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instymp

Lifer
Jul 30, 2012
2,451
1,132
Dimes worth, start paying attention after a nickel's worth.
Doubled over pipe cleaner every now & then.
 

sasquatch

Lifer
Jul 16, 2012
1,708
2,998
Cake is very dependent on what and how you smoke. A virginia pipe will have a hard, thin (almost non-existent) cake, glassy, and a burley pipe will have great thick gobs of carbonized stuff on the walls. I don't keep a certain amount of cake, I try to get my pipes used to the heat of smoking, slowly break them in that way.
 
May 8, 2017
1,660
1,858
Sugar Grove, IL, USA
I see so many pics of guys pipes that are really full of cake, I smoke everyday but I don't have any build up in my pipes. Do I need the cake? am I missing something
What tobaccos do you smoke? Cake development is greatly impacted by the blend. Some form great quantities of soft and relatively low-grade cake, while others form little, but dense cake.
 

eaglebleyes

Might Stick Around
Jan 23, 2017
61
301
Mars
I wipe mine after every bowl with a paper towel..After time you get cake but it's very hard and almost glassy like
 
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kgs

Might Stick Around
Feb 14, 2021
78
196
36
South Florida
It's kind of fun to build a cake, but it can be a pain to remove it later on. Because of the tobaccos I smoke my cake is always tarry, moist, and sticky. So I don't like to wipe the bowl with paper towel or anything because it will leave little white specks stuck to the cake. Normally I don't do any cleaning on my pipes. I don't even use a pipe cleaner down the stem. Just knock the dottle and ash out, blow through the stem and out the bowl.

Eventually the cake gets out of hand and I will ream it down a bit or completely remove it all by using water and rags and q-tips. If you get the cake really wet it will just wipe right out leaving you with bare briar.
 

bullet08

Lifer
Nov 26, 2018
10,340
41,822
RTP, NC. USA
No cake. I just wipe out after each smoke with a paper towel. I do have some in every pipe from when I didn't clean. I should ream the out when I get a chance.
 
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john19

Part of the Furniture Now
Nov 27, 2021
584
8,252
Greece
As long as you smoke, the cake will build, no matter what you do, no matter what you smoke, no matter how you smoke (unless you use sandpaper, as the captain said above). This is what I believe.

After each smoke, I always clean the bowl with a paper towel, but a hard cake always builds up.

In this pipe i only smoked 8-10 bowl. Also this pipe had no coating from the factory. the briar was clear.
IMG_20230403_182740.jpg

In this pipe i smoked around 30 bowl.
IMG_20230403_182320.jpg

I've had this pipe for 2-2.5 years, and I've smoked it much longer. I have also sanded it 1-2 times with sandpaper.
IMG_20230403_182442.jpg
 

AJL67

Lifer
May 26, 2022
5,491
28,119
Florida - Space Coast
interesting question why do some pipes cake more then others and why do some seem to cake completely evenly while others seem to have those spots where the cake forms a little uneven? Answer! Pipe magic.
Or could be some tobaccos with say higher sugar contents, VA / VaPers cake more because of the sugar burning and making goo?