Pipe "Break In"

[Briar Lee]

You do this even when the manufacturer finishes the chamber with a coal skin? (I’m not being asinine, here)

Yes, the carbon coating applied to the inside of the bowl is like applying a thin film of honey,,,,.it doesn’t hurt a thing, burns away during the smoke, masks initial off tastes, and might lower the temperature of a bowl a tiny bit.

But all pipes, benefit from break in, the cheaper ones usually more than the most expensive.

Probably due to extremely long times needed for the burl root to form, maybe because of the soil and climate where the heath shrubs grow, the only good commercial briar has always been dug around the rim of the Mediterranean.

A supreme effort was made to replace that briar with friendly sources from Allied nations during World War Two and failed. It has to be from there, to be good.

On paper a briar pipe should just burn up. The ember of a pipe approaches a thousand degrees when you puff it, and virtually all wood starts to ignite about half that temperature, but not cured, seasoned, and aged Mediterranean briar.

What I think happens during the first few times a briar pipe is smoked is that intense heat cures out and alters the structure of the cellulose fibers in the briar.

If the briar was high enough grade, that somehow seals it and it’s good for ages,,,.indefinitely,,,.until Christ comes, if properly rested and babied between smokes.

Today I unwrapped two magnificently high condition old Marxman pipes at least 70 years old.

The Oom Paul had an even cake of carbon to the bottom of the bowl just a whisker thick, and it all just peeled off like the outer skin of an onion leaving all brown briar. The square panel Benchmade looked like half a bowl had been smoked.

The Oom Paul and Square Panel both were the light shade of tan as the Square Panel when both were new.

Today the Oom Paul is such a dynamite good smoker you’d call me a liar trying to describe it.

As I’m smoking the Square Panel, about halfway down I’m getting the slightest taste of briar that was likely 75 years old when harvested and has aged another 75 years. In a month it will be as reddish brown as the Oom Paul and be a perfect, none better at any price smoker as well.

The same process benefits a new Dr Grabow as much as the best old hunk of Pre 54 Algerian briar ever carved.

 

[Lumbridge]

Fill, smoke, swab, repeat. Never had a problem, both cobs and briars. Overthinking kills the enjoyment for me.

 

[Tate]

I usually do one a day until there is a little cake. Mainly because I can get puffing fast on certain blends and I smoke outside and the wind can get the pipe scorching. It's most likely pointless but eases my mind. I'd be paranoid about burnout and wouldn't enjoy as much lol. I only have a 4 that need a few more smokes then the whole fleet will be good to go.

 

[Sigmund]

When I get a new pipe, if its bare briar I load it and smoke it somewhat gently. Only once per day. Often skipping days.

As per some suggestions here on the forum, if it has a coated bowl I now either sand most of it out or I toss in a strong blend that will cover the weird taste almost every bowl coating puts out during its first smoke or two.

I tried honey once and one smoke still left it sticky. I didnt care for the results (though it was fine after another bowl). I have not bothered with it since. Im a light smoker and infected by PAD. There is no way I will burn out my pipes in my lifetime.

 

[Briar Lee]

I love reading old Pipe Lover’s Magazines online and right after the war over half the new pipes sold were still “domestic briar” and not what was then the highly prized pre war imported briar.

Even with domestic briar, from California or North Carolina heath shrubs, only the burls on the roots were useable and then only after they’d been boiled of sap, then presumably kiln dried.

And there is a difference between briar not sufficiently boiled and cured to remove sap and briar not sufficiently dried out. The last few Danish pipes I bought were god awful smokers for quite a while. If they’d not been properly boiled and cured they never would be good. They weren’t aged.

In 1939 in the USA about 30 million imported briar pipes were made and sold and today Dr Grabow sells about 200,000. The amount of briar harvested and made into pipes all around the world is likely one hundredth of the golden years of the late thirties to early fifties.

But it still needs boiled and dried, and preferably aged, then a few careful smokes to break in never hurt one.

 

[ParkitoATL]

I started using the Peterson Bowl Coating (discussed here at Peterson Pipe Notes) and have found it to be very useful and effective. My first Pete was an estate 303 that hit me with some really acrid puffs for a while. After a dozen bowls where I was wincing my way through the smoke, I saw the article and applied the PBC, which made an immediate improvement. I'm probably close to 50 bowls on the 303 and it is now my sweetest smoker.

My XL315 and 313 both came new with the same bowl coating (applied very thinly) and smoked well more or less right out of the gate, but once they crossed the 20 bowl mark they both seemed much finer and smoother. It could also be my personal learning curve, I'm just so much better at smoking slow and cool than I was six months ago.

My personal favorite break-in blend is 50/50 any good burley with black Cavendish. That extra bit of sweetness helps mitigate any sharpness.

