What Is a Grinder? How to Use a Grinder

Ginders help you break down big nuggets of weed so you can roll or pack a hit easily.

Every stoner remembers their first grinder. It probably wasn’t the best, but it always did the trick. Over time, the grinder has evolved from the basic two-piece grinder to a more sophisticated automatic grinder. 

Let’s just say without one of these, you would take a lot longer to get high, and you would probably get fed up using your hands every single time. This article will tell you what is a grinder and break down the basics of how to use a grinder and how a grinder actually works in the hands of a beginner stoner.

What Is A Grinder?

A grinder is a tool you use to break your herbs up into small bits for smoother-hitting bowls.

It sounds simple enough, but without one of these, you’re not going to have the consistency you want to have when you decide to roll a joint or hit that bong. This contraption breaks down big nuggets of weed with the teeth inside it that grind against each other. 

Some grinder also helps you collect kief, which is even more potent than the nugget itself. Using a grinder also ensures your weed burns evenly because no one likes when the joint suffers a sideburn.

Parts Of A Grinder 

  1. Two-piece grinder – This one is one of the most common grinders and probably everyone’s first love. It consists of the lid and the grinder bottom.
  2. Three-piece grinder – You have the lid, grinder chamber, and a storage chamber.
  3. Four and Five-piece grinder – This grinder has the above three levels with an additional one or two chambers for kief collection. These can be used to make hash or even rosin or give an extra potent boost to your joints.

How To Use A Weed Grinder

Using your fingers, break bigger buds up and place them in between the blades of the grinder.

Step 1: Take off the lid and break some of the bigger buds up with your hands. Place the selected buds into the grinder’s teeth. Make sure you don’t put any in the center because that would be a waste.

Step 2: Close the lid tightly and start rotating it. You will feel the weed loosening up inside the grinder. After a couple of turns, tap on the top to make sure nothing has stuck to the teeth.

Step 3: Unscrew the top, and there you have it, your freshly grounded weed! Now pat yourself on the back because you just learned how to use a weed grinder. 

Step 4: Some grinders have a kief chamber; you can collect the kief and sprinkle it on your blunt or joint if you’re feeling a bit dangerous. 

How To Clean A Sticky Grinder 

  • Rub isopropyl alcohol and salt on the sticky teeth of the grinder.
  • Use a small brush to scrape any loose kief off the screen between the collection chamber and the kief collector. 
  • Freezing your grinder makes it easier to clean the kief off. 
  • If the grinder is too far gone, it’s best to just toss it and get yourself a new one.

Apart from these, you could always follow these 3 useful tricks on how to clean a grinder.

Buy The Right Weed Grinder

Choose the right weed grinders for you and grind up your tobacco products

Manual grinders

These are the standard hand-cranked grinder and require a bit of muscle to them. They range from $15 to upwards of $25, and you can even get some of them engraved to add a personal touch to them.

Automatic grinders

These grinders can range between less than $25 and get bumped up to almost $200. They do all the work for you. You just have to sit back and wait for that finely crushed good kush.

Tips For Using A Grinder

  1. Don’t exert yourself – You don’t need to be the hulk to rotate the grinder to reach that perfect consistency. A couple of gentle turns is more than enough to do the trick. It is also important not to overfill the grinder, so it doesn’t get jammed in the process. 
  2. Turn it upside down – For the finest grind, remove the kief chamber and turn the grinder upside down. When you grind, the chunks of weed won’t get into the kief chamber and thus giving you a smoother grind.
  3. Clean your grinder – Just like any other weed paraphernalia, your grinder requires cleaning. Do not, I repeat, do not use any abrasive materials such as scrubbers to clean the grinder. It will do more harm than good. Some rubbing alcohol and warm water do the trick. Cleaning it also makes your grinder last longer and gives you an easier grind with every use.

Conclusion 

We have gone into the depths of how to grind weed with a grinder exactly. You are ready to go out into the world and show them off to that lovely bunch of stoners you call friends. Remember what we said, and you’ll have an amazing experience the first time you use a grinder.