Cake thickness

[Jonas]

How thick do you let it build?

[Pugsley]

I try to keep mine to the thickness of a dime.

[commonsenseman]

Until I can't fit any more tobacco in the bowl.



KIDDING. Pretty much the same as Warren, dime, or perhaps nickel thickness & I start scraping it down.

[Jonas]

Whoa that's nasty.

Thanks for the replies. I'm in the process of breaking in my first briar and it seems like the cake comes off really easily, should I not clean the inside of the bowl at all until there is a nice layer?

[PMR]

I don't wipe out the bowl after each use. Usually after 2 or 3 and only if its awful. I do use a pipe cleaner after each use though. I also give my briar a good shake with the ash that's left and let that sit. As soon as I began this process cake began to form.

[Griz]

An hour after smoking, I usually swab it out with a pipe cleaner. Try to be patient with the process and it will build up.

[Branzig]

I'm a dry reamer. I wipe out the inside of my bowl after each smoke, whether I am building cake or not.

I am not a big cake fan, I like to keep mine minimal and I hate reaming with my knife...probably because of all the estates I get like the one @commonsenseman posted (OK, they aren't quite that bad).

[Jonas]

I'm a dry reamer. I wipe out the inside of my bowl after each smoke, whether I am building cake or not.

I am not a big cake fan, I like to keep mine minimal and I hate reaming with my knife...probably because of all the estates I get like the one @commonsenseman posted (OK, they aren't quite that bad).

So you don't let any cake build up? Is that at all detrimental to the life of the pipe?

[Branzig]

So you don't let any cake build up? Is that at all detrimental to the life of the pipe?

Cake builds, just slowly. No damage to the pipe by dry reaming, just smoke slow and keep it cool.

If it is a brand new pipe, I might smoke 3ish bowls without dry reaming it. But after that, I dry ream after every smoke regardless.

[LandonColby]

it's preference, but I'd say it's time to ream if it's thicker than a dime all around. I also don't try to"help" my pipe build cake, it builds itself in time. After each bowl, regardless of whether I'm breaking in or not, I put a palm over the bowl and shake up the ash to evenly coat the bowl and then wipe it out with a pipe cleaner once it's cool. This gives you an even cake build up and a dense cake to boot. Not cleaning out your pipe every time and trying to build a cake fast will give you a softer cake that is lumpy and uneven....in my experience.

I have used this method forever and don't ever need excessive or frequent reaming and all my pipes smoke nice and dry, even the ones that used to smoke a bit wet now smoke dry with a good cake. Let it happen naturally.