) the material may be a bit thicker near the button, and/or B) the fishtail is way wider, giving more surface area for my choppers to gnaw around on before they start digging through to the draft hole. Or it could be a placebo effect, which I'm also A-OK with!
As far as I know, the black stems and amber stems are the exact same material. I've never noticed any difference other than color. I hate the Missouri Meerschaum bend; it's a kink, not a bend. I buy all straight stems and bend them to my liking with hot water, and the two colors bend the same as well.

 

[pipesmokingtom]

I switch back and forth a lot just for the heck of it.

Yup. Sometimes I'll get a wild hair and swab all my cobs and stems with alcohol. The odds that any of my 30+ cobs are outfitted with the stems they came with are pretty slim at this point.