How to Properly Grind Weed: A Beginners Guide

How to Properly Grind Weed: A Beginners Guide

Breaking up marijuana into small pieces is essential to the smoking process. If you’ve ever tried to light up a whole nug, you know exactly what I’m talking about. It’s nearly impossible to smoke marijuana flower that hasn’t been adequately broken down first -- the bud won’t light, and you end up wasting valuable product. Nobody wants that!

We’ve put together this guide to help prevent good weed from going to waste. If you’re new to the cannabis world, or just need a light refresher, keep reading to find out the best way to grind up your marijuana.

The Right Tool For The Job
It’s possible to grind cannabis without using anything other than your own hands, but it’s far from ideal. You may have heard the slang term “sticky-icky” used to refer to marijuana. Well, there’s a reason for that. Cannabis is an incredibly sticky plant. The natural oils and resins that the crystally trichomes you can see on the outside of herb produce can stick to your fingers, making things a little messy. Those sticky resins actually contain all the cannabinoids that you’re trying to consume, so it’s not just messy, it’s wasteful!

In a pinch, you can use scissors or a kitchen knife to grind up weed, but the process is incredibly painstaking and time-consuming. Even after all that time, your bud will be too coarse to roll up in a joint or blunt without creating air pockets that will negatively affect the way it burns. You’ll probably end up ruining a perfectly good pair of scissors while you’re at it too. 
Like with anything else, you want to have the right tool for the job. When it comes to breaking down weed, you’re going to want a grinder.

What Is A Grinder?  

A grinder is a tool specially designed to grind marijuana into small pieces that can be easily smoked. They come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors so you can find one that fits your needs and your unique style. Grinders usually come in either two, three, or four pieces. Sometimes you’ll find a five-piece grinder, but those are rarer.

Using A Two Piece Grinder

Two-piece grinders are the simplest to use, though not necessarily the most effective. First, you’ll split the grinder in half. This should be easy -- the two pieces should come apart effortlessly at the seam. If you look inside, both the top half and bottom half will have teeth sticking out. These teeth will be what actually grinds the marijuana. Next, you’ll take your flower and break off pieces the bud small enough to fit in between both parts. Once you’ve broken off the pieces, take them and sandwich them between both halves of the grinder. Push the halves together, using your hands and twist until there is no more resistance. At first, the grinding may be difficult and require a little more elbow grease, but as the buds break apart, it will become easier.

Once you can twist the two halves without experiencing any resistance, split the grinder open again. Dump your freshly ground weed onto a rolling tray or similar surface, and you’re ready to go.  

Using A Three Or Four Piece Grinder

Using a three-piece grinder is not all that different than using a two-piece version. Instead of splitting the grinder in half, you’ll begin by removing the top piece instead. These are usually held on by a magnet and should come apart without twisting or using much force. Once it’s open, you’ll see that the top and middle pieces have teeth just like the two-piece grinder. Essentially, a three-piece grinder is the same as its two-piece counterpart; only there is a third chamber that collects the ground up herb for your convenience. 

Just like with the two-piece, you’ll take flower and break it into pieces small enough to fit in the grinder. Place the pieces between the top and the middle chambers of the grinder, and push down while also twisting. Once there is no longer any resistance, unscrew the middle piece from the bottom chamber. Your properly ground herb will be in there waiting for you!

What separates a four-piece grinder from a three-piece grinder, is the addition of what’s called a kief (keef) catcher. The kief (keef) catcher is a small chamber on the very bottom of the grinder that collects the kief (keef) that slips through the mesh screen. Kief (keef) is concentrated cannabis, that collects on the outside the plant. Usually, this cannabinoid-rich byproduct gets lost on the tips of fingers or grinders’ teeth, but the kief (keef) catcher acts like a glove to catch it. After using a four-piece grinder enough times, you should have a good collection of kief (keef) in your kief (keef) catcher. Sprinkle some on a bowl or joint to add a little something special!