Am I the only person that doesn't break in a pipe using 1/3 or 1/2 bowls?

[selleri]

Originally Posted by IrishCamel81

If I dont get all the way to the bottom, I try to save some ash in the bowl, cover it with my hand and shake it so it coats the top and bottom evenly.

I think loose ash can result loose cake, so I usually wipe all excess out.

I have done both halves and full bowls, both seem to work just fine. So now I would just select the amount I have time to smoke.

[DubintheDam]

W.O. Larsen recommend that you start with FULL bowls....so this clearly indicates that it is a theory and not a given fact. I think what is much more important as some have mentioned, is, smoking all the way to the bottom, and smoking very slowly, and, letting a new pipe rest for at least 24hrs inbetween smokes. All the latter are quite difficult to achieve when you new to smoking and only have one pipe.

[dmkerr]

Originally Posted by DubintheDam

W.O. Larsen recommend that you start with FULL bowls....so this clearly indicates that it is a theory and not a given fact. I think what is much more important as some have mentioned, is, smoking all the way to the bottom, and smoking very slowly, and, letting a new pipe rest for at least 24hrs inbetween smokes. All the latter are quite difficult to achieve when you new to smoking and only have one pipe.

Ole knows pipes! I just got a 1/4 bent Larsen "tanshell" pipe as part of a trade. It's a brandy shape but it's delightfully danish and wouldn't fit on a Dunhill shape chart. Little bit of artistic lilt to it. Smokes wonderfully and was not expensive at all, even when new. I'll take Ole's advice any day. Sounds like many in the group do as well.

[Mister Moo]

Interesting topic for slackers and OCD's alike. I too started pipe smoking with a casual attitude towards break-in (slacker) but have graduated to a solid 30-50 bowls of 1/3 to 1/2 fills (OCD'er) from the get-go. The reason for my shift resulted from experiences with a pipe that always smoked too hot at the bottom half.

I'd tried changing tobaks every which way and I tried partial reaming and restarting the cake process a couple of time 'cause it was always ending up caked either evenly or building thicker at the top rather than the bottom of the chamber. The chamber, by the way, is straight-sided and relatively deep and narrow. I was ready to pitch the thing (and would have, if it hadn't cost so much - plus, I love the looks of it) but took one more pass using the OCD'ers conventional wisdom starting from scratch with a third ream and sticking hard to the 1/3 bowl thingie.

Bottom line - after about 20-25 bowls cake was building upward, conically and evenly for the first time and the pipe was finally beginning to smoke at a satisfying level of cool. I prefer conically shaped chambers anyhow and, by dilgently using the partial fill method, I turned a straight chamber into a conical one. Fringe bennie - the opening to the airhole was neatly covered in cake in pretty short order.

Less tobak in a new pipe means less moisture accumulating in bottom during each smoke; that equates to faster, harder cake buildup (IMO). The first 25-50 bowls don't take forever, either. A small fills deposits less water in the chamber so dry-time is brief; you can squeeze out a couple of short smokes once every day or two and get along with business. The process worked so well with a poker I tried it again on an equally troublesome hot smoker with similar result. Some discipline when breaking in a pipe has its rewards. And, if you can only afford one briar then you should have gotten seven cobs or one meer instead youse buncha short-cutting slacker willy-nillies. Hope this was helpful.

[bigkev77]

Originally Posted by Mister Moo

And, if you can only afford one briar then you should have gotten seven cobs or one meer instead youse buncha short-cutting slacker willy-nillies. Hope this was helpful.

The musings of our Mister Moo. I had a similar experience to the Moo. Couldn't get cake to build in the bottom so started from scratch with the reccomended 1/3 fill and now all of my pipes are perfectly caked. Especially for the new smoker, the last third of the bowl is the hardest to smoke because of the moisture build up from smoking too fast, too moist tobak, or just drooling from the new great flavors.

[KinnScience]

Originally Posted by RJpuffs

The key is to smoke it down to the bottom - to avoid excess moisture from starting to stagnate down there. Until a cake forms, that goop is going to get into the briar and turn it into a "cheese-like" spongy mess (technical term: wet heel). Smoking in thirds generally allows the cake on the bottom to start earlier than the higher part of the bowl, thereby protecting it a little better.

