A well caked pipe

Have you ever heard the somewhat barbaric term "building up a cake"? What does it mean? When would you use it? How do you do it? In this article, we will go through the basics of pipe smoking and we will explain the "building up a cake" process to you step by step. This process is essential when using a new pipe.

What is building up a cake?

Building up a cake is the very first stage in the life of a new pipe. Building up a cake means creating a layer of carbon on the chamber walls of your pipe. This carbon lining will protect the briar wood from the heat. It is absolutely necessary! Without it, your burning tobacco (at a very high temperature) will be in direct contact with the wood chamber of your pipe. Obviously, if you don't have this protective layer (the "cake"), you risk damaging the wood, the outside finish, or even burning out your pipe...

Building up a cake must be done on a new pipe, but there is no need to build up a cake on the pipe you inherited from your grand-father. Your old pipe will more likely be in need of a clean-up in order to reduce the cake that has built up over time.

Bastien, La Pipe Rit

By now, you understand that building up a cake is the key to a long life for your pipe. There is no avoiding it! By doing so, your pipe will be in good health and keep you company for years and years to come...

On a meerschaum-lined pipe, it is still better to start smoking it slowly. Even though meerschaum is more resistant to heat due to its characteristics, we recommend that you break in your new pipe anyway. Same as you would for a briar wood pipe, don't immediately fill up your meerschaum bowl. Take your time and get used to it slowly. This way, you will come to appreciate it more and more as time goes on.

Jean, La Pipe Rit

How to build up a cake?

Did you just get your new pipe? Let's get started, you can now start building up a cake. First of all, you should know that building up a cake is done over the first 10 (or maybe 15) times you use your pipe. Because of this, it is not something that can be done in a single day but progressively.

The best technique:

To build up a cake you will have to progressively increase the quantity of tobacco you use to fill up your bowl with time. To start, put very little tobacco in the bottom of the chamber and smoke gently. The next day, for your second smoke, you can put slightly more tobacco. For the next few times, same thing, increase the amount little by little... until you reach the top of the chamber. You generally need to use your pipe 10 to 15 times to get there (this will of course depend on the size of your chamber, and whether it is very short or tall).

Following these steps, the cake (meaning the carbon layer) will form the base of the chamber. In general, it is said that the carbon layer needs to be around 2 mm thick (about the thickness of a dime). This is a good thickness because it protects the briar without getting in the way of packing your tobacco. Be careful! If the cake gets too thick, not only could it get in the way of packing, it might even crack the wood.

Things you should not do:

• Don't smoke outside (when there is strong wind)! The wind will intensify the combustion and heat up the wood walls of the chamber (still fragile at this point)
• Don't smoke rapidly! Be patient, take your time and don't take big hits. Yes, you, the former cigarette smoker who is used to fast smoking, we can see you!
• Don't scratch the inside of the chamber! The carbon layer is building up right now, don't damage it right away...
• Don't let your pipe overheat! It is good advice for any of your pipes but even more so for the first piece of your pipe collection. If you feel your pipe is getting hot while you are holding it let it rest, light it up later and just start right where you had left off.

Side note... Going through internet forums you may have read that some people use alcohol (or honey) to build up a cake? This (bad) practice consists of burning alcohol inside the chamber... We strongly advise against doing so. This will damage your chamber and imprint an unpleasant taste (permanently), but most of all you will shorten your pipe's life expectancy (and it's brand new...).

Let us take a little trip back in time! Between 1960 and 1980, pipe makers used to coat the inside of the chamber with a special lacquer. Before you could smoke your pipe, it was recommended to burn this lacquer down, but today pipe makers no longer use this lacquer. It is quite ironic: nowadays building up a cake prevents the pipe from burning, but back then you had to start by burning alcohol inside your pipe...

Claire, La Pipe Rit

Congratulations, you successfully broke in your pipe. You will now be able to fully enjoy your tobacco and appreciate all its flavors and subtleties...

Selecting a pipe with bowl coating?

When you buy a new pipe, it may already be pre-carbonized (or "bowl coated"), but that is not the case for all pipes. Some smokers prefer building up the cake from scratch, starting with a "bare" chamber. Pipe smokers generally like to take their time. Thus, building up a cake can be part of the pleasure of smoking.

The pipe makers who choose to pre-carbonize their pipes before sale do not all use the same "secret recipe". This internal pre-carbonization process is different from one maker to another. Whichever technique is used, you can't please everyone, and that is why we find and will always find both coated and non-coated pipe bowls.

Benefits:

A pipe with bowl coating has a thin layer of protective carbon that has been applied to the inside of its chamber.

• Bowl coating helps the first few times you are using your pipe. Be careful though, you must still build up a cake. Start smoking by progressively increasing the amount of tobacco with each use.
• A pipe with a coated bowl will be better for smokers with little experience (but not exclusively!). Conversely, a "bare" chamber (uncoated) will require a bit more time. The art of pipe smoking has sometimes discouraged potential recruits because of the time it takes to develop a cake before you can fully appreciate its pleasure and delights. That is why a little help can give a novice pipe smoker a more relaxed start.

Did you know?

In the 19th century, bowl coating was already getting more popular. There were even some companies exclusively dedicated to bowl coating, truly specialized in the field. In 1855, the Parisian company "Paris-Fumeur" was one of these specialists.

In the 1980's, a famous pipe maker invented a machine to coat pipe bowls...! And then the inevitable happened... This machine was soon forgotten, only a few years after it started being sold. Pipe smokers did not see the appeal of it!

Jean, La Pipe Rit