cake in a meerschaum

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Bud Savoie

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There are corncob devotees who say that you should never allow caking to accrue in the bowl of a cob. What about a meerschaum? I've always treated my meerschaums the way I treat my briars:
1) I fill it half full for the first half dozen bowls;
2) I give it a few days' rest after smoking it for a day;
3) I build up a cake "fire wall" inside the bowl.

There are those who say that none of these things should be done for a meerschaum. Is this true? What say you, BoBs?
 
I have never let cake build in mine and as far as break in one of my favorite things about meers is the fact that you dont have to, just load and go.
 
You really don't want any cake in a meer. First of all, due to different expansion rates, it could crack the bowl, and secondly, it can hinder the coloration process by absorbing a lot of the oils, etc. that do the coloring. I use a piece of 150 grit sandpaper, rolled into a tube shape about 3/8 inch diameter, and CAREFULLY sand the cake out of the bowl. Not after every smoke, but once in a while, if I see some cake build up.
Hope this helps answer your question.
KRG
 
I've always wiped the bowl out with a paper towel after smoking my meers. No cake. Remember the stories of having a cake become too thick and cracking the briar due to uneven expansion rates ,,,whether this is true or not,,,I've seen estates posted you could hardly get a pipecleaner into the bowl,,,but meer is much more fragile and I'm not taking a chance. But that's my thoughts. And my money.

Break in? First few smokes I fill the bowl half full of ribbon cut and take my time keeping it cool, after that a few bowl full, again keeping cool.
After that I assume it's cured,,,
 
Thanks for the info. I wondered why my meerschaums didn't color, even though I smoked them a lot. The shanks colored; but, of course, there's no cake buildup there. None of my pipes cracked, though.

Thanks again. I have just ordered a new meer online, and this time I'll see how she colors without cake.
 
Of course, there's a multitude of thoughts on things all-things-pipe, cake in meer is one of them. Some guys let a "dime thickness" cake build up, some don't.

The "Meerschaum King" that does YouTube videos mentioned in one of them that reasonable cake is irrelevant regarding coloring, and also says touching the meer vs not-touching-the-meer is up to the individual. I've seen meers colored that were never touched that were blotchy, others that where handled all the time while smoked that were perfectly even--same went for cake buildup vs keepin' it clean.

He also mentions meerschaum colors the way it wants to. I believe this.

I keep minimal cake on all of my pipes, anyway, usually less than dime-thickness but they ain't cut back to bare material by any stretch, either.

I wouldn't sweat it, just be reasonable with your pipes, they'll treat ya good.
 
Kyle Weiss":86c5hf1y said:
Of course, there's a multitude of thoughts on things all-things-pipe, cake in meer is one of them. Some guys let a "dime thickness" cake build up, some don't.

The "Meerschaum King" that does YouTube videos mentioned in one of them that reasonable cake is irrelevant regarding coloring, and also says touching the meer vs not-touching-the-meer is up to the individual. I've seen meers colored that were never touched that were blotchy, others that where handled all the time while smoked that were perfectly even--same went for cake buildup vs keepin' it clean.

He also mentions meerschaum colors the way it wants to. I believe this.

I keep minimal cake on all of my pipes, anyway, usually less than dime-thickness but they ain't cut back to bare material by any stretch, either.

I wouldn't sweat it, just be reasonable with your pipes, they'll treat ya good.
Click to expand...
All of the above is true. I don't handle mine by the bowl and let no more than a dime's worth of cake build in mine. It's worked for me but it has taken OVER 30 years for my meer's to color. Be patient it will happen :p
 
I have an experiment I'm starting, that's probably useless to what I posted...

...one meer will be handled, no cake.

One meer will be smoked not-handled, no cake.

One meer will be smoked handled, with cake.

One meer will be smoked not handled, with cake.

One meer will be smoked the control, and sit unsmoked, and another control that I'll switch up all the variables.

With any luck, as I collect the subjects and continue the experiment for the next few decades, the meerschaum will color the way it wants and I'll get no definitive results. :lol: Except the one that sits unsmoked, which I'd guess will stay the most consistent. :p

8)
 
Wait to my knowledge you don't need to break in meer. Meerchaum is a stone so unlike briar its resiliant to heat and doesn't need that nice layer of cake tonact as a heat sheild. Plus cake would hinder coloring since ir would block the walls of the pourous meer. Might be wrong, but I think that's accurate
 
Meerschaum is a type of clay (sepiolite), not exactly stone... "breaking in" might mean one thing to some people and something else to others--as meerschaum pipes starts to get used for smoking, it absorbs all sorts of the tobacco leftovers, which will affect performance slightly, but you are right--it is a different story for briars.

Cake itself is porous and won't "block" interaction between meerschaum and the tobacco. As referenced above, some guys prefer a cake, others do not, the rest are in-between--quite a few state cake does not interfere with meerschaum coloring. Meer coloring simply takes time, so perhaps there's those out there that are hasty in chasing the changes of The White Goddess.
 
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