My wife's reaction when I new pipe arrives at the house.
HONEY! Really?
- Thread starter Swampdragon69
- Start date
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My very first pipe I bought I tried the jelly trick... waste of time! As @hoosierpipeguy said, just smoke the damn pipe. I got caught up in all the cake talk, I was so eager to get me some cake on my new pipe! Now it seems like I can’t ever get rid of that sneaky sneaky cake... it just creeps up on you.
It took me a second but I got it now!
There is no honey in my house but, I have used jelly in the same fashion. I've coated a new bowl of a number of the pipes I've made over the years. It certainly doesn't hurt.
Mike S.
Mike S.
Honey is messy! If you really need to get a head start on cake, or cover a bowl coating, wet the chamber, fill with sugar. Dump out excess. Let dry. Load carefully and smoke. I've done it a few times, and it works. But why bother?
I've only done this when it was offered at my local independent pipe shop to observe a fine old tradition. I'm not even sure there is a conscious rationale, but I think it is supposed to make some ash adhere to the chamber to get the cake started. Since I don't build cake (just maintain thin carbon layer) it does't relate to my smoking. However, sometimes ritual is good in itself and keeps an event firmly in memory that would otherwise be completely forgotten. Living isn't just the mechanics of existing, as all pipe smokers know.
I have good friends milking cats to season my pipes. Never tried honey.
I don't normally let cake build up too much, but when I get lazy I don't think I've ever built an even cake. It's always thicker in the middle and about the same diameter in the middle.
What about me , Greg? I have nipples... can you milk me?
My experience closely mirrors @hoosierpipeguy - all these forms of building cake can just as readily be accomplished with - wait for it! - just packing and smoking the pipe in question. If you want to lay down a few layers of carbonization in a new pipe, smoke a few bowls of Carter Hall or similar blend. Or just proceed to your usual pipeweed. There are lots of little pipesmoking techniques the smoker learns through time, but actually building up layers of carbon on the bowl's interior really doesn't represent a challenge, IMO.
I do believe in smoking a few half full pipes.. just because in a new pipe it can be hard to smoke to the bottom... If you smoke the pipe a few times not to the bottom it seems like you can never get any carbon in the bottom, and I like to have some.
BROBS roach ooze and hoosierpipieguy's common sense have robbed me of all comment. Surprising all the dorky things you can learn on a forum.
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I have some cheap unfinished pipes from Amazon that I've abused, or they're not the highest quality briar (both actually) and had a couple fine fissures develop in the bottom of the bowl. Spot application of honey in those areas filled them in nicely after about 3 bowls smoked.
If your pipe is pre coated, fill the bowl with your favorite tobacco and smoke as normal. If you have an uncoated bowl, like a Castello or Rinaldo, fill it with your favorite tobacco and smoke as normal.
If you need to coat your bowl with anything, dunk your pipe in water or go through a ceremony with a witch doctor before you smoke your first bowl.....you need to toss it and get a decent pipe.
If you need to coat your bowl with anything, dunk your pipe in water or go through a ceremony with a witch doctor before you smoke your first bowl.....you need to toss it and get a decent pipe.
Wetting the pipe during break-in - the chamber walls- makes sense. It will slightly reduce the chance of igniting the briar, esp if it's a very dry pipe.
This is what we use here in Alabama...
