How many bowls to get some REAL cake?

[EvanS]

For sweet cripes anyway. I smoke and smoke and smoke and smoke (ok, it's not really a problem) but I only seem to building any real cake on my Burley pipes. I guess this just proves that Burleys really are God's tobacco

None of my regular pipes have anything less than 30+ bowls thru them, some "broken in", some syruped some just smoked...and they all seem about the same. A nice coating all over the bowl but really nothing more than some minor buildup. Does the building of cake accelerate after the bowl starts to accumulate? I've read to shoot for a cake about the thickness of a nickel. Don't know if i buy that as that's pretty dang thick. But if that's true might have a decent cake by this time next year!!

Is there something I'm not getting here?

[SIZE=1](hmmm, i wonder who of the usual suspects will be the first to say "be grateful you don't need to ream your pipes"?? huh, who?[/SIZE]

[Mad Hatter]

Originally Posted by EvanS

For sweet cripes anyway. I smoke and smoke and smoke and smoke (ok, it's not really a problem) but I only seem to building any real cake on my Burley pipes. I guess this just proves that Burleys really are God's tobacco

None of my regular pipes have anything less than 30+ bowls thru them, some "broken in", some syruped some just smoked...and they all seem about the same. A nice coating all over the bowl but really nothing more than some minor buildup. Does the building of cake accelerate after the bowl starts to accumulate? I've read to shoot for a cake about the thickness of a nickel. Don't know if i buy that as that's pretty dang thick. But if that's true might have a decent cake by this time next year!!

Is there something I'm not getting here?

[SIZE=1](hmmm, i wonder who of the usual suspects will be the first to say "be grateful you don't need to ream your pipes"?? huh, who?[/SIZE]

I read somewhere that after you are finished with a bowl, stir the ash and then shake the pipe while you cover the chamber opening. The ash sticks to the hot sticky surface and whenever it cools blow through the stem and much of the ash will stay stuck there. I've done it and it works well.

Or you can do it like I usually do and when you get a new pipe, just smoke the heck out of it for a month or so. Guaranteed cake!

[IHT]

i was gently cleaning my da vinci pipe a few weeks back, the one i smoke VA's in, and i knocked off about an 1/8" piece of cake...

i'd been smoking it a lot lately, but i can't tell you how many bowls i had.

how are you cleaning the pipe after each bowl? do you scrape out the tobacco? do you just use a cleaner to rub away the ash and big pieces of tobacco left over?
i've heard of some ppl taking the ash and shaking it up inside the bowl with their thumb over the chamber, coating the inside with the ash while it's still a little warm/moist. (now that i read mad_hatters' post, i see he's got that covered. he's on the ball, as usual.)

[Big T]

The pipe guru at my B&M is adamant that you start off with 1/4 bowls, let a little carbon build on the bottom. Then work your way up to half bowls and then full bowls. All pipes are different, but should be at least 5-6 bowls. He says he seen a lot of nice pipes ruined from over-aggresive smoking at the beginning.

[Bruce]

To be honest with you, I don't really worry about building a cake anymore. Used to be when I first started, but now, I just smoke and then brush the bowl clean with a pipe cleaner when I'm done.

[EvanS]

Originally Posted by IHT

how are you cleaning the pipe after each bowl? do you scrape out the tobacco? do you just use a cleaner to rub away the ash and big pieces of tobacco left over?
i've heard of some ppl taking the ash and shaking it up inside the bowl with their thumb over the chamber, coating the inside with the ash while it's still a little warm/moist. (now that i read mad_hatters' post, i see he's got that covered. he's on the ball, as usual.)

I wonder if it has to do with the fact that I tend to dry my tobacs pretty well, not crispy but fairly dry. I virtually never touch the inside of the bowl after smoking. For the most part I dump ash, then blow thru the stem and then, and only if required, just barely touch the very bottom with pipe cleaner or pipe tool blade to get anything that might be stuck. And many times there is nothing there so I don't touch the bowl at all.

maybe my smoking technique is simply too good? Yeah, that's it.
Having said all that I want to say that I am having no trouble with feeling that my pipes burn hot or smoke poorly. Actually i have no complaints at all. The cake question was more curiosity than anything. I have not tried shaking my ash though. I just need to make sure there's no women around when i do it cuz it makes them crazy

[The Pirate]

Keep in mind that burley builds cake faster than Va. It is in the tobacco. However, burley is usually a soft cake. Smoke a couple bowls of burley in your Va. pipe, then go back to Va. or whatever you have been smoking. Sometimes it helps.
Ken

[GAW]

Originally Posted by Bruce

To be honest with you, I don't really worry about building a cake anymore. Used to be when I first started, but now, I just smoke and then brush the bowl clean with a pipe cleaner when I'm done.

I totally agree.As long as you are satisfied with the way a pipe is smoking don't fret over how much or little cake it's building.Too much is actually more of a potential problem if it is that super hard ,brittle stuff as it can crack and propagate into the briar though I have never experienced it myself.The modern bowl coatings, when used ,have really eliminated the break-in and cake- building hassles also. Jerry

[Arizona]

I do the same as EvanS describes. I don't scrape or clean the bowl per se, I simply knock out the ash and if any dottle is left in the bottom i gently remove that with the tip of the pipe tool. I blow thru the stem to clear it out, run a couple of pipe cleaners thru it and then put the pipe in the rack/rotation.

My bowls have gradually built an even cake. I don't mess with it or shape it unless it becomes uneven or part of it begins to crumble, etc. Then I'll shape it back to an even thickness in the bowl.

[EvanS]

well thanks for all of the replies! I appreciate it. As for what Bruce and GAW state, well, that's pretty much where I'm at (especially now that I have some confirmation).

Again, ths was a curiosity question as well as a way to gain a better understanding of the process. But I don't have any complaints as to how well my pipes smoke. And I DO have some build up, more so in my Burley pipes. Maybe I'm just expecting it to buld faster.

Hey, less maintenance for me, right?

[Mad Hatter]

Originally Posted by EvanS

well thanks for all of the replies! I appreciate it. As for what Bruce and GAW state, well, that's pretty much where I'm at (especially now that I have some confirmation).

Again, ths was a curiosity question as well as a way to gain a better understanding of the process. But I don't have any complaints as to how well my pipes smoke. And I DO have some build up, more so in my Burley pipes. Maybe I'm just expecting it to buld faster.

Hey, less maintenance for me, right?

Seriously Evan, most of my pipes don't have a great layer of cake, certainly not a dime thickness, and the ones that do are a constant struggle to keep from tasting bitter or salty AND the cake seems to grow like its a living thing.. Like you, as long as it burns cool, I don't care. It just means longer smokes and less maintenance.

The oldtimers used to scrape theirs with a pocket knife to keep the cake off, so maybe they knew something we don't.

[EvanS]

Originally Posted by Mad Hatter

Seriously Evan, most of my pipes don't have a great layer of cake, certainly not a dime thickness, and the ones that do are a constant struggle to keep from tasting bitter or salty AND the cake seems to grow like its a living thing.. Like you, as long as it burns cool, I don't care. It just means longer smokes and less maintenance.

The oldtimers used to scrape theirs with a pocket knife to keep the cake off, so maybe they knew something we don't.

thanks Joe - I will consider this issue to be put to bed

[smokehouse]

All this talk about cake makes me want some.

[Mad Hatter]

Originally Posted by smokehouse

All this talk about cake makes me want some.

Yeah man, let's take this conversation over to the openthread .......

[TexasOutlaw]

This is another method I've heard about (not really tried it unless I forget or pass out), but I've been told to leave the stuff in the pipe over night with a pipe cleaner in it.