- When the time comes to consume your dry herbs, one of the most important
things you can have to get ready for the smoking process is a grinder. Grinders are used to break up the herbs into fine, consistent pieces, and are an essential tool for any smoker to have in their arsenal. - Grinders come in all shapes, functions and prices. If you’re in a rush or on
the move, a two piece grinder is what you need. The two pieces both have teeth that allow you to easily grind your blends into small pieces when twisting the grinder. - There is a wide variety of sizes for grinders as well, allowing smokers to tailor their experience to whatever their needs are. If you’re looking for more function in your grinder, there are three, four, and even five piece grinders. For more information on grinders, you can refer to our article on choosing the perfect grinder.
You may be wondering what makes grinders so essential to the process in the first place. After all, can’t you just use your fingers to break up your dry herbs? Well, using a grinder is much faster than breaking the herbs into pieces by hand, and gives you a more consistent, convenient end-result. Saving time in the process is one positive, but grinders provide more benefits than just this.
One of the best benefits of using a grinder is that, by breaking your herbs into smaller pieces, you maximize their surface area. This makes them smoke better, giving you a more enjoyable experience with your dry herbs. These benefits only become greater the more pieces your grinder of choice has.
For example, with a four piece grinder, you have not only the sections with the teeth for the grinding, but also a chamber for herb storage. However, the best feature of these grinders is the fourth piece, a chamber under the herb storage chamber that catches any pollen that falls off of your herbs. This is achieved because of the presence of a mesh screen in the herb storage chamber, with holes small enough to allow the pollen to fall through and accumulate.
This pollen is the essence of the dry herb, being the most potent part of it. The pollen itself is called the trichome; it’s the part of your dry herbs that may make them appear crystal-like. When you grind your herbs, all of the trichomes either fall through to the pollen catcher or stay on the herbs themselves; when you break up by hand, however, a lot of the trichomes will stick to your hands, reducing overall potency.
By reducing the potency of your dry herbs, you won’t get as much out of them or may need to use more of them to get what you want out of them. As such, keeping the trichomes on your herbs (and having some stored to accumulate) is ideal for every smoker.
Without a grinder, a smoker is depriving themselves of a potential way to store their dry herbs, and losing out on trichomes that are valuable to the process of getting the most out of them. Having a fine, consistent grind on your blends also gives you a more consistent smoke, making grinders an optimal part for any smoker looking to maximize their experience.
