How To Use A Weed Grinder

A Complete Guide and Tutorial

We've all been there. You broke down some loud and sticky Super Lemon Haze by hand, only to be left with your fingertips almost glued together from the weed's sticky resin. Then, you spent the rest of the day getting out built-up kief from underneath your fingernails. Sounds like a sticky situation, right?

At some point, we look for a more efficient way to crush our herbs quickly while preserving all plant matter at the same time. Enter, the weed grinder.

What's a weed grinder?

Generally, a grinder is a tool used to break down cannabis flower into smaller pieces. The small pieces are usually consistent in similar size to each other. An herb grinder is essential for anyone who rolls joints, blunts, or packs bowls in pipes, bongs, and vapes. Grinding your weed allows for a smooth and consistent burn by allowing more airflow through the evenly ground buds.

Types of weed grinders

Grinders come in a variety of styles, sizes, and designs. They're commonly cylindrical or circular in shape. This is because it allows them to be easily rotated to grind your herbs. Their sizes can range anywhere from a mini 1.25" inches to a mega 7" inches in diameter!

They can also be made from a variety of materials like wood, plastic, and metal.

Plastic Grinders

Plastic grinders are okay if you need a last-minute grinder, and are on a serious budget. They're the least expensive option, however, they're also considered the lowest quality grinder. Their grinding teeth are made of plastic. They are prone to break easily. After a few uses, they become very difficult to rotate from the resin being stuck in the cheap plastic material.

• Pros - Cheap, inexpensive
• Cons - Breaks easily and can get stuck quickly

Wooden Grinders

Wooden grinders look nice and are more durable than plastic ones. Some wood grinders include aluminum teeth, making them better at grinding herbs. They're pricier than plastic grinders but are usually modest in price. The wooden material used in these grinders is probably their biggest weakness. This makes them difficult to keep clean as the wood can begin to warp and shed after being wet.

• Pros - Looks cool, price varies but usually cheap
• Cons - Hard to clean, wood grain can get in your material

Metal Grinders

Metal grinders are almost guaranteed to break down your nugs no matter how dense they are. They are the most durable option on the market. Metal grinders are normally made from aluminum. This makes these grinders easy to clean. These are the number one choice for grinding weed because of their strength and durability. Prices may vary but usually aren't very modest when it comes to metal grinders.

• Pros - Durable, strong
• Cons - Price

What are the different parts of a grinder?

• Lid: holds it all together, has grinding teeth
• Teeth: blades/pegs/teeth to grind
• Chamber: a section of a grinder
• Kief Catcher: a section where kief/pollen is collected and stored (optional)

4 Piece, 2 Piece, 2 Chainz, 2pac? Why are they named like that?

This part may cause some confusion. So, to keep it short n' sweet, grinders are named according to how many pieces are included in the grinder. For example, if a grinder has only one section then it probably only has a lid and a grinding chamber. This would be a 2-piece or 2-part grinder. The more sections it has, then the more pieces/parts it contains.

We'll get a little more in-depth here.

The 3 most common types of grinders:

1. Two-Piece / Two-Part (Single Chamber)

The 2-piece grinder has only one grinding chamber. It consists of 2-pieces with grinding teeth to crush your weed. It's as simple as that, 2-pieces, 1 chamber.

1. Three-Piece / Three Part (Dual Chambers)

The 3-piece grinder has two chambers. It consists of 3-pieces. A grinding chamber to grind your buds, and a storage chamber. The storage chamber can be handy if you want to keep your ground-up flower stored for future use.

1. Four-Piece / Four-Part (Triple Chambers)

The 4-piece grinder has three chambers. It consists of 4-pieces. These have a grinding chamber, a storage chamber, and a kief catcher/pollen collector chamber. This grinder contains a screen to sift your bud's pollen and store it in the extra chamber.

How to use a weed grinder

Step 1: Load your grinder - Remove the lid, and place your nugs in between your grinder's teeth. Avoid putting your bud in the center if your grinder has a magnetic lid. Grinders with magnetic lids have their magnet in the center, so putting buds there is useless because nothing there will get broken. 

Did you know? Our grinders include a designated loading-zone! It's a clean area to place your nugs without cramming them.

Step 2: Grind your weed - Put the lid back on, and rotate it about 10 times or until your desired consistency. At first, there might be some resistance, so put some force while twisting.

Step 3: Tap it - Before opening the lid, tap your grinder in your palm or on a hard surface like a table. This will help unstick the ground-up herb from its cutting teeth and push it to the collecting chamber. If it's a 4-piece grinder, it'll push more kief through the screen as well.

Step 4: Scoop it or dump it - Open the grinder's collection chamber and scoop it to load your bowl or roll a joint. If it's a 2-piece grinder without a collection chamber, then you can simply dump your herbs on a surface.

It's necessary to clean your grinder every once in a while because you'll notice that your grinder's rotating motion will become more difficult to twist. This is because your grinder becomes sticky from all the gunky resins and powdery kief.

How to use a kief catcher

Most, if not all, four-piece herb grinders contain a kief catcher chamber along with a screen.

Kief, also known as trichome resin glands, resembles a fine powder that adheres to your fingers. This type of cannabis concentrate is high in THC, often reaching levels as high as 50%!

You might not see any kief after your first grind. Over time, however, the accumulation of pollen will be collected enough to be used. Kief can be pressed into hash, infused into butter, and used to top off your bowls.

Use a kief scraper tool to use the collected kief once you're ready. It's the best way to scoop out your pollen from your kief catcher.

Tip: Place a nickel on top of the screen to help knock pollen off the screen and into the kief catcher.