I'm doing the 1/3-1/2 and I still get a gurgling sound. I usually use the "blow" method and then relight the dottle. Thing is, I hate smoking the "bottom" because it taste like ash ... and I get a lot of ash on my tongue. Question: when smoking all the way to the bottom ... (or trying to) do I need to get every little piece of tobacco smoked? I mean, after I stir ... and 90% of the content is ash ... with some tobacco mixed in ... do I really need to suck in half of that ash .. and heat my bowl like crazy .... just trying to get all the bottom tobacco burned?

[KinnScience]

Originally Posted by plexiprs

No, you are not. I load up and smoke. I do always make sure to avoid overheating, even in spots. The 6-second rule works!

6 second rule? (sorry Dub, I missed that one .... still trying to read all the "old man stuff")

[plexiprs]

Originally Posted by KinnScience

6 second rule? (sorry Dub, I missed that one .... still trying to read all the "old man stuff")

If the bowl is so hot, on the exterior, that you can't take holding it for six seconds, then put it down, stop smoking and let it cool.

[Mad Hatter]

Originally Posted by KinnScience

I'm doing the 1/3-1/2 and I still get a gurgling sound. I usually use the "blow" method and then relight the dottle. Thing is, I hate smoking the "bottom" because it taste like ash ... and I get a lot of ash on my tongue. Question: when smoking all the way to the bottom ... (or trying to) do I need to get every little piece of tobacco smoked? I mean, after I stir ... and 90% of the content is ash ... with some tobacco mixed in ... do I really need to suck in half of that ash .. and heat my bowl like crazy .... just trying to get all the bottom tobacco burned?

no, the goal is to recognize when the tobacco is burning out and get it relit before it dies completely. One thing I always do is when I get near the bottom of the bowl is to rake the ash back toward me a little so when I relight the majority of the heat goes to the tobacco opposite the airway, otherwise most of the heat will go directly toward the airway and you won't get all the tobacco to burn. These days, when I stir the ash I'm finished with the smoke. No way am I sucking all that ash down the airway and into my mouth. In most cases the tobacco's almost completely burned anyway.

It sounds like you have issues with a wet smoke and it would benefit you to figure out what is causing that and how to deal with it because at this point it might be nearly impossible to burn all the way to the bottom. Wet smokes suck

[selleri]

Originally Posted by KinnScience

I mean, after I stir

Don't stir, it will only make the taste worse, more "ashy". If you smoke aggressively the end will taste like burnt crap, so I too suggest drying the tobacco a little more and trying to smoke more slowly.

[Arizona]

Originally Posted by dmkerr

I've heard about that process for years but have never adopted it. I fill the bowl to normal levels (a wee bit below the pipe rim) and smoke the tobacco slowly, never allowing the pipe to get too hot. I smoke the baccy down to the bottom of the bowl, usually with a ribbon cut straight virginia - something nice and sugary that will help the carbon adhere to the bowl Never pipe any burnouts or problems with cake on the bottom. Anyone else break in new pipes this way? It sure seems to work faster and with fewer hassles, but am I tempting fate here?

Nope i do the same thing. Fill it and smoke. Over time the cake just happens. I dont fret over cake, it happens over time and never had a problem with any pipe this way. Seems like folks make this pipe smoking thing too complicated. It's all about enjoyment and relaxatoin - not fretting over cake!

[dogsplayinpoker]

I just load em up and smoke them. Never had any long term problems.

[Gig]

Nope, I just fill it up and smoke it slow all the way to the bottom

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by bigkev77

... Couldn't get cake to build in the bottom so started from scratch with the reccomended 1/3 fill and now all of my pipes are perfectly caked...

The feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment from controlling good results... exercising classical perfection... It isn't complication to realize discipline thru attention to detail.



Most people can crank the throttle; a few know the long, controlled drift.

A journey without a destination is, ultimately, just wandering.

[dmkerr]

Originally Posted by Arizona

Nope i do the same thing. Fill it and smoke. Over time the cake just happens. I dont fret over cake, it happens over time and never had a problem with any pipe this way. Seems like folks make this pipe smoking thing too complicated. It's all about enjoyment and relaxatoin - not fretting over cake!

Well. i guess I fret about the cake a bit but I've always been able to create a good one by smoking full bowls to the very bottom from the get-go and making sure the pipe doesn't get too hot. The 1/3 and 1/2 bowls seem to be a solution in search of a problem, at least for me.