Smoking my go to pipe: The Cob

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Lees

Lees

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I seem to smoke this pipe a lot. Just a simple Cob I bought from Frenchy's a while back. I even like the yellow stem!

My tip that I got from Yeko is before enjoying your new cob is that you want to break it in, otherwise it will smell like burning corn cobs.

First char the rim gently over an open flame. I used the gas stove for this, until it is a dark colour. Then you get your favourite easy burning blend and smoke several bowls of it, trying to smoke each bowl down from top to bottom so it helps form a cake inside as well as charring the insides of the bowl. I guess it takes about 10 smokes for this to occur, and yes, you don't have to do all the smokes at once, but try to avoid cold relights. You'll know when it is broken in as you'll smell your tobacco and not burning cobs.

 
I've understood that you don't want cake inside a cob.

I don't really see the need to char the rim intentionally.
 
I have found that cobs smoke the best when kept very clean. Do not let much in the way of cake build up, and periodically sand down the rims to keep them clean and fresh looking. There is nothing uglier than rim char, in my opinion. I have two in particular, Missouri Meerschaum County Gentlemen, which I have been smoking like this for years and they are simply wonderful. Just my two cents.
 
I have seen several people char the rims. Might have something to do with the coating painted on most of the models.
 
I love my cobs. I always try new tobacco in them first. There's just something southern about a cob. Save your dixie cups the south will rise again! :joker:
 
Joseph76":9akapwix said:
I've understood that you don't want cake inside a cob.

I don't really see the need to char the rim intentionally.
Click to expand...
Hi Joseph and all,

I stand corrected, No cake, but I do follow the rule of caramelizing the inside or charring with several quick burning tobaccos, as it helps seal the inside of the bowl against smelling that burning cob smell that I don't like.

And why Yeko suggests charring the rim, I have no idea, but Carlos is right in that the rim and outside of a cob is either coated in shellac or varnish. Since the cob can be somewhat like Meerschaum, in that it is porous, it tends to pull in this shellac smell as it heats it up, more so the area of the rim closest to you, as you can see on the pipe above the Post a Reply area, Brothers of Briar logo.

I usually find the inside of a new cob a bit too small (walls too thick, hole too narrow), so I take my pocket knife and ream it out carefully, then repeat with the several bowls of quick burning pipe tobacco to recarmelize it.

I do keep the insides of my Cobs clean, and they'll last you several years doing this.

Thanks for the feedback!
Lisa Marie
 
The only cobs I've smoked have been the pride model... it's a natural cob without any varnish. I have one with the varnish but I'm saving it for when my daughter makes her first snowman :D
 
Thanks for the heads up, Joseph. I'll have to look into that as I'd like to get at least two more cobs. I have two, and one is a Wally Frank estate.

Lisa Marie
 
I do enjoy smoking my cob at work, it kinda makes me feel like a regular outdoorsman!
 
This thread inspired me to buy a new cob a couple of days ago. I've smoked six bowls of Granger, PA, and CH in it already. Thanks, Lees.
 
"I never smoke a new corn-cob pipe," Mark Twain told The Idler magazine in 1892. "A new pipe irritates the throat. No corn-cob pipe is fit for anything until it has been used at least a fortnight."

He claimed he would hire someone else ("a cheap man -- a man who doesn't amount to much, anyhow--who would be as well--or better--dead") to break in a pipe, and then would put in a new stem and use it as long as it held together. :shock:

Winslow :sunny:
 
Winslow":s4cnyvsm said:
"I never smoke a new corn-cob pipe," Mark Twain told The Idler magazine in 1892. "A new pipe irritates the throat. No corn-cob pipe is fit for anything until it has been used at least a fortnight."

He claimed he would hire someone else ("a cheap man -- a man who doesn't amount to much, anyhow--who would be as well--or better--dead") to break in a pipe, and then would put in a new stem and use it as long as it held together. :shock:

Winslow :sunny:
Click to expand...
I know some folks like that. Wonder what the going rate is? :oops:
 
I've got several MM Country Gentlemen, and never had one burn out. I think MM soaks their dried cobs in a clay mixture that keeps them from burning out rapidly. I go through stems with some regularity, but the pipe seem to go on forever. Great pipe when knocking about the Ozarks, fishing some little creek up the holler. Makes me feel like Mammie Yokum;s boy!

Natch
 
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