What is a Grinder and how do I use it?

Reading Time 6 minutes

 

 

Weed grinder is one of the many objects and devices that have emerged in the Grow shop market over the last few decades. The professionalization of the sector has led to the emergence of hundreds or thousands of gadgets that make life easier for both growers and consumers of cannabis. Grinder is one of the best-selling cannabis paraphernalia products, but do we know what it is. 🤔

 

⭐ What’s a grinder?

 

The Spanish translation of grinder is “amolador”, which would be something like a chopper or shredder, so when we say “grindar” or “grindear” we mean to chop or grind the weed.

A grinder is a small object composed of at least 2 parts, which are separated to leave a gap between the two to place our buds. This hollow or internal chamber contains different protrusions or spikes that, when turned, intertwine with each other, crushing the dried flower to leave it in small and homogeneous pieces, perfect for rolling and consuming.

Cannabis grinders are usually metallic, made of wood or plastic, originally they were made of wood and with internal steel spikes. Nowadays there are thousands of different models of grinders, of many materials, colors and even different uses. Would you like to see some of them? Continue reading…👉

 

 

⛳ What is a grinder used for?

 

Their main mission is to grind cannabis. When we chop weed and it is crushed in a homogeneous way the joint combustion in an adequate way, this is due to the fact that it can be pressed better when the pieces of bud are smaller. In this way it burns uniformly, achieving a more consistent taste.

Another advantage is that marijuana is used more, because when you grind the weed by hand a lot of resin remains attached to our skin, and they are lost trichomes, the most valuable part of the plant. And how did we do to grind cannabis before the invention of the grinder?

Normally scissors or hands were used directly, but it took longer and as we saw before it was much worse.

 

✨ Types of grinder

 

It would be impossible to name all the types of Grinder for chopping cannabis that we have on the market, so we will make a selection of the best of each kind:

 

• Plastic grinders: Right now they are the most common, their low manufacturing price has led many companies in the grow sector to have their own grinders for advertising, giving them away massively at fairs, cannabic cups and other events.
• Metallic grinder: They are usually the most expensive, but they can also last much longer than plastic grinders. They are usually magnetized, very easy to clean, and there are many different models.
• Wooden grinder: It is the favorite bud chopper of the puritans, many have engraved drawings, and with good maintenance can last forever.
• Quick grinder: It is metallic, made with first quality materials, and the finish seems to have left the Apple factory, turns like a Mercedes engine and chops up the marijuana like no other. To facilitate the evacuation of the cannabis once chopped, contains 2 external buttons so you do not even have to clean it so much.
• Electric grinder: For the most comfortable ones, with this grinder you won’t have to turn to grind, just put the bud, press the button, and your weed will be chopped.
• Grinder card: It was one of the last models on the market, its operation is similar to that of a cheese grater, rubbing the bud against the blades of the relief and gradually crumbling.
• Grinder with pollinator: Probably they are the ones that take advantage better of the marijuana, since they contain a lower chamber where the Kief that the buds release is deposited. This way nothing escapes.
• Grinder clock: This is a occultation model, at first it looks like you wear a normal watch, but contains a simple grinder that goes completely unnoticed.
• Homemade grinder: We’ve seen friends or customers make their own homemade grinder, in some cases it even worked well, but most, made with caps and other everyday objects, weren’t worth it. Honestly, because of the cost and the work involved in making it at home, I don’t think it’s a good solution.
• Grinder with storage: It is a mixture between a jar to store and transport buds, and a grinder. It is made of very hard and resistant plastic and is very practical when you leave home.
• Grinder with mill: It has a crank to turn the mechanism that chops weed, it is striking and some contain a pollinator to collect the Kief.

Apart from these there are many more types, shaped like dice, others that look like billiard balls, comic characters, or even insects.

 

👌 How to use a weed grinder?

 

Well, this depends on the model of course, but in general what is done is to separate the parts of the grinder, place the dry cannabis inside, close by joining both parts, turn while squeezing a little, and reopen to evacuate the ground pot.

So it is done with the great majority of models, those of plastic, wood, Quick grinder and many others are based on that performance. The one with mill also, although in this case contains a crank to facilitate its operation.

Here are some animated gifts that show you how a normal grinder works step by step:

 

Step 1:

Step 2:

Step 3:

Step 4:

 

 

📖 How to use a grinder with pollinator?

 

The operation of the grinder with pollinator is similar to other types. The difference is that this model contains a chamber at the bottom where it accumulates the kief released by the buds during crushing.

The grinder is uncovered and a bud is introduced, closed and turned a few turns, so far it works as usual. Then the lower half is unscrewed, which contains both the compartment where the ground weed is, and the chamber that holds the kief, which is also unscrewed and separated. These 2 lower parts are separated by a mesh of approximately 150 microns.

 

How do I get pollen out of the grinder?

To evacuate the pollen or kief accumulated in the grinder is very simple. You only have to unscrew the lower chamber, and with the help of a spike, or a small spatula we scrape well inside, also the mesh where is usually trapped enough resin, and throw it on a baking paper or similar.

When we remove the kief or pollen the ideal is to take advantage to clean the mesh that filters and the rest of the grinder with the help of alcohol, so that it always works perfectly.

 

🚀 How do I use the grinder card?

 

It is very easy, its operation is similar to a cheese grater. As you will see, the grinder card contains some small holes in the surface, which have sharp edges. These holes are used to filter the small pieces of buds when they are cut.

The ideal thing is to prepare a tray so that those pieces of weed fall on it, it is also worth a paper or any container. Then we take the grinder card with one hand, and with the other the bud we want to consume. We rub the bud on the surface of the card where it has the holes, from one side to the other and doing some pressure, as when we grate cheese, but controlling that the chopped weed falls on the tray or what we have prepared. Then all that’s left is to roll or carry the cannabis and enjoy.

 

✅ How to crush or grind grass without a grinder?

 

Years ago scissors were used to cut weed and still some purist users use them today. It takes more time and work but the result is not bad to roll a joint, although the grinder is much more efficient.

Another way to grind weed without a grinder is to chop marijuana by hand, we’ve all used this method once and we have found that it is not a very interesting option. A good part of the bud resin remains adhered to our fingers, the better is the marijuana that we are going to grind, the more resin is wasted. This is bad because apart from losing many of our trichomes, it prevents you from rolling the joint easily afterwards, since the paper sticks to your resinous fingers.

 

🎯 Tips for using and maintaining the grinder

 

One of the most important things when using the grinder to grind cannabis is to consider our health. I see a lot of people who take a whole bud, put it inside, make 3 or 4 turns, open it and make a joint with all crushed vegetable material, even stems! Don’t do it please, before grinding the cannabis make sure you have removed all the stems that the bud contains, you must try to reduce the risks associated with combustion.

The central part of the grinder chops less than by its perimeter, this is because in the center no matter how much you turn there will be hardly any friction, that’s why it is more interesting to put the dry flowers in any part of the perimeter that in the center.Another important point in the maintenance of a grinder is the cleanliness. As we know, cannabis resin is very sticky, it adheres to any surface, especially when we squeeze and break. With each joint we make, we accumulate resin in the spikes and chambers of the grinder, and gradually begins to have an impact on how it works, which is increasingly difficult to turn or close it properly. If you want to see the best way to clean a grinder, don’t miss this article where we specifically talked about this.📄