Will removing cake reverse the pipe "break-in" process?
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I keep a thin layer of cake in my pipes, all except the cobs. A thin layer of cake works best for me. I swab out my briar pipes after each smoke with a folded in half pipe cleaner. I use a 40 caliber bronze bore brush on my cobs to eliminate all cake build up.
The headline question differs from the direction of the conversation. No, removing cake will not reverse the "break in " process.
From what I've gathered there are two primary functions of the "Cake".
1. Burnout Prevention
2. Flavour
In terms of protecting your pipe, more cake will always be "better", assuming you're worried about tobacco burning too hot. Lots of people aren't, some are, I don't think I've ever seen a warranty stipulate you must have cake on your pipe, so in the end it's entirely your choice.
If you're not overzealous with your cleaning then even a thin carbon layer probably makes a big difference... "Probably", I have nothing scientific to back that up. Most manufacturers use pre-carb at this point as well, so at least we have some precedent for the idea of a thin layer being some kind of ideal (I've never seen a pipe with a 1/8" pre-carb).
The effect of cake on flavour is probably much more important for most people.
As you smoke a given blend in a pipe, the flavor of that blend will be part of the cake.
Wash out the cake and you will lose at least some of that imparted flavor, sometimes called the "Ghost" if it's something you don't like. Given the great lengths people go through to perform an exorcism on their pipes, a simple washing is clearly not going to remove all flavour imparted by the bowl you just smoked, but I'm just guessing it will reduce the effect if it is something you want.
Personally I tend to wipe out my pipes with paper towel after each use.
1. Burnout Prevention
2. Flavour
In terms of protecting your pipe, more cake will always be "better", assuming you're worried about tobacco burning too hot. Lots of people aren't, some are, I don't think I've ever seen a warranty stipulate you must have cake on your pipe, so in the end it's entirely your choice.
If you're not overzealous with your cleaning then even a thin carbon layer probably makes a big difference... "Probably", I have nothing scientific to back that up. Most manufacturers use pre-carb at this point as well, so at least we have some precedent for the idea of a thin layer being some kind of ideal (I've never seen a pipe with a 1/8" pre-carb).
The effect of cake on flavour is probably much more important for most people.
As you smoke a given blend in a pipe, the flavor of that blend will be part of the cake.
Wash out the cake and you will lose at least some of that imparted flavor, sometimes called the "Ghost" if it's something you don't like. Given the great lengths people go through to perform an exorcism on their pipes, a simple washing is clearly not going to remove all flavour imparted by the bowl you just smoked, but I'm just guessing it will reduce the effect if it is something you want.
Personally I tend to wipe out my pipes with paper towel after each use.
I use a dry paper towel ream. A little cake has always been favorable for me. Have never actually used a reamer. I just use a dry paper towel twisted up after every smoke. All my pipes have a nice shiny thin cake.
I don't believe so. I do as Btwes7 does, and corkscrew a paper towel into the chamber (I do it twice), so I have very little cake (a very very thin layer) in any of my pipes. But without the cake buildup, most of those pipes smoked better after so many smokes. A thicker cake is, in my opinion, unnecessary and taking up space that could be filled with tobacco. I don't think removing the cake will reverse your pipe. Nor do I believe rubbing the chamber with alcohol will change it. The alcohol is unnecessary as well, unless you're doing a deep cleaning.
ar74, I remember seeing a picture of your pipes recently and was amazed at how good they looked. Some of them actually looked unsmoked. I'm somewhat OCD about keeping my pipes looking new so I inquired about how great they looked and you passed on the paper towel cleaning tip.
I've never been a big fan of heavy cake build up and since I started using this technique, my pipes are much happier with a nice smooth, thin cake. It seems as if the paper towels are very slightly abrasive and have a smoothing effect without removing all the cake. Of course this probably won't work on a pipe with a moderate or heavy cake already built up. Since I'm in the midst of a PAD attack, many of my pipes are newer and this method is working very well. Also, doing this right after a smoke, while the bowl is still warm, seems to produce the best results. Anyway, great tip ar74 and thanks.
40mm bore brush on cobs? Perfect! And I just happen to have a bunch of those. Thanks ray47.
No. Short of grinding away the topmost surface of the chamber walls, it's never going to be like unsmoked virgin wood ever again. But you can partly undo some of that "breaking in" with a combination of removing all carbon build up from the chamber walls combined with boiling alcohol flushes using a retort.
I define breaking in a pipe as that period when you're tasting the flavor of heated wood in what you're smoking, and the pipe is broken in when that stops.
Wiping out the walls of your pipe with pipe cleaners or a wad of paper toweling will not completely prevent the formation of a cake. It will prevent the formation of a thick soft useless crumbly cake, filled with bits of tobacco and structurally weak. What will develop instead is a thin hard coating of carbon that will act as an insulator.
A thin, hard of cake and a coating will insulate the wood from the heat. However, no insulation is needed as briar rarely burns out. A pipe maker told me there is no predicting burnout based on visible flaws in the briar. Pipes with flaws that you think will burnout don't while those you think won't do
Our obsession with burnout although understandable amounts to hysteria as the evidence of anything other than a rare, unpredictable occurrence is not supported.
Our obsession with burnout although understandable amounts to hysteria as the evidence of anything other than a rare, unpredictable occurrence is not supported.
IMHO, in an ideal world, 1/16" of cake would form and stay at that thickness forever. Particularly if you dedicate pipes to a blend or a specific genre. It's my belief that does improve how the pipe smokes. When it is necessary to ream the cake out, it should not be taken down to the bare wood but should leave somewhere around 1/16" (dime's thickness). Cake should not be allowed to become too thick as it will expand and contract at different rate than the briar bowl which could lead to cracking the bowl. Doesn't seem that likely but supposedly that can happen. Not to mention at some point, there's little room left for tobacco.
I don't want anything but the thinnest carbon layer, essentially no cake at all, achieved by scooping out the ash and wiping out the bowl with a paper towel or napkin. This maintains the circumference of the chamber and provides enough of a coating for good flavor. This has worked for my older pipes for decades.
Guys, come on, stop messing with the new guy. Of course it reverses the break in. For every layer of cake you remove, you unsmoke all of that tobacco, and it gets wasted, as if you just threw the tobacco into the garbage. This is why when someone get's cancer, they scrape their pipes. Then they add chemicals to remove all tars from the pipe... this is known as "Chemo-therapy." :
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I am fairly sure that I am going to Hell now. I felt as tug on my pants leg, ha ha.
:I am fairly sure that I am going to Hell now. I felt as tug on my pants leg, ha ha.
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