Is Cake Important? Why?

[BROBS]

@diamondback likes it thin and hard....
j/k bro

 

[cosmicfolklore]

i think it provides better combustion, i just like a thin layer too, about a fingernails thickness or a little more if im lazy about reaming.
I have always thought of cake in a briar pipe as an essential part of the pipe, cake removes the vagaries of the differences in the wood as far as quality and curing etc.

I'd say that you are in the same camp as us. There are guys who like really thick cakes. I've seen men just leave a pencil thickness diameter of room to put tobacco in the pipe. Those guys I think of as cakeheads, ha ha.

I just don't give it much magical recognition. I've had new pipes that smoked fantastic right out of the box, and usually cake doesn't do anything to make it any better.

And, for new guys, I think it's best if they drop some of these silly notions, because they get all hung up on things like cake and worry themselves silly with it.

 

[diamondback]

Thin and hard baby!!! ?

 

[BROBS]

I'd say that you are in the same camp as us. There are guys who like really thick cakes. I've seen men just leave a pencil thickness diameter of room to put tobacco in the pipe. Those guys I think of as cakeheads, ha ha.

I just don't give it much magical recognition. I've had new pipes that smoked fantastic right out of the box, and usually cake doesn't do anything to make it any better.

And, for new guys, I think it's best if they drop some of these silly notions, because they get all hung up on things like cake and worry themselves silly with it.

it's true.. I was shaking my ash around in the chamber every time and leaving this loose shitty material in there.
all it did was make my pipes smell worse with a brittle delicate cake.

 

[rushx9]

it's true.. I was shaking my ash around in the chamber every time and leaving this loose shitty material in there.
all it did was make my pipes smell worse with a brittle delicate cake.

Between @diamondback liking it thin and hard and you shaking your ash all around, I'm kinda wondering where this thread is headed?!

 

[BROBS]

shaking your ash doesn't make it thin and hard.. it makes it thick and soft!

 

[rushx9]

Cake is important, just not in my pipe.

Same with shakin' ash!?

 

[olkofri]

And, for new guys, I think it's best if they drop some of these silly notions, because they get all hung up on things like cake and worry themselves silly with it.

Couldn't agree more.

 

[jpberg]

All cake is not created equally. Lumpy, uneven soft black crap doesn’t help a thing. A shiny black layer that is harder than the hubs of hell, I think, is a plus.

 

[stevuke79]

I keep my pipe CLEAN! I use dry pipe cleaners after every smoke and ream it with a paper towel. At least once a year I clean it with vodka until I can't get any more pipe-juice out of those pours. The only thing I want in my pipe is briar and fresh tobacco.

So no cake for me. I used to try and develop a cake... but it's messy and to me makes the pipe slightly more sour. So I don't let any buildup happen. If anything the interior bore gets smoother over time.. which I guess is due to the tiniest bit of "cake"... but it's not intentional and I'd just as soon not have it.

My cobs have tons of cake... because you just can't clean them.

 

[jpberg]

I took this last fall, while reaming out a Castello. All of a sudden ( it seemed) I couldn’t get much tobacco in the pipe. The shot was taken after reaming about halfway down.

 

[magicpiper]

I keep my pipe CLEAN! I use dry pipe cleaners after every smoke and ream it with a paper towel. At least once a year I clean it with vodka until I can't get any more pipe-juice out of those pours. The only thing I want in my pipe is briar and fresh tobacco.

So no cake for me. I used to try and develop a cake... but it's messy and to me makes the pipe slightly more sour. So I don't let any buildup happen. If anything the interior bore gets smoother over time.. which I guess is due to the tiniest bit of "cake"... but it's not intentional and I'd just as soon not have it.

My cobs have tons of cake... because you just can't clean them.

I like a clean pipe too. I, more often than not, use a paper towel to ream out all of the bits and chunks left in the bowl. Makes for a much better smoke on the next round. Sure, some cake naturally builds up but I keep it to a minimum. Some probably turn their noses up to that but it works for me.

 

[stevuke79]

I like a clean pipe too. I, more often than not, use a paper towel to ream out all of the bits and chunks left in the bowl. Makes for a much better smoke on the next round. Sure, some cake naturally builds up but I keep it to a minimum. Some probably turn their noses up to that but it works for me.

Same!

 

[blackpowderpiper]

I personally like for my pipes to have a thin layer of cake. I have no scientific means of quantifying anything but at least for me, I think it makes my pipes smoke a little cooler and dryer. Yes, cake can hold on to some ghosts but I generally smoke the same types of tobaccos in the same pipes. Cake gets a little too thick I ream it back.

 

[groovediggerdan]

I like a clean pipe too. I, more often than not, use a paper towel to ream out all of the bits and chunks left in the bowl. Makes for a much better smoke on the next round. Sure, some cake naturally builds up but I keep it to a minimum. Some probably turn their noses up to that but it works for me.

Me too. My workbench and trashcan is loaded with dirty, corkscrewed sections of paper towel (which I like to call "pig peckers"). Look it up if you don't get it.

Actually, don't look it up.

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

No.
The wood is heat resistant enough on its own, and if there's a pit you "might" solve that problem with a carbon layer but there are no guarantees either way.

And Yes, because the cake can help define the flavor of the pipe.

 

[Casual]

I just want to know where jpmcwjr is getting all of these scientific measuring devices. He is so precise with his moisture content data and temperatures... Are you an FDA plant? Come on, fess up.

My theory is engineer. He tests his ideas, he eschews heuristics for measurements, and he practices pedantry like a lifestyle. The sheer persistence with which he reminds people that they can put their location in their profile suggests he has a seat on the spectrum next to mine. The seat is probably even labelled with his name.

 

[bullet08]

Cake is very important. Especially if one goes around saying "let them eat cake." Marie Antoinette ought to know. She didn't bring enough for the revolution and someone said "off with her head!"

I don't build cake in my pipes. I like my head where it is.

 

[Richmond B. Funkenhouser]

I keep my pipe CLEAN! I use dry pipe cleaners after every smoke and ream it with a paper towel. At least once a year I clean it with vodka until I can't get any more pipe-juice out of those pours. The only thing I want in my pipe is briar and fresh tobacco.

So no cake for me. I used to try and develop a cake... but it's messy and to me makes the pipe slightly more sour. So I don't let any buildup happen. If anything the interior bore gets smoother over time.. which I guess is due to the tiniest bit of "cake"... but it's not intentional and I'd just as soon not have it.

My cobs have tons of cake... because you just can't clean them.

I wash my cobs too.

 

[Richmond B. Funkenhouser]

Cake makes ya ash stank..