Estimated 5-minute read
I’m sure you’ve been in this situation: you want to roll a joint, but your weed is full of stems and buds. How are you going to make it fit into that tiny rolling paper? Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen! Or doesn’t it? Worry no more: grinding weed is the next step you need to take on your way to success. Everything is about to work out now; the answer is simple and you go and grab your grinder, but… Maybe you’ve heard that not everything is positive when grinding weed and there are, like in everything in life, some disadvantages. Now you are all confused and, the worst part, not even high yet. Is it a myth that you are not supposed to grind the heck out of that little bulk?
Keep reading as we tell you everything you need to know about and the pros and cons of grinding weed.
What is a grinder?
First of all, if you are not familiar with grinders, they are small devices that consist of a two part container that rotate against each other so the sharp pieces inside can —as you already imagined—, grind the weed inside and leave, as a result, a very thin and easy to smoke and roll product. Learn much more on how ro use a weed grinder.
Right now you can find tons of options for grinders in the market, of different colors, looks, uses, qualities, materials, sizes, number of pieces on them and, of course, prices. But the history of these artifacts is a little bit different, as they were created initially for culinary reasons, more specifically, to grind spices. They were made out of the most basic materials, like wood and nails, which is a big contrast with the ones you can find nowadays, that are as sophisticated as you can imagine, and made of different materials that help preserve weed’s characteristics at their best.
What happens when you grind weed?
If you want to fully understand the pros and cons of grinding weed, probably you need to catch up with a little bit of the science behind it first. What a pro!
First of all, it is good to know that cannabis has different parts that will break when you smash it, some people prefer slicing than grindind to avoid loosing the best parts of the buds. Have you heard the word trichome before? It’s a type of appendage where terpenes and cannabinoids are produced, so this is why it is super important to take proper care of this part of your smoking process; you don’t want to mess it up!
Pros and Cons of Grinding Weed
PROS: (Benefits of grinding weed)
-
It’s easier to roll
Speaking of the situation we presented at the beginning, having the whole bulk makes it a really difficult task to roll your joint. With no doubts, you’ll have to turn it into smaller pieces that are adequate for the size of your paper, so you can smoke it easily and with no chunks on it. This will provide your joint with way more stability, and will make it able to burn in an even way, preventing it from causing weird pops while you are at it.
-
It’s more portable
Let’s talk about practicality: taking your weed everywhere with you is easier when it is grinded, because it occupies less space between your belongings and you can also use the grinder itself as a case where you can store it till you are ready to use it. This way, you won’t take the risk of your flowers dispersing everywhere in your pocket and causing unnecessary mess: we want to be high, but also neat!
-
Less waste
This is one of the biggest perks of this list. When you use a grinder for your weed, you’ll find out that the kief stays at the bottom of it. The word kief refers to the small hairs present in the cannabis plant, and its importance lies in the fact that it contains a higher percentage of THC, going up to 50-80 % (when other parts of the plant are only up to 30 %, maximum). Also, the effect you’ll get will last longer when you smoke the kief, and it can reflect on your trip lasting for hours. Using your fingers instead of a grinder would probably cause more waste, as you won’t be able to break the plant as small as this artifact could. So if you want to conserve the kief of your cannabis and elevate your high you'll need to make sure to invest on a really good grinder with kief catcher.
-
It enhances the flavor and the smell
The moment you break the trichome, you set the substances mentioned before free so the flavor and the effect will be more powerful. What’s the science behind that? You won’t have a lot of direct contact between your hands and the plant, which will keep the quality of the trichomes and cannabinoids on them from fading away.
-
You will smoke purer stuff
As we mentioned before, another characteristic of kief is its purity, because it has less plant parts and more of the good stuff. Also, the experience will be softer and your hits will be way smoother.
CONS:
-
Causes more waste
Although we said you’ll waste less of your product by using it, if your grinder is designed in a way it gets clogged, maybe you will take the risk of your thricomes staying within it and you not taking advantage of its properties. This, of course, depends on you choosing one that allows you to collect it in a proper way so you can have a little stash at the end of the month.
-
Grinders can get clogged
Some of the conventional models available in the market can get clogged. If their pieces are not that removable, you can have a hard time trying to clean them and they won’t be that practical for the next time you need to use them.
-
You can hurt yourself while using a grinder
Grinding your weed with a grinder might become a heavy duty, as some of them are hard to twist because of their mechanism, so if you want your weed to get fully grinded, it’s probably not going to be a walk in the park.
-
Some of them are not that resistant
This will mean that they can last shorter or even break in the middle of the task, something nobody wants to go through!
Grinding techniques: Always choose the best one for you
The journey of becoming a pothead has many steps you can take to enjoy the best out of it. A grinder can definitely improve your experience, and there are some very good options you can choose from to get the device that matches your budget, lifestyle and grinding goals.
Author: Rola
Comments