The Ugly Truth

[zack24]

I have a very nice unsmoked corncob, and a few cheap ones I keep for guests...and just can't bring myself to smoke them when I have a bunch of fine briars, meers, and mortas in the case...I personally think the reason cobs smoke "so good" is that the airway is generally big enough to throw a cat through...I can compare any pipe with a restricted airway like some of the European pipes and definitely some of the older meers, and any pipe with an unrestricted airway and the holes drilled pretty much where they need to be. The pipe with the open airway will smoke better and with less tendency to gurgle than the restricted airway...

 

[sablebrush52]

Anyone who is not getting a better smoke out of their cobs than anything else is smoking them wrong.
Because my flakes don't taste as good in a cob, and I get a better smoking experience in my briars, I don't know how to smoke? Am I understanding you correctly?

No, Harris, I don't think that you're understanding aldecaker correctly. He means that you have to smoke the cob correctly for it to work properly. About 1 to 2 hours gently turning the cob over a hardwood fire, and basting the cob regularly, is important to getting the best out of it.

 

[warren]

And ... cobs are disposables! Cheap, so no great loss when dropped over board or under the wheel of the tractor. They have their place the rotation for the "all day" pipe smoker working outside.
What rub would be right for smoking a cob? Marinade? Low and slow is the correct method I believe. Mesquite isn't right either. Hickory is the right smoke for a cob I believe. Mesquite is simply overpowering, you won't realize the innate sweetness of a cob. Never sauce a cob before serving. Put the sauce on the table and let the neophytes sauce if they must. Real cob smokers never use a topping or sauce.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

My cholesterol sucks, but I have great blood pressure; so I just salt the hell out of them, without any butter or anything.

 

[warren]

A true connoisseur you are.

 

[cigrmaster]

jesse, so that is what I was doing wrong, thanks for the heads up.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

You were wrong to try to smoke a cob. Get a real pipe, you hippie.

 

[aldecaker]

"...I don't know how to smoke? Am I understanding you correctly?"
No, no. I'm not saying you don't know how to smoke. I'm just saying you don't know how to smoke cobs. Cobs are for the purist, the ascetic pipe smoker. Cob whisperers, if you will. Any old jackleg can win a race in a Maserati; only a true driver can burn rubber in a Yugo. If you have enough money, you can buy a fully-restored '57 Bel-Air. Only a real craftsman can pull one out of a junkyard and sell it to Mr. Moneybags at Barrett-Jackson.

 

[crashthegrey]

Phew, good thing things didn't get ugly. Haha. I dig the flip flop analogy a lot. I don't grill my flip flops, though. That would be weird. I also don't own any flip flops.

 

[cigrmaster]

aldecaker, lol ok I will have to practice now to become a cob whisperer. By the way, getting a Yugo to burn rubber is not very hard.

 

[pipestud]

"...I don't know how to smoke? Am I understanding you correctly?-Harris

"No, no. I'm not saying you don't know how to smoke. I'm just saying you don't know how to smoke cobs. Cobs are for the purist, the ascetic pipe smoker. Cob whisperers, if you will. Any old jackleg can win a race in a Maserati; only a true driver can burn rubber in a Yugo. If you have enough money, you can buy a fully-restored '57 Bel-Air. Only a real craftsman can pull one out of a junkyard and sell it to Mr. Moneybags at Barrett-Jackson.-aldecaker

Love this thread! And aldecaker's "Cob whisperers" comment had me laughing so hard I darned near passed out. Great line!
I would love to be a Cob whisperer myself. Only fear and common sense is holding me back.
Pipestud

 

[menuhin]

Not all flip flops are created equal. :lol:

Some cobs are a bit more expensive and involve a few more steps to create them.
Smoking is not a competition, despite pipes are equipments and there are skills involve smoking a pipe - and some forms of pipe smoking competition do exist. That leads to some other questions:

1) do pipe makers and designers make pipes that adapt to a wider range of smoking style or that are optimized for a certain smoking style?

2) Why older pipes from Europe and earlier pipes, e.g. before 1950/1960s have narrower airway? Did majority of smokers have different smoking style or the tobacco was different? The airway of some previous century clay pipes was even more narrow, there must be something that people did to make it worked.

 

[jaytex1969]

When we all run out of tobacco, we can grind up our nicotine soaked cobs and smoke them IN our briars. Win-win outcome for all...

 

[aldecaker]

I'm mostly being full of shit, but I do actually enjoy cobs along with my briars.

 

[crashthegrey]

Being full of shit is oftentimes fun. I don't think anyone was taking this thread too seriously.

 

[aldecaker]

God, I hope not!

 

[ravkesef]

Cobs are terrific smoker, and in the rare event that one dies (and that will happen only after some years and much abuse,) you’re not out big bucks. I have cobs that are decades old and continue to deliver a superior smoke. Like most of you, I have some briars that set me back a pretty penny, and I learned the lesson that price does not equate with taste. If you enjoy the work of the artisan, that’s a great reason to shell out the cash. For example, I visited Paolo Becker at his atelier in Rome, and bought two pipes. They’re definitely good smokers—not great, but good. The styling is wonderful, and every time I smoke one of them, I am reminded of a wonderful trip, and the opportunity I had to purchase a pipe directly from the hands of their master. And I’ve got some basket pipes that really deliver the goods.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I’m jealous, Eric. Very jealous. I would have loved to have met him.

And no, I’m not takingmyself seriously. But, it’s good to have the fun guys all hamming it up again. ::

 

[pipestud]

I'm mostly being full of shit, but I do actually enjoy cobs along with my briars.- Aldlecake

Ditto pardner and keep those great lines coming!
Pipestud

 

[sablebrush52]

By the way, getting a Yugo to burn rubber is not very hard.

Yep, all you need is a match.