 

[kcghost]

With my extremely limited palate I don't bother with new pipe break in. All I do when I get a new pipe is smoke it once day every day until it matures. usually only takes a week or two,

 

[PipeIT]

I've never "broken in" any of my pipes. Too much work, too much thinking, and it doesn't interest me. No offense to those who do. I've noticed that when it comes to pipe smoking, if I overthink it, the smoke won't be good. That's also why I smoke any tobacco, in any pipe.

In both of those situations, I haven't experienced any negative effects. I pack it, light it, and enjoy.

Everything is a personal preference to some extent, but there are certainly preferable ways in which to do certain things to help produce a better outcome.

Like smoking overly moist tobacco
Packing to tight
Smoking with a fast cadence and getting the pipe to hot

Granted, in the end, a person can do whatever they wish, but it might not always yield the best results.

Uncoated chambers on new pipes can smoke amazing from the very first bowl, but, if you smoke them to hot, you can risk cracking the chamber, or burnout. If the pipe also has thick walls, you might not ever feel/notice any heat too, to realize it is getting to hot.

With a new uncoated chamber on a pipe you care about, it’s best to smoke it slowly, and keep it cool, until developing around 1mm of a carbon layer, which serves two purposes, insulates the chamber from damage, and a cooler smoke.

Smoking the pipe slowly also doesn’t mean trying to keep it lit with a slow cadence. Slow as in less fire/heat, barely lighting the pipe, just enough for a few sips and let the pipe cool all the way down.

—————————-
So for a Break In, the most important aspect on a pipe someone cares about, is protecting an uncoated chamber until building up the carbon layer.
—————————-

Some pipes just don’t smoke good until they’ve gone through this process, and some are great from the beginning, but remember if the chamber is Uncoated, then you need to carefully go this route to protect it.

Here’s a Radice Clear Bent Dublin with Baldo Baldi briar aged over 20 years I bought in June, with an uncoated chamber. I am seriously smoking this slowly, around 8 hours to smoke a bowl, because you can be certain I will make sure to not damage it.

I smoke it so bloody slow, because I also smoke only VAs, which are also known for burning hotter, so I barely light it, then one or two slow small sips, and then I let it cool down.

Then I let the pipe rest for a few days. 5 months later, this pipe is no where near a nice 1mm layer through out the entire chamber, which could take several years.

Now am I over thinking any of this or stressing out? No, it’s like riding a bicycle, first you learn, then it’s second nature.

 

[instymp]

I load it, smoke it and repeat till I get bored with it & grab another pipe.

 

[metalheadycigarguy]

I never bought into the whole breaking in of a pipe. Filling a pipe 1/2 full, then let it rest and repeat for several smokes, then 3/4 full, then rest and repeat for a few smokes, before filling the bowl just seemed dumb to me. I've always just filled my pipe and smoked it. Sometimes all day, and several days in a row before letting it rest. Never an issue with any of my pipes. I know others conform to this idea which is perfectly fine, but it's not for me.

 

[Santiago]

Believe it or not, we have members here that hate the taste and smell of tobacco, so it only stands to reason that some of them are going to hate the taste of a new pipe. Not me, I love the aroma of briar from the start.
So, these folks think of this "breaking in " process as suffering through the first few smokes where you get the most of that warmed briar goodness.

I haven't noticed that huge of a difference between new and broken-in pipe. Maybe even slightly prefer the newer pipe as there is likely less ghosting; but I do smoke slower with a new pipe.

 

[Santiago]

Some cheap pipes need to have the sap burned out of the wood before they start to get "better"... and I use the word "better" out of kindness. Also the honey treatment is supposed to help. However, in my experience the high grade Italian pipes, which is what I mainly smoke, will smoke great right from the start and need no breaking in. As side note... I do something to my pipes with a smooth top. I put a very small 45 degree bevel around the top inside edge of the bowl. This takes away the sharp 90 degree edge and the wood won't char as easily. It's easy to do with a simple electric drill and a 1" ball shaped grinding stone bit. You can touch it up with a little fine grip sandpaper. Of course, being the type personality I am, I also drill a small 45 degree "cup" in the tip of the tenon's hole to make a pipe cleaner easier to get in. Don't really know if it helps, just like to.

When you pass away and they take / give / sell your pipes somebody is gonna either love or hate you for it, but nothing in between

 

[Mike N]

I’ve broken in probably 200 pipes over 35 years with a first coat of honey because that’s how my uncle did it. Recently I’ve switched to:

1. Filling the bowl 3/4 with a non-aromatic. No honey,

2. After that first smoke, I leave a little ash in the bowl and then use honey mixing it with the ash using my finger to coat the entire bowl.

3. I then smoke a full bowl of a hotter aromatic and puff slowly until it’s gone.

4. By the 5th bowl the difference in the taste is incredible.

Here’s a big boy I broke in today. I think Santambrogio pipes are an incredible value.

