What's the Deal with Bowl Coatings?

[Sloopjohnbee]

I have noticed that many pipes from European countries sport the bowl coating;
I've found thread here and there mentioning the topic and people's likes and dislikes of it but can someone elaborate on 1 what the heck it's actually put on there for? What it's typically made of? I wasted 10 minutes of my time on youtube watching a guy wipe it off a Chinese Pipe - stating that he's concerned of what's in it...(maybe he should stick to civilized countries, don't mind me ) Anyway, should they be sanded, alcohol swabbed until gone or left alone?
When you see some jobs in person they look daunting, that ugly uneven grey matter spread all over like gunky sludge

 

[americaman]

It's so you don't have to break in a pipe. Some say it's done in certain cases as a sneaky way to cover flaws.

There are varying opinions as to whether they affect the flavor, but from what I've seen, it seems that most say the bowl coating doesn't affect flavor. In my limited experience, I don't know if it doesn't affect flavor. I have two pipes from a well known company that does bowl coatings, and I don't like the taste I'm getting from the pipes. So I'm worried it is the bowl coatings.

 

[cigrmaster]

Bowl coatings suck in my opinion and I detest them. I would much rather have a naked bowl. Who knows what is being used in those coatings. You could be smoking camel shit for all you know.

 

[bullet08]

I'm sure each manufacturer has their own recipe. I don't get any taste from them. And some don't have them at all even from same brand.

 

[musicman]

I have always removed a coating from any new pipe that has it. Usually a little alcohol on q-tips will do. Like some others, I just don't trust what might be in it, and I also prefer to control the break-in process myself, which means (to me) starting with bare briar.

 

[Country Bladesmith]

You could be smoking camel shit for all you know.

Waiting on someone to make a Latakia joke ?

 

[craig61a]

For most of the coatings it’s activated charcoal. But I’ve used powdered tobacco, too. As far as binders, honey, grape jelly, maple syrup, sour cream...

It’s meant as an aid to breaking in a pipe. You should still observe a break in routine.

I just smoke em. I don’t get to hung up on whether the bowl has a coating or not.

In my Apple wood pipes I use a coating since the bare wood tends to char too easily if I don’t.

 

[olkofri]

I wonder if, besides helping break in a pipe and get started the (in)famous cake, these coatings are put so as to avoid the taste of burning wood you get on bare pipes.

 

[craig61a]

You could be smoking camel shit for all you know.

People used to put camel shit on a pin, blaze it up and cover it with a drinking glass... or so I’ve heard. ?

 

[Worknman]

Theyre supposed help skip the break in period. Most people fall into two camps. They either detest them or don't really care either way. Very actually prefer prefer them, so why manufacturers put them on is beyond me.

 

[FurCoat]

I use a qtip and Everclear to wipe out the coating. Then I lightly coat with honey and let it sit a couple of days. I just got a new Peterson Derby and the coating looks like black epoxy infused with sand. Still on the fence on this one.

 

[sasquatch]

When I make a pipe, I've inspected the briar 87 times through the process, and discard anything that doesn't meet whatever standard I feel needs to be there. In a factory, this is not the case. So there are more "worse" bowls out there, and add to the equation that people beying less expensive pipes in general are more likely to be newer smokers (few people think "I should try smoking a pipe, I think I'll spend 500 bucks on one."). The result is that for most factory products, adding a protective barrier makes sense, and if it spares a hundred burnouts in every 10,000 pipes or something, that's well worth it. Bowl coats photograph well too, allowing nice easy dilineation of "out" and "in" at the rim (no stain running etc). So really high grade pipes are usually coated for that reason, pure aesthetics is a factor. I think for most experienced smokers, it's absolutely not needed, and I rarely coat pipes, and usually for aesthetic reasons (again black pipes photograph totally differently with a bowl coating in them). And I think I've had 2 pipes in probably 500 or 700 complained about in terms of burnout, and I'm absolutely convinced it was user error both times - heavy reaming in one and trying to light a pipe with no tobacco left in it in the other. Which is to say, I don't think I've seen an uncoated pipe crater because it was uncoated.

 

[sablebrush52]

They either detest them or don't really care either way.

I'm firmly in the second camp. I don't dare either way. No bowl coaring I've so far encountered has added its flavor to the smoke. A few bowls and it's covered.

 

[STP]

I can take or leave the coating. Doesn’t bother me either way.

 

[logs]

so why manufacturers put them on is beyond me.

Marketing gimmick

 

[sablebrush52]

I don't dare either way.

Meant to write "I don't care either way".

 

[jmill208]

My belief is that coatings are mainly for aesthetics. The coating makes the pipe look finished. Never noticed much effect on the performance. Breaking in a pipe with or without a coating has never been an issue for me.

After a few smokes, the coating no longer makes a difference.

 

[02Knight]

I have a Savinelli 1992 Collection New pipe that has never been smoked, it is one that I am keeping for myself from the Estate Pipes I have purchased from the Doctor's Pipe collection. The bowl looks like black sparkling sand in there, it is sort of rough to the feel like a fine grit sandpaper. It is next on the list for me to start smoking. I mean if Savinelli put it in there it must be alright, so I will weigh in later on my thoughts. Hey it looks good inside that bowl! Now I have another new pipe made by Sam Learned, it is smooth clean briar in that pipe, will have to find out how to properly break that pipe in before I smoke it. Some good info in this title, thanks.

 

[lightxmyfire]

I started out neutral to bowl coatings as I had only ever had one pipe with one at first and it didn't seem to taste like anything or change much.

Then I had two pipes that had them in a bad bad way. One was so awful I had to sand it out, tasted like burning rubber, and after 6 almost barf inducing smokes where it didn't change I had to throw in the towel. No clue what the coating even was. The pipe was an Italian pipe from a seemingly not well-known brand (Maestro Barldi) from a local B&M. Made a thread asking for help here and was advised to sand it off so I did. Best advice ever, the clean briar under it tasted like sweet warm wood for a few smokes and then nothing, and that pipe is now one of my favorites.

The second was an activated charcoal coating and it just tasted like well... charcoal... musty... weird... I muscled through maybe 15 smokes before it finally faded and now I look for uncoated or request it when I'm buying a pipe or having a pipe restored.

So in my experience at best they do nothing and at worst they ruin a bunch of smokes. ?‍

 

[jpmcwjr]

I am trying to care a bunch about coatings or the lack thereof, but just can't get there.

Never had a bad one. But I prefer naked wood—all things being equal, which they seldom are.