Why don't aromatics make cake on my briar?

[smokinfireman]

I agree with what has been said about using CH to cake with. The reason aromatics burn hotter is because they are more moist and more syrupy, which makes for a hotter smoke. My aromatic use has declined severely because of this, as the tongue bite is too painful.

 

[onestrangeone]

Love this place, almost all of my questions are answered without having to actually ask! I was going to ask pretty much the same question requarding Cavendish, I have a bulldog devoted to Cavendish that I have smoked maybe 10oz's thru that doesn't have any noticeable buildup. I was mainly just curious if this was a trait of this particular style of tobacco.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Wonder if anyone might address this from three weeks ago?

Ash?? That's what builds cake? I generally wipe ash out, or rinse it out if I am not using the pipe for a day. Yet I have cake, though I think cake is often overrated.
I though it was the combo of heat and tobacco ingredients that don't fully combust that build cake. I've been wrong before!

 

[bcharles123]

I am often wrong. Just ask my wife.....
However, a very moist tobacco would burn cooler than a very dry tobacco. Steam will burn the crap out of your tongue because water is a fantastic conductor of heat. But a dry smoke is probably hotter in temperature, just less conductive. Steam burns are brutal.
A human can handle a hot bath at 110F (barely) but a dry sauna at 200F.
Yeah?

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

A thin layer of honey seems to get the ash to stick pretty well (very thin layer, just enough to make it tacky).

My last bowl with some Carter Hall in a Cob turned the bowl a deep, almost fuzzy black. That Cob really needed it because of a soft spot in the wall.

 

[didimauw]

I've noticed that in my pipes, the cake builds the fastest where the smoke leaves the bowl. Most of my pipes have the most cake closest to the stem, especially in my bent pipes.

 

[cigrmaster]

When you are done with a bowl of tobacco in this pipe, use your Czech tool to scoop some of that ash into the bowl. Put your thumb over the top and give it a good shake. Leave it in there until the bowl cools and then dump it out. You should see the bowl coated evenly with that ash.

Sorry but the above is an old wives tale, there is no carbon left in the ash and that is what burining pipe tobacco leaves behind. The only thing the ash will do is make your smoke taste like ash. If you want to build a nice hard cake you might want to try smoking Va,Vabur,Vaper flakes. In my experience nothing builds cake faster than the above mentioned flakes. In regards to not building cake that is a personal thing. I have seen how a nice hard cake with the thickness of a dime will make my pipes smoke cooler and with more flavor especially when I dedicate my pipes.
I don't know where this idea of shaking ash in your pipe will build cake faster comes from, it just doesn't.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Cigr, I've seen my uncles do the ash thing, way back in the day. It makes a fluffy soft cake, especially for someone who smokes a lot of those burley based codger blends. But, when that ashy cake gets wet or left in a humid air, it swells up, and can break the briar. And, it's more prone to breaking off leaving the briar exposed in areas. I've seen pipes where the cake has swollen up and actually protruded out of the bowl. This was from the days when guys smoked their pipes till they were just too nasty to bare, and then they'd toss them in the fireplace.
Also, cake makes your pipe smoke cooler by insulating the briar, but you're only making it cool to the touch, not cooler on your tongue. If you can't smoke your pipe cooler by smoking slow, then you might want to consider a pipe with more mass of briar around the chamber. But, heck if you want cake, do it. If you want a massive cake, do it. It's your pipe. Do what you want.