How to Break in a Brand New Pipe?

[gankdalf420]

Hi, new to this forum, don't want to waste your time so I'll get right down to it.

Cig/rollie smoker since 13 (mid 30's now), tried it all over the years;
cigs/rollies: easy

cigars: easy

snuff: easy

pipes: ??? wth
Why "wth"? Because I don't understand the "breaking in" process.

I've read http://www.peterson.ie/t/HowToSmokeAPipe which seems like perfectly good advice yet completely impractical for someone who likes to smoke several times a day.
I like the pipe tobaccos I choose to smoke and can't be arsed with letting the damn things "rest" for a day. The whole idea seems unrealistic and I highly doubt smokers of yore were obsessively rotating between several different pipes per day as they satisfied their habit (esp. if they couldn't afford a collection of pipes).
So what is the reality of the matter?

I have a brand new lovely pipe that I want to look after and use for ages but I also want to use it every day, several times a day.

"resting" the pipe for 24 hours between a single half-bowl as you gradually break it in makes no sense to me but correct me if I'm wrong.
How do I realistically break in my lovely new (expensive (ish, 60 odd squid)) pipe and yet use it frequently every day?

It's so much better than rollies I want to smoke it constantly.
It is a briar Peterson if that helps.
-
I have a Peterson churchwarden I've been experimenting with in the meantime and when I get to the end of the bowl after a few relights it sometimes gets incredibly hot and one can hear crackling of whatever "juices" are at the bottom. What is going on??? What am I doing wrong/overlooking?
Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions, pipe tobacco is bloody delicious compared to golden virginia rollies which almost instantly stain your fingers and taste mank in comparison.
p.s. i can't click on image-heavy or youtube "tutorial" links because i live in a part of the south of the UK (richest most populated areas) where the internet is still bad and the only option out here is satellite (which gets sub 56k speeds).
Edited by jvnshr: Title capitalization and text editing.

 

[fender60]

I am interested in the answers you get for this question also. I recently got a bag of MM seconds and they all need to be broken in.

 

[deathmetal]

Fill it with Prince Albert.
Smoke it slowly. Should take 45 minutes to an hour.
Clean stem. Repeat.
Clean bowl and stem. Repeat.
Soon you will have a nicely caked, broken-in pipe.
Another option is to take it out and buy a few pitchers of Stella Artois. Pipes love European beer.

 

[saltedplug]

Stuff smoke; stuff smoke.

 

[olkofri]

Guess that's why pipers have more than one pipe and rotate them.
Thing is, after it's been broken in, it can be smoked all day no problem. It will still need rest, though.
Maybe a corn cob would be more suitable for your intended usage?

 

[nevadablue]

I think saltedplug said it. Smoke it.

 

[gankdalf420]

Thanks for the replies gents (except the corn cob suggestion - lmao)
but i still can't envision smoking a pipe for 45 damn mins! It's only one bowl of baccy
i'll go with the "stuff smoke stuff smoke" advice until someone says otherwise...

 

[gankdalf420]

I should probably add, the reason i asked this question is because i don't want to ruin a 60 quid pipe. can't ruin up a rollie, can't ruin up a cigar but i've heard of pipes getting burnt-out and ruined in all sorts of ways (thanks internet( so thought i should check with the pros
Edited by jvnshr: Offensive vocabulary.

 

[txpiper07]

I was really worried about breaking my pipes in too, especially as a new smoker with barely any pipes. Honestly, just smoke them slowly and watch to make sure they don’t get too hot and, IMO, you should be fine. That’s what I did and all of mine so far are turning out just fine and building decent cakes. I essentially started out with one pipe, so it never got the rest that I guess it technically should have, at least until I added a cob and was able to start smoking that while my other rested. Fill it, smoke it, and enjoy it!

 

[jvnshr]

gankdalf420, as you can see I edited your posts; capitalized the thread title, removed prohibited and offensive vocabulary from your comments. Please read
1) Forum Rules

2) Forum Etiquette and Guidelines
before posting again (clicking on above texts will take you to the necessary threads). This is a warning! Please be informed that if someone receives multiple warnings, they risk losing their membership and access to the site.
Regarding your question, just smoke your pipe slowly, you have to try really hard to burn out a pipe (not taking the defective ones into account).

 

[Chasing Embers]

I am interested in the answers you get for this question also. I recently got a bag of MM seconds and they all need to be broken in.

Cobs and meerschaums really need no breaking in. As for breaking in a briar, like stated above, just smoke it.

