Pipehacker Tip: The DIY Pipe Bag Seasoning Funnel

Bagpipe bag seasoning is messy stuff. The wide mouth opening of your modern container of Airtight makes it an easy matter to make a clean pour into your bagpipe bag through the drone stock. I don’t know about you, but I’ve always drained the excess through the chanter stock back into the container and that wide mouth is just not wide enough to avoid spills no matter how hard I try to aim well. There is always clean up accompanied by stains on your bag or pants. Sure, you could use a standard funnel, but the opening of those is just too dang small to work well. Plus, you still have cleaning up to do after you use it.

There is, however, a handy and disposable solution. Instead of tossing the empty plastic bottle of your soft drink of choice into the recycling bin, “upcycle” the empty and use it as a makeshift funnel for your next bag seasoning session.

The 20 oz. size bottles are fairly standard and have an opening that is plenty wide for easy flow. Rinse and dry the empty bottle and cut away about 2 to 4 inches off the bottom using a sharp utility blade or even a pair of scissors. Toss the cap in the recycling and voila, you have an instant funnel. The standard bottle opening is the perfect fit for the seasoning container and most bottles have a plastic ridge jutting out that acts as the ideal stand to keep the whole thing ready and steady.

When you’re ready for draining, insert the chanter stock directly into your funnel and tip the bag. The walls of your funnel are high enough to block any errant splashes and keeps the seasoning where it belongs. If you want to be really frugal, you can wash out the funnel and reuse it I suppose, but the plastic was headed for the recycling bin anyway, and there is where it can go once you’ve completed the task. There will always be a bottle of something to be had when it comes time to season the bag again.