To cake, or not to cake, that be the question

[RJpuffs]

I'm sure this topic has been beaten to death and back, but lets it some more.

What do you feel about cake, in your pipe bowl, not the frosting kind? Excluding meers and cobs, of course.

Attempting to attach a poll to this thread ...

[Cruiscin90]

Hey, if it cakes, it cakes.

Personally, I don't feel the need to become anal about how much carbon builds up in the bowl. It inhibits the enjoyment of the pipe. As long as the cake doesn't inhibit your smoke, then it's fine.

Besides, caking is good for the draft, and the amount of cake can vary from smoker to smoker.

Just my

[bigkev77]

http://www.clubstogie.com/vb/showthread.php?t=148582

[CigarGal]

So far in my smoking career, cake has not been a problem.

When there is chocolate cake in the house-now that can be a problem!

[uncballzer]

I've only got a decent cake on one of my pipes, as I'm relatively new pipe smoker. And now that it's there, I don't know where to go from there. More reading on the forum, I must do...

[Dzrtrat]

I'm a believer that cake happens, I try to keep the bowl clean with no bits of baccy.

[maboman]

I have always heard that you definately want a good cake build in a briar pipe. The carbon is supposed to help absorb moisture as well as heat.

It's funny that this post came up as I was examining my Bjarne today which has a nice even cake which I can finally distinguish maybe 1/4 of the thickness of a dime. I only smoke Virginias and Va/Pers in this pipe period and have gone through about 3 ounces of that tobacco thus far.

In comparison my latika pipe Stanwell only gets smoked maybe 1/4 of the time that the virginia pipe is smoked and is building a cake much faster.

Obviously keep it reasonably trimmed but let that cake build....you'll have a much better smoker when it builds a little.

maboman

[wharfrathoss]

i just figure smoke the darn thing until the cake is noticeable-i hear ya want to ream when it's more than a dime thick-those wiser than me have told me cake's a good thing, i'll take their word for it

[Mister Moo]

CAKE ADVICE FOR ROOKIES -

No cake from the get-go isn't noticed.
The right amount of cake is good - it sneaks up on you.
Too much cake is bad.

As my regular pipes gradually acquired a practically unnoticeable layer of cake I mistakenly thought I had become a better, smarter, more intelligent smoker. Heh heh. What a rube... It was only the cake.

Then, one December day, Secret Pipe Santa sent me a snappy little Senior Reamer and I thought, "Lets have a go with a couple of pipes and see what this thing does." Well, I got a little overly absorbed in the reaming process and took several pipes too, or very near too, briar - it didn't take long to denude these practically-perfect smoking pipes as I learned about the adjustment nuances of the Senior Reamer. There was more cake built up than I'd thought and, once it was gone, the pipes decidedly smoked hotter and wetter than they had the week before. I did, however, have a nice pile of carbon dust to show for my efforts. Lesson learned: cake is good and scraping it all off is not the smart move.

I've seen old guys keep their pipes just right with a dull pocketknife and a few gentle scrapes each week or two (no thanks - I love my Senior Reamer). An ebay Amphora (Netherlands) bulldog pipe I bought was so cake-jammed it was barely useable but a ream and a salt-soak turned it into a fine big-bowled smoker. It's nice it wasn't cracked; the pipe was like new under a gross layer of carbon. Whoever owned it before I did was a dangerously unaware pipe smoker who dissed his gear by not maintaining it properly.

The cake added from break-in and on probably won't make you sit up one day and say, "Woo hoo! Today this pipe suddenly smokes great!" But the sudden absence of a good cake layer will be missed.

After you smoke a pipe enough it'll become obvious when it's cake laden if you hang around this forum. If you're lucky enough to get a Senior Reamer feel free to carefully scrape the pipe back to briar in about three minutes just to see how well the device works. After you smoke the newly bare pipe you will not scape one that much again, I'll bet.

Originally Posted by Mister Moo

CAKE ADVICE FOR ROOKIES -

No cake from the get-go isn't noticed.
The right amount of cake is good - it sneaks up on you.
Too much cake is bad.

As my regular pipes gradually acquired a practically unnoticeable layer of cake I mistakenly thought I had become a better, smarter, more intelligent smoker. Heh heh. What a rube... It was only the cake.

Then, one December day, Secret Pipe Santa sent me a snappy little Senior Reamer and I thought, "Lets have a go with a couple of pipes and see what this thing does." Well, I got a little overly absorbed in the reaming process and took several pipes too, or very near too, briar - it didn't take long to denude these practically-perfect smoking pipes as I learned about the adjustment nuances of the Senior Reamer. There was more cake built up than I'd thought and, once it was gone, the pipes decidedly smoked hotter and wetter than they had the week before. I did, however, have a nice pile of carbon dust to show for my efforts. Lesson learned: cake is good and scraping it all off is not the smart move.

I've seen old guys keep their pipes just right with a dull pocketknife and a few gentle scrapes each week or two (no thanks - I love my Senior Reamer). An ebay Amphora (Netherlands) bulldog pipe I bought was so cake-jammed it was barely useable but a ream and a salt-soak turned it into a fine big-bowled smoker. It's nice it wasn't cracked; the pipe was like new under a gross layer of carbon. Whoever owned it before I did was a dangerously unaware pipe smoker who dissed his gear by not maintaining it properly.

The cake added from break-in and on probably won't make you sit up one day and say, "Woo hoo! Today this pipe suddenly smokes great!" But the sudden absence of a good cake layer will be missed.

After you smoke a pipe enough it'll become obvious when it's cake laden if you hang around this forum. If you're lucky enough to get a Senior Reamer feel free to carefully scrape the pipe back to briar in about three minutes just to see how well the device works. After you smoke the newly bare pipe you will not scape one that much again, I'll bet.

Couldn't have said better Dan.

Cake is the real magic of a pipe.

[Sawyer]

Cake is definitely necessary for me. Makes for a much cooler and drier smoke. I don't obsess over it though.

[RJpuffs]

Right stuff, Mr. Moo

I find the burn to be more even with a good cake, I guess it forms a natural barrier and allows the baccy to burn clean to the ends. Without cake, the bowl appears to cool the baccy touching it, and it doesn't burn even/clean around the edges.

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by Sawyer

Cake: I don't obsess over it.

Watch Monk. You can learn.

I'm with you, though. Nothing to think about. When it looks thicker than the pipe wall itself you waited too long for a little reaming or scraping. Otherwise, let it build evenly and enjoy your pipe. Not to get OCD over carbon. I say.

[DubintheDam]

don't want to scare you all with metric...but more than ONE millimeter (it should NEVER be more than 2mm thick) and I ream her back with a pen knife OR a professional senior reamer:

between these two lines is 2mm: | |

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by DubintheDam

don't want to scare you all with metric...

We're moving along to metric here in the States, inch by inch.