Guide to Cannabis Grinders | humble+fume

Everything You Need to Know About Cannabis Grinders and How to Choose the Best Selection for your Dispensary

Cannabis grinders are an essential accessory and play an important role in enhancing the cannabis experience. Grinders may appear to be a simple tool but there are many factors to consider when determining which is the best fit for you. It’s important to remember grinders are built with the consumer in mind, a two-piece grinder may fit the needs of a casual consumer, but a more aware and advanced consumer may require the advantages of a three or four-piece accessory. This guide will answer all your questions about grinders and will help you determine which one is the best fit for your needs as a consumer.

What are the Advantages of Using a Cannabis Grinder?

It’s easy to understand why you need to grind your cannabis but what value does using a cannabis grinder add to the experience? We’ve identified the top three advantages of using a cannabis grinder:

1. Flavour - Using a grinder instead of your fingers or scissors ensures you release the incredible flavors and aromas packed into your strain of choice. Furthermore, by using a grinder all of that goodness stays locked in and ready for your session.
2. Potency - It's important to keep all the components of the cannabis together, for example, if you've ever broken up your marijuana by finger, you've experienced, 'sticky fingers' this is a result of trichomes or 'kief' attaching to your fingers. Trichomes are where the majority of the cannabinoids are found and are critical to the potency of your cannabis. Using a grinder will ensure the majority of the trichomes are contained with the rest of your cannabis to maximize your high.
3. Kief - Kief or the resin gland is what contains the terpenes and cannabinoids which make your flower unique and delivers the maximum potency. Kief is so relative to grinders because many consumers will use a 3 or 4 piece grinder with a "kief catcher" built-in or even further some have a pollen presser so you can make hash.

Two-Piece, Three-Piece, and Four-Piece Grinders - What’s the difference?’

As mentioned in the introduction, cannabis grinders come in many varieties, each with differing degrees of complexity. To understand which grinder is a match for your needs it's best to take a look at their differences.

2 Piece

2 Piece Grinders

Two-Piece Grinders have one compartment that grinds and collects your cannabis. Perfect for your casual cannabis consumer who is looking for a quick and effective way to prepare their dried cannabis. A limitation of the two-piece grinder is consumers may find it difficult to retrieve their ground herb from between the teeth of the unit.

Kannastor Black Solid Top Black - 2 piece
MSRP $32.90

3 Piece

3 Piece Grinders

Three-Piece Grinders are a step up in quality and function from the two-piece option. In a three-piece device, you'll find small holes that allow fragments of finely ground cannabis to fall into a lower compartment. This separation helps serious consumers collect and enjoy kief that catches in the teeth on the grinder.

Santa Cruz Shredder 3 Piece - Green 2.2"
MSRP $79.75

4 Piece

4 Piece Grinders

Four piece grinders are the superior of the three options and typically reserved for your premium consumers. The four-piece device is designed for collecting kief and includes a screen or filter that helps residue to pass through the chamber responsible for retrieving kief.

Cali Crusher HomeGrown - 4 piece grinder
MSRP $129.95

How to Use my Grinder?

The design of most cannabis grinders makes using them very intuitive. But, if you’re using a cannabis grinder that has three or four-pieces the process can be a bit tricky. We’ve outlined a Step by Step Guide to using a cannabis grinder.

Step 1: Take off the top piece of your grinder. Simply load the grinder with your choice of cannabis, break with your hands any large pieces and place them between the grinder’s teeth.

Step 2: Place the top piece of the grinder back into place and give the grinder enough rotations so that the cannabis is ground to your preference. If you’re using a three or four-piece grinder the ground cannabis will fall into the second chamber.

Step 3: If you’re using a three or four-piece grinder, unscrew the piece below the grinder’s teeth to find the chamber where your ground cannabis has been collected. Load it in your vaporizer, pipe, and rolling paper and enjoy!

Step 4: Interested in Kief? Assuming you’re using a four-piece grinder, unlock the third and final chamber of your cannabis grinder and you’ll find a neat compartment where your Kief has been collected. Feel free to sprinkle it onto your bowl to increase potency or save it for a later session.

Bonus Step: Keep it Clean! Check out the information below on how to properly maintain your cannabis grinder.

How to Maintain my Herb Grinder?

When you’re spending more than $100’s on a high-quality cannabis grinder it’s important to know how to take proper care of the device. It’s always best to check first if manufacturers have specific maintenance instructions but in the event, you can’t find any information, we’ve put together a simple Step-by-Step of how to clean your grinder. All you’ll need is a sterilizing agent (alcohol), water, toothbrush, paper towel, and cup large enough to submerge the various pieces.

Step 1: Dissemble your cannabis grinder and stack the pieces in the cup.

Step 2: Fill the cup with Alcohol until your grinder pieces are submerged and let the contents sit for five minutes swirling occasionally.

Step 3: Remove your grinder pieces and place them on a paper towel.

Step 4: Gently scrub the individual pieces your grinder with a toothbrush making sure you really get in between the grinder teeth and in all the corners.

Step 5: Stack the grinder back in the cup with alcohol for another 5 minutes and swirl occasionally.

Step 6: Drain the alcohol from the cup and rinse the grinder pieces under warm water.

Step 7: Using a paper towel wipe away any remaining residue from the pieces of the grinder and let dry on a paper towel.

Step 8: Ensure the pieces are dry, put it back together, and it’s ready for your next session.

What are the Best Materials for a Grinder?

Metal

Metal is the most common material in the marketplace when it comes to creating grinders. The two most common metals used are aluminum and titanium. You'll find when shopping for grinders, many of the accessories advertised as "titanium" are actually aluminum based and coated in titanium.

Wood

Wood Grinders are typically hand-made and can really increase the style and visual appeal of a grinder. Wood working allows for more creativity when designing a grinder, leading to personal expression and comfortable grip features.

Acrylic

An acrylic grinder is made from a material that is more durable than its plastic and generally more affordable than your average metal herb grinder. Because Acrylic grinders are easier to clean and more durable it makes them a popular choice for many consumers.

Learn more about humble+fume’s selection of Wholesale Grinders or contact our customer support team to learn which accessories are right for you!

Why work with humble+fume?

humble+fume is the leading distributor of cannabis accessories to dispensaries and smoke shops across North America. We pride ourselves on offering retailers the best experience from start to finish.

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