 

[judcole]

I am a firm believer in the "load it and go" school for breaking in a pipe. I don't worry about the whole partial bowl thing.

I highly doubt smokers of yore were obsessively rotating between several different pipes per day as they satisfied their habit

I have a brand new lovely pipe that I want to look after and use for ages but I also want to use it every day, several times a day.

Here's the thing - those oldtimers weren't as concerned about resting their pipes - but they did not expect them to last forever, either. If you don't want to bothered maintaining them properly, don't expect them to last for years. Simple as that.

 

[mawnansmiff]

gankdalf420, you don't need to do anything to 'break in' a pipe, it will take care of itself. Just smoke it and be sure to clean it afterwards. That involves removing the stem and running a fluffy pipecleaner through it, then with a bristled cleaner clean the shank of the pipe. Finally wipe out the bowl with a tissue or piece of kitchen roll...job done and ready to smoke again.
Out of interest, what part of the UK do you hail from?
Regards,
Jay.

 

[olkofri]

I think the point of partial bowls is to build a good cake in the heel, where it's most important. In the case of new pipers, it's also best to smoke partial bowls so that one can smoke the pipe all the way to the bottom. If one has to stop midways through the bowl and empty the pipe due to severe tongue burn (what a waste of tobacco as well, but I've had to do this on a number of occasions), there's the risk of building a cake in the upper portion and little to no cake in the heel.

 

[mso489]

How to break in a pipe? Almost any way you choose. A direct approach, pack it and smoke it, and enjoy it, pretty much covers the territory. But if you like some of the more arduous or ritualistic breaking-in rituals, do them. You can smoke partially packed bowls, starting with a third full, going to half, finally doing a full bowl, over time. Or baptize the unsmoked bowl with a dab of honey rubbed around inside. Start out with a burley blend, or other uncomplicated blend you like, until you build cake (or don't, as many of us choose not to do). What ever serves as a just celebration of a new pipe, whether you dive right in or do special ceremonies and procedures. Resting a pipe is to let it dry out and retain its "sweetness," that is, good flavor. You can buy a MM cob or two to allow you to do this, for very little. Eventually, if you enjoy pipe smoking, you will buy a few more briar pipes, and then resting (drying) the pipes between smokes will become an obvious habit.

 

[philobeddoe]

If your briar gets too hot to hold comfortably in your hand, put it down and wait for it to cool. After it has cooled you can relight and keep puffing until this happens again. Once you learn proper cadence and technique, you (hopefully) won’t overheat your briars, but this often takes time for new smokers, who tend to pack to tight, puff too hard and puff too often. Overheating a briar will eventually ruin it, by causing a burnout. Just take your time, relax and enjoy the flavor and the smoke, if and when the pipe goes out, just relight it, there is no shame in relighting a pipe, it doesn’t mean your smoking the pipe poorly or that you are a noob. Relights are just a part of pipe smoking, four to five relights per bowl, is not uncommon for an average smoker. My best advice would be to just relax, don’t sweat it, we all took time to learn how to smoke a pipe, if you are enjoying the smoke, then that’s all that really matters, best of luck!

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

By any chance,have you noticed how some pipe manufacturers(mostly French&Italy maker) are including leaflets with em pipes where they urge us smokers to start smoking new pips only with partially filled bowls.

 

[mawnansmiff]

"I think the point of partial bowls is to build a good cake in the heel, where it's most important."
What utter tosh. How on earth does the pipe know to build up cake from a partially filled pipe against a fully filled pipe? Cake only builds up when a bowl is not cleaned properly after a smoke, be it a half bowl or a full bowl. Also, why is it so 'important' to build cake in the heel of the pipe? What is the benefit of that pray?
"If one has to stop midways through the bowl and empty the pipe due to severe tongue burn (what a waste of tobacco as well, but I've had to do this on a number of occasions), there's the risk of building a cake in the upper portion and little to no cake in the heel."
If you suffer from tongue bite that is no reason to dump the bowl. Just leave it be, have a drink of something preferably cool (I prefer beer) then relight the pipe and carry on.
Regards,
Jay.

 

[mikethompson]

Count me in the "smoke and clean it" club.
Lots of new piper's, myself included, tend to overthink things to the max. I bought a new Straumbach Meerschaum when I started and was scared I would burn it otherwise render it useless. The best piece of advice I got (could have been from sablebrush or mso) was to just slow down and enjoy. The best way to break in a pipe is to enjoy it.

 

[wizhunter]

I read or seen on youtube that your not supposed to build up cake on a cob, is this true ?