5 Tricks for Grinding Weed Without a Grinder

When you’re cannabis curious, it’s daunting to figure out how to use flower. While it’s pretty self-evident why you need to equip yourself with a pipe or papers. The need for grinding weed is probably the most overlooked part of the process. Cannabis newbies often skip the grinding altogether. (Guilty.) But just like letting a bottle of wine breathe before you drink it, grinding will vastly improve your experience of cannabis. 

Why Should You Be Grinding Weed?

One of the best reasons for grinding is to make the most of your cannabis budget. Ground cannabis packs easier and burns much more efficiently. A mix that has an even consistency will allow for better airflow. In turn, increased airflow means that all the cannabis particles in your joint or pipe will burn. Heat activates cannabis so the body can ingest it. If some of your mix isn’t heated, you won’t reap its benefits. Or you’ll have to ingest more to get the benefits you’re looking for. Even for edibles, you’ll get the strongest infusion if you coarsely grind your cannabis first.

Grinding Prep

Cannabis flower is sold in the form of dried, whole buds. Since cannabis is a plant, it comes with stems—just like the produce you buy in the grocery store. We all know the nutritional benefits of a tomato aren’t in the stems. The same goes for cannabis. The benefits you get from cannabis come from the cannabinoids, like CBD and THC. All of those goodies are in the bud. To be really specific, they’re mainly in the sticky resin on all the little particles all over the bud (the trichomes). So trim off any stems before you grind. That’ll make your mix more potent.

Pro tip: If you don’t want to make your mix more potent, lace in some additional herbs instead of leaving in the stems. Up the aromatic ante on your smokes beautifully with Barbari’s herbal blends, like Airplane Mode.

What Should Ground Cannabis Look Like For Smoking?

When you’re done grinding weed, you want to end up with consistently sized flakes. Your goal is a dry mix that’s easily measurable, packable, smokable, or infusible. You don’t want powder or any big lumps. But the size of your flakes depends on how you want to consume your cannabis. If you want to smoke it, you should be grinding weed finely. For a good guideline, take a look at some of the other dried herbs in your pantry. Basil, marjoram, and lemon pepper are all similar to what you’re looking for to pack a joint or a pipe. 

What Should Ground Cannabis Look Like For Making Edibles?

If you want to cook with your cannabis, go for a coarser mix. There’s two reasons to keep your infusion cannabis coarse. First, the more you grind up the herb, the more difficult it will be to remove the plant matter from your butter, oil, etc. Second, grinding finely will release more of the plant’s chlorophyll into your infusion. Chlorophyll has a strong taste that will make your edibles grassy. Some chefs advise that you should just break your buds apart with your hands. But that can get sticky. So, if you’re grinding weed for edibles, use the sage in your cupboard as your rule of thumb, and keep it coarse.

5 Methods For Grinding Weed Without A Grinder

If you have a grinder, then your work here is done. Use it and be happy. But if you find yourself without one—here are 5 methods for grinding weed using common kitchen tools.

Step 1: Gently Cut Your Cannabis Into Small Pieces With A Butcher Knife

Use a knife just like you would when mincing herbs. For a visual demonstration, check out our video showing how to do it on our new YouTube channel—At Home with House of Puff. This method gives you complete control over how small you make your mix. So it’s especially good for coarsely grinding weed for edibles.

Step 2: Snip Your Bud With A Pair Of Sharp Scissors

Everybody’s got a pair of scissors lying around in their house. For this method, first cut your bud in half and then just gently snip away at it.

Step 3: Grind Your Cannabis With A Garlic Grater

Grinding weed with a garlic grater creates a finer mix that’s perfect for packing a joint. Just grate your bud like you would a garlic clove. Keep in mind that you don’t want to grind the stems. They don’t contain that much THC. So try to avoid them if you can.

Step 4: Grinding Marijuana With A Cheese Grater

If you don’t have a grinder, your fourth option is a cheese grater. This is essentially the same technique as  using a garlic grater. With both of these grating methods, be careful not to grate your fingers, too!

Step 5: Break Up Your Cannabis With A Mallet

Our fifth method is to use a kitchen mallet. Usually for pounding meat, a kitchen mallet works just as well with cannabis. Put your bud in a ziploc bag first. As you seal it, press as much of the air out of it as you can. You don’t want the bag to pop so that you lose any of your stash. Once it’s sealed, just beat it until it’s the consistency you’re looking for.

When you’re done grinding, one of our favorite ways to imbibe cannabis is with our ceramic one hitter, Le Pipe. If you’re new to one hitters, they’re a great way to smoke cannabis—especially for the cannabis curious. The small bowl keeps your intake low and slow, so your dosage is manageable. Then the long body of Le Pipe cools off the smoke before it hits your throat. We just even lengthened Le Pipe an extra ¼”, which allows you to take deeper hits with little-to-no wear and tear on your throat.

Enjoy!