Honey Treatment Question

[homeatsea]

Hey all,
I've read a lot about treating a bowl with honey/honey & water mixture to assist with break-in, and I'm about to give it a go on a recent acquisition. I've read through a few topics on this already and I've got a pretty good idea of consistency and application procedures. My only question is this: For those of you who use the honey treatment technique, how long after application do you wait to smoke from the pipe?
Thanks!

 

[pruss]

Thanks for the comments Roth. I'm braking in one of my new Trypis pipes tonight and the briar has a lovely natural aroma that I would hate to ruin if curing the bowl with honey isn't necessary. Think I'll just load half a bowl and smoke slowly.
Cheers!
-- Pat

 

[cigrmaster]

Pat, I am with roth, I would never use anything to coat a naked bowl. I also have always just filled my new pipes to the top and smoked away. I know some people use the 1/2 bowl method but to my mind it makes no sense. I always get a nice even cake by filling it up and smoking to the bottom. I also smoke a brand new pipe just like I would a broken in pipe. I am always careful not to over heat my pipes so I do not have to alter my smoking technique with a new one.

 

[homeatsea]

Roth and Harris,
Your comments have certainly given me something to think about. I know there are many who use the honey coating on all their new pipes and swear by it, but now I have the other side of the argument as well. So are the joys of exploring pipe smoking and all it's quirks and ideologies. Thanks for your input.

 

[pruss]

Since reading the original post and Roth's comments I've gone back and read some of the other threads here on the forums on breaking in new pipes. It looks like not only is the jury officially out on the correct way to do this, but that there are multiple juries, in different courtrooms, under different sitting judges.
I love the pipe community. At the end of the day topics like this always seem to boil down to, "Do it like you like to, just don't damage the pipe in the process, and you'll get to the right place eventually."
Righteous.
-- Pat

 

[cortezattic]

I recently used honey for the first time. I used a Q-tip to paint the bowl with undiluted honey

and set the pipe aside for several months. By the time I got around to smoking it the honey had

dried hard and glassy like lacquer.
I filled it to the top and it produced and wonderful sweet smoke for the first two or three bowls

-- quite a departure from what, for me, is the normally vile taste of raw briar. Thereafter the pipe

delivered a pretty neutral taste. The carbon coating on the inside of the bowl appeared almost

instantaneously, with no goopy mess at all. So I'd say I had a fairly positive experience.
I was so impressed that I think I'll do my next pipe the same way.

 

[rmbittner]

I did the honey thing years ago, when I was just starting out. I never noticed that it helped much. . . and unless you let the honey dry out, as Cortez did, you're likely to end up with a very bitey experience, since honey is so high in sugar. I wouldn't do it, but that's just my personal take.
Bob

 

[mso489]

My local independent pipe shop owner always offers a dab of honey in a new pipe, which he applies

very sparingly. He asks first, and I always allow it, as a beloved old tradition. I never do this when

I buy a pipe elsewhere or receive one at home. I have never been bothered by the taste of a pipe

on the first bowl. I've never noticed any raw briar taste or smell, not on bowls coated or unfinished.

They tend to taste very good on the first bowl, and with only a few exceptions, only get better. My

thirty-year-old-plus pipes smoke best of all. That nice even carbon coating with the perfect thickness,

just right. I fired up a new pipe today -- no honey -- and it is real fine. In this department, I am

easy to please.

 

[pstlpkr]

Oh the horror! 8O
Do people actually use honey for something other than making Mead?! :crazy:

 

[bentmike]

I tried honey once out of curiosity but I didn't let it dry. I did apply it very light as mso489 describes above but I didn't notice any real difference so never did it again.
I use the half bowl method to get the carbon build-up in the bottom of the bowl underway as soon as possible. I often dump the bottom third of my pipe out because it gets moist. I tend to puff quite a bit. I noticed lately when I started a new pipe off with full bowls I ended up with a ring of good carbon forming about half way down the chamber and negligible cake at the bottom. I returned to half packing on a couple of my recent new briars and I've noticed I've been having better luck getting the cake forming down low.

 

[teufelhund]

I've never tried honey but I have done a sort of carbon transplant. If I get a pipe and it has stain or anything inside the bowl i just grab a pinch of white ash and spread it around inside the new pipe and smoke a bowl. It seems to help me build a better cake and I think I get less of that weird taste starting out. It Also seems to burn a little better. This could all just be wishful thinking, but I'll continue to believe it if it continues to work. :wink:

 

[mlyvers]

great comments here, if you use honey let it dry for period of time, maybe a day or so. I only use it in the heel of my pipe. also I might add that I never use anything in my higher end pipes for aiding in cake formation. I have a savinelli autograph with a naked bowl, it smoked cool from the first smoke. I really think that most pipes need no added materials for forming a cake. I believe that some pipes benefit from some sort of treatment in the heel only. I would say that 99% of my pipes get no treatment all. but if I need to use something to aid in cake formation I will use honey.
mike.

 

[andrew]

It's quite simple, you heat up the honey so it's a runny thin liquid, dip a q-tip in, paint the bowl with a thin layer, let it dry maybe 24-48 hours, fill it with tobacco and smoke it.