A muse on cake building.

[Dzrtrat]

With the influx of new pipe smokers and the countless posts concerning cake building, I would like to give my thoughts on the subject.

First..yes cake is a good thing, to much cake is a bad thing. Why is to much cake a bad thing? 1) it will hold moisture.
B) it can crack the bowl.

First off, it doesn't matter what you smoke...cake will happen. I'm seeing so much concern with the subject that I think many are missing the point and enjoyment from the pipe.
Rome was not built in a day..Sureley you have heard that expression more than once, the same goes with cake building. There are all kinds of poo flung out there on how to build it up...I say just smoke the pipe and let it happen.
We pipe smokers are a different breed...patiance is or code in doing things right and with thought out precision, never in a hurry (if you are, cigarettes are prolly what you're looking for).

Okay I'm off the soapbox...so what is cake?
It's the carbon and oil buildup after combustion, and of course what burns in the pipe will have a greater or lesser degree of these deposits depending on what you're smoking.
What you do not want is a cake built with bits of tobacco in it...This will make for an unstable cake which will eventually flake off causing you to have to ream the pipe and start over.

There are so many different opinions on how to build this crap up that it's nearly as diverse as it's smokers. Smoke the bowl X number of times in 1/4's, 1/3's 1/2's, use honey, don't use honey, smoke it full, smoke the pipe while standing on one leg reciting the alphabet backwards.....yadda yadda, yadda. And ya know what...they prolly all work, but I'm into simplicity.

This is what I do...ya ya another method, but guaranteed to work with the utmost enjoyment.
1) get your pipe and fill it full with your favorite tobacco of the day.
2) light the pipe.
3) enjoy the pipe.
4) When finish, let the pipe cool.
5) Now this is something I have found to work great to keep the cake from forming around bits of tobacco.
I use a 4x4ish piece of the gray or blue Scotch Bright pad rolled up and held together with a twist tie to swab the bowl (green is to coarse). This gets rid of the bits of tobacco but leaves the carbon.
And there you go. you have just formed cake with the utmost enjoyment and ease.

Ok I'm done with my ramblings, give it a try, don't give it a try, but please enjoy the pipe.

~Just an ol' rat~

[MarkC]

Originally Posted by Dzrtrat

First off, it doesn't matter what you smoke...cake will happen. I'm seeing so much concern with the subject that I think many are missing the point and enjoyment from the pipe.

I was certainly guilty of this at first. I spent much time pouring over the internet trying to discover the magic of how to build cake. Now I look at that Dr. Grabow I started with, the one that I can't get my pinkie into anymore, and wonder why I was so concerned.

One thing I read about, and tried, is the bit about shaking ash around in the pipe to help build the cake. While this does add to the cake, I'll bet it's not as solid of a cake as just letting the carbon (and "gunk", I guess) build naturally. I think you're dead on accurate with your admonition that patience is the key. In fact, I'll go as far as saying that, as much enjoyment as I get out of my pipes, the lesson of patience is by far the greatest thing I will ever get from my pipe smoking.

[dmkerr]

Originally Posted by Dzrtrat

This is what I do...ya ya another method, but guaranteed to work with the utmost enjoyment.
1) get your pipe and fill it full with your favorite tobacco of the day.
2) light the pipe.
3) enjoy the pipe.
4) When finish, let the pipe cool.
5) Now this is something I have found to work great to keep the cake from forming around bits of tobacco.
I use a 4x4ish piece of the gray or blue Scotch Bright pad rolled up and held together with a twist tie to swab the bowl (green is to coarse). This gets rid of the bits of tobacco but leaves the carbon.
And there you go. you have just formed cake with the utmost enjoyment and ease.

Ok I'm done with my ramblings, give it a try, don't give it a try, but please enjoy the pipe.

~Just an ol' rat~

Agreed. I'd only add that one should make sure the bowl is not to hot to hold for 6 straight seconds and to make sure you smoke all the way to the bottom. I don't fill the bowl 1/3, then 1/2, etc. I find no need for that if I'm careful.

[Mad Hatter]

I think one problem is that cake is especially helpful for new smokers since they are the ones who haven't developed their own smoking style yet and tend to smoke hot. You or me, not such a big deal because we can take a new pipe and smoke it nice and cool, which I believe is another important factor is cake building. Ironic that those who don't really need the cake have it and those who could really use it don't.

[AcworthAl]

Originally Posted by dmkerr

Agreed. I'd only add that one should make sure the bowl is not to hot to hold for 6 straight seconds and to make sure you smoke all the way to the bottom. I don't fill the bowl 1/3, then 1/2, etc. I find no need for that if I'm careful.

Good info thanks

[blackop555]

when i first started smoking pipe i smoked it cool. i accredit this to smoking cigars. both forms of enjoyment both teach patients. if you smoke a cigar to hot you ruin the taste but in pipes you can ruin a nice pipe

[DubintheDam]

All I'd add here is that I'm for a thin cake layer, once the initial dime thick layer has been built, it gets too thick too quickly, particularly toward the top of the bowl. I also notice than if you don't regularly ream it back, it tends to chip off when you do.

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by Dzrtrat

...patiance is or code ... and ... never in a hurry (if you are, cigarettes are prolly what you're looking for).

Yeah! That which he said.

I try and try and try to smoke a new pipe a third- to half filled for the first 50,000-million bowls but as often as not it doesn't work out that way. There is something to be said for the praqctice of smoking the bottom half a lot to start a conical cake buildup but, patience aside, I think I forget half the time. Either way the cake appears on bad pipes and good. It's all worthwhile; a well-smoked (or well broken in) pipe is cooler and, for sure, dryer. Cake. Love cake.

[Dzrtrat]

Let me clarify that I am not anti-cake (ANARCHY, ANARCHY!!). Yes cake is a good thing..What my intent was trying to convey in the original post is simply...cake happens...be more concerned in the enjoyment of the smoke, having patience in all things and the cake will build no matter what you do.

[Mad Hatter]

Originally Posted by Dzrtrat

Let me clarify that I am not anti-cake (ANARCHY, ANARCHY!!). Yes cake is a good thing..What my intent was trying to convey in the original post is simply...cake happens...be more concerned in the enjoyment of the smoke, having patience in all things and the cake will build no matter what you do.

Crazy fundamentalists

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by Dzrtrat

Let me clarify that I am not anti-cake...

So you're pro-cake, then. There's no shame in rabid pro-cakism.

[indigosmoke]

"qu'ils mangent de la brioche" -

[Mad Hatter]

Originally Posted by Mister Moo

So you're pro-cake, then. There's no shame in rabid pro-cakism.

"Pro-cakism" spelled backwards is "Msikac-orp". Surely a sign of that which is unpure

[pipemike]

Originally Posted by indigosmoke

"qu'ils mangent de la brioche" -

Anyone ever try eating cake from a pipe.. mmmmm

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by Mad Hatter

"Pro-cakism" spelled backwards is "Msikac-orp". Surely a sign of that which is unpure

One of the many secrets that binds the pipe smoking conspiracy.

Thing about my cake is, it only forms when I'm not looking for it. As soon as I forget to wonder why this-or-that new pipe isn't getting cakie enough I suddenly find it needs to be trimmmed down. Go figure. The magic of cake.