Hello! And what does a good cake look like?

[withnail]

Welcome to the forum. It looks like you are making a great start on breaking in your pipe there. I would also recommend half filling the bowl from time to time if you sometimes have trouble smoking right down to the end as suggested above.
I hope you enjoy the forum. I have certainly learnt a thing or two from reading through the various topics.

 

[smokey422]

You will get a lot of different opinions on how much cake a pipe needs. The most common recommendation I've seen is a thickness between that of a nickel and that of a dime. I have a little different opinion: I like as little cake as possible, while still covering the walls of the pipe. I've had pipes with thicker cake and didn't find that it helped the taste at all. It does reduce the capacity of the bowl a bit and I like to get as much tobacco in my pipes as possible. Cake also adds a bit of weight and since I am a clencher, that is important to me. Experiment and see what works best for you. If it gets too thick, you can buy a reamer or have a pipe shop ream it out.
Smokey

 

[jchaplick]

Welcome, ive never been too concerned about a cake. Noot that i mean they arent important, just keep smoking