Pre-treating bowls
Pre-treating bowls
Ok, I am really showing my rookie status here, but I am finishing up my first pipe and I have been reading some old threads about pre-treating and carbonizing bowls. I'll be honest that I am a little confused. I believe I read something about sour cream and I was totally lost. Can anyone first tell me the philosophy behind treating the bowls and then maybe offer some easy to follow directions as to what I should do. Thanks everyone for the group mentoring.
Re: Pre-treating bowls
The idea is that you can offer your pipe a bit of protection by "pre-caking" it. Also, some pipes look a little sharper with a black bowl. Also, some makers use such coatings to obscure ugly/poor briar, but I don't think anyone here would do that.
Coatings range from honey and ash, to the sour cream and carbon concoction, to egg-based things, to waterglass....
I tell my customers to stuff the pipe with a cool burning tobacco and smoke it. One guy told me he thought he detected a faintly briar/toasty taste on the first smoke. I told him was possible - stray fibers or rough spots in the bowl. He said it was gone after the first smoke. And that's the only and worst comment anyone has made to me. Your mileage may vary, contact dealer for details.
Seriously, I've had no issues at all with untreated bowls - and I suspect that there are abusive bastards who could burn out a bowl treated with space shuttle tiles. So....
Coatings range from honey and ash, to the sour cream and carbon concoction, to egg-based things, to waterglass....
I tell my customers to stuff the pipe with a cool burning tobacco and smoke it. One guy told me he thought he detected a faintly briar/toasty taste on the first smoke. I told him was possible - stray fibers or rough spots in the bowl. He said it was gone after the first smoke. And that's the only and worst comment anyone has made to me. Your mileage may vary, contact dealer for details.
Seriously, I've had no issues at all with untreated bowls - and I suspect that there are abusive bastards who could burn out a bowl treated with space shuttle tiles. So....
ALL YOUR PIPE ARE BELONG TO US!
Re: Pre-treating bowls
Sasquatch wrote:One guy told me he thought he detected a faintly briar/toasty taste on the first smoke.
That's my favorite part of breaking in a new pipe! Seriously though, I wouldn't worry about a bowl coating on a first pipe.....or a second, or third, hmmmm....
Re: Pre-treating bowls
I use the creme fraiche (3 teaspoons), buttermilk (3 teaspoons) and carbon (50 capsules) mix on all my pipes but allways offer to remove it prior to shipping, most people ask me to leave it on. At some stage I will reverse this and see what happens.
My personal choice is for an untreated bowl, it just seems to taste better.
My personal choice is for an untreated bowl, it just seems to taste better.