Mike

 

[Mike N]

Everything is a personal preference to some extent, but there are certainly preferable ways in which to do certain things to help produce a better outcome.

Like smoking overly moist tobacco
Packing to tight
Smoking with a fast cadence and getting the pipe to hot

Granted, in the end, a person can do whatever they wish, but it might not always yield the best results.

Uncoated chambers on new pipes can smoke amazing from the very first bowl, but, if you smoke them to hot, you can risk cracking the chamber, or burnout. If the pipe also has thick walls, you might not ever feel/notice any heat too, to realize it is getting to hot.

With a new uncoated chamber on a pipe you care about, it’s best to smoke it slowly, and keep it cool, until developing around 1mm of a carbon layer, which serves two purposes, insulates the chamber from damage, and a cooler smoke.

Smoking the pipe slowly also doesn’t mean trying to keep it lit with a slow cadence. Slow as in less fire/heat, barely lighting the pipe, just enough for a few sips and let the pipe cool all the way down.

—————————-
So for a Break In, the most important aspect on a pipe someone cares about, is protecting an uncoated chamber until building up the carbon layer.
—————————-

Some pipes just don’t smoke good until they’ve gone through this process, and some are great from the beginning, but remember if the chamber is Uncoated, then you need to carefully go this route to protect it.

Here’s a Radice Clear Bent Dublin with Baldo Baldi briar aged over 20 years I bought in June, with an uncoated chamber. I am seriously smoking this slowly, around 8 hours to smoke a bowl, because you can be certain I will make sure to not damage it.

I smoke it so bloody slow, because I also smoke only VAs, which are also known for burning hotter, so I barely light it, then one or two slow small sips, and then I let it cool down.

Then I let the pipe rest for a few days. 5 months later, this pipe is no where near a nice 1mm layer through out the entire chamber, which could take several years.

Now am I over thinking any of this or stressing out? No, it’s like riding a bicycle, first you learn, then it’s second nature.

View attachment 263020

Great pipe. Who is the maker?

 

[bullet08]

"Pipe break in" should be a verb. It indicates a pipe smoker fresh out of his favorite blend, breaking into stranger's house using his pipe to looking for Prince Albert.

 

[K.E. Powell]

I'm not as seasoned as many others here, but I've over three years devoted to this vice, and I find myself increasingly convinced that most of the commonly accepted smoking practices that are advocated by hobbyists are not really indicative of any empirical and time-tested wisdom worth paying any mind; rather, I believe, most of the time, these are really just expressions of individuals who've mistakenly come to believe that their way is entirely objective because it works for them.

In a sense, they are not wrong. But pipe smoking is subject to a near infinite number of variables that effects the quality of the smoke, and those variables are not easily isolated. This not to say that breaking in a pipe, as a concept, is entirely bunk. But it is hard to state authoritatively that it is always necessary or preferred.

So, what then? "Simplify," as Thoreau would say. A pipe is a tool. Like any tool, the effectiveness of its use boils down to three things: the quality of its makeup, the technique of its user, and how well it is maintained. Breaking in only concerns the last of those three criteria, and it has both potential risks and rewards: a well-caked pipe may offer more protection to the briar itself and may even season a pipe (i.e. like how a skillet is seasoned), but a pipe with too much cake or cake that is carelessly reamed may sustain damage. It's up to each individual to weigh the risks vs rewards and decide if the effort is worth it. fwiw, I do not feel it necessary. But to each their own.

 

[Mike N]

I’ve broken in probably 200 pipes over 35 years with a first coat of honey because that’s how my uncle did it. Recently I’ve switched to:

1. Filling the bowl 3/4 with a non-aromatic. No honey,

2. After that first smoke, I leave a little ash in the bowl and then use honey mixing it with the ash using my finger to coat the entire bowl.

3. I then smoke a full bowl of a hotter aromatic and puff slowly until it’s gone.

4. By the 5th bowl the difference in the taste is incredible.

Here’s a big boy I broke in today. I think Santambrogio pipes are an incredible value.

Mike

Here is what the huge bowl looks like after the second smoke using that method:

 

[renfield]

Smoke as per normal until a little cake starts to build. I don’t do anything special and it’s never taken more than a week or two for the pipe to settle in.

 

[rick3wood]

Has anyone ever had a pipe crack on the first smoke because it got too hot?

 

[Mike N]

Has anyone ever had a pipe crack on the first smoke because it got too hot?

Yes, a massive olive pipe cracked on me on the very first bowl. I won’t mention the maker, since my money was immediately refunded via PayPal, and he told me to keep the pipe. I smoked a few other bowls through it to see if the crack would get larger but it has not. I own several other olive pipes and have not had the same problem.