It’s Saturday, and you’ve planned out the perfect way to spend the night. You’ve invited a bunch of friends for a Lord of the Rings Extended Version marathon on your 50” screen Full-HD O-LED TV.
You’ve secured an ounce of your favorite strain the night before. You’ve bought all the snacks, soft drinks, and liquor a man could ask for. It’s the perfect setting to decompress after a long work week.
It’s 9 PM when the friends arrive. The Fellowship of the Ring is running, and it’s already 15 minutes in when you all agree that it’s time to get to work and roll those joints.
First task on your list, though, is to grind your weed buds down – sans weed grinder. As you’ve finished grinding it all down, you stop to take a look at your fingertips.
Taken aback by the amount of weed residue left on your fingertips, you realize you actually aren’t doing too great a job at all.
The truth is – weed veteran or newbie, owning a weed grinder will make your smoking sessions much more enjoyable.
To help you understand how a weed grinder can benefit you, we’ve prepared a buying guide that will give you insight into why grinders are such useful gadgets.
Not only that, but we’ll outline the most common differences between different types of grinders, and ultimately, give you a list of the 6 most popular grinders you can buy in 2019.
Why use weed grinders?
While breaking down a bud with your fingers will get the job done, this method will ultimately waste all that precious cannabis pollen due to the trichomes getting stuck on your fingertips.
That’s where a weed grinder comes into play.
Designed to finely grind down your weed in order to provide a smooth, slow, and consistent smoke, using an herb grinder will make your bowl, joint or any inhale-able method of consumption that much better.
You see, finely ground cannabis means more THC crystals getting absorbed during combustion, giving you more potent effects from whatever strain you’re exploring at the moment.
To put all of this into perspective, you just need to remember one phrase: the finer the cut, the finer the high.
Types of grinders
When discussing how well you want your cannabis to be ground down, the results will be determined by the number of pieces your grinder is made out of.
A two-piece grinder has only one compartment into which you place, grind, and retrieve the cannabis in question. Simply designed and easy-to-use, this type of grinder is a perfect starting point for beginners.
A three-piece grinder has three compartments – the lid and two chambers. The first chamber holds all the teeth, and it’s where all the grinding is done.
As you work to get to the tiniest bits of your herb, the ground cannabis will fall through to the bottom chamber, which serves as a storage space for the material until you’re ready to roll that perfect joint.
Along with the two chambers featured in a three-piece grinder, a four-piece grinder has an additional chamber – a kief collector at the bottom which is separated by a sifting screen that allows for all that cannabis pollen to fall through and accumulate in the chamber over time.
What are weed grinders made of?
If we’re out to classify grinders by the materials used to make them, we can group them into three separate categories: wooden, acrylic, and metal.
The cheapest, and of least quality, acrylic grinders are shaped out of plastic, resulting in a grinder that’s quite fragile and doesn’t provide for a consistent, precise grind every time.
Furthermore, these grinders are known for breaking easily, making them a short-term solution. Even with all these negative aspects, though, acrylic grinders make for a perfect ‘beginners’ device, suitable for learning your way around such devices.
Durable, strong, sharp, and long-lasting, metal weed grinders are the best ones on the market. Whether it’s made out of aluminum, stainless steel, or titanium, grinding your cannabis product with one of these will be a breeze.
While stainless steel grinders tend to be more resilient, titanium ones come equipped with the sharpest teeth which allow for the finest grind. However, aluminum weed grinders seem to be the most popular and best buying options on the market mostly because of their cost.
Lastly, we have wooden grinders. While these can serve their intended purpose, wooden grinders simply lack the durability and quality you can get out of metal grinders. The teeth are usually nails or little wooden pegs that are prone to falling out as you continuously use it.
Since these wooden grinders are mostly bought for their design, you can expect to see this kind of grinder on a shelf belonging to an herb enthusiast who collects all things aesthetic.
A note on the importance of weed grinder teeth
Out of all the different parts that make up a grinder, the teeth are the most crucial when it comes to the quality of your ground up cannabis flower.
The rule of thumb is – the more teeth there are in a grinder, the finer the grind. When it comes to the actual number of teeth that makes for an ideal experience, 50 teeth with a diameter of 2.5 inches seems to be the common sweet-spot, according to both online product research and our own experience.
When it comes to the shape of the teeth in a grinder, your best bet is to aim for a grinder with diamond-shaped teeth, since they’re the most effective in getting the overall grind as fine as possible.
Buying guide – Top 6 best weed grinders to buy
Keeping the above points in mind, we finally arrive at the real subject of this post – our list of the top 6 weed grinders on the market today.
Seeing as how we’ve launched a website where you can buy all things related to cannabis equipment, we’re sure you will find some of the grinders on this list in our inventory. Check out the full scope of what we have to offer here.
Let’s dive right in.
Santa Cruz Shredder
As soon as you pick up the Santa Cruz Shredder and give it its first whirl, you will be enchanted by it, that’s a promise.
Recognized as the most complete grinder out there, it comes up first on our list. Priced at around $50 – $60, more or less, depending on the size and the number of pieces, Santa Cruz Shredders are constructed out of anodized, scratch-resistant, medical-grade aluminum.
Renowned for producing a fine, consistent, and fluffy grind, the teeth are what really makes this Shredder exceptional. Seeing as how they’re rectangular in shape, rather than your usual diamond-shaped teeth, using this grinder doesn’t really grind the herb, but shreds it instead.
Just a few turns, and you get a coarse fluffy grind, while a few more turns will get you the finest grind possible.
Space Case
Coming up second on our list, we have Space Case grinders.
Priced at around an average of $30 – $90, depending on the size you want, the Space Case grinder is our top-quality pick based on grind consistency and ease of use.
Made out of top of the line aerospace aluminum, Space Case grinders are well-known for their strength, durability, performance, and design.
Consider getting a Space Case grinder as a long-term investment, since any make and model labeled “Space Case” can easily last you more than a few years.
Grove 4-Piece Grinder by Aerospaced
Sneaking right up behind Space Case, we have Aerospaced’s Grove 4-Piece Grinder, the third most popular grinder on the market.
Priced at around $40 – $60, the value-to-price ratio on this one is quite high.
Made out of anodized aerospace-grade aluminum, we deem Aerospaced grinders to be just fine.
Designed for efficiency, this device produces super fine grinds, making it superb for rolling the perfect joint.
Cali Crusher
Priced at around $40, Cali Crusher is a 2-piece grinder that will serve your grinding purposes just fine.
What makes it popular is the anodized aluminum that it is made out of, and extra sharp teeth that keep the Cali Crusher on top of the game.
Being one of the cheaper than average grinders, we still consider this one to be better than most grinders on the market.
Storz & Bickel Herb Mill XL Grinder
Storz & Bickel are leaders in the market for their excellent vaping devices, and their grinders are certainly not lagging behind in quality.
Storz & Bickel Herb Mill XL is a pretty large acrylic 3-piece grinder designed to grind large quantities of dry herbs.
The grinder’s pyramid teeth are extremely sharp and can grind extra dense material to very fine pieces.
It has an additional storage compartment suitable for storing ground material, which is obviously necessary due to the large volume of material that the grinder can accept at a time.
At less than $10, big enough to grind plenty of material for large parties, and sharp enough to produce exquisitely fine grinds – Herb Mill XL is an excellent bargain.
Masterdam
Coming in last, but not least, is Masterdam, an excellent choice if you value getting the best, most consistent grind you can get on the dollar.
Costing about ￡20 for a 4-piece grinder, its performance can be compared to higher-end grinders, offering a smooth, consistent grind.
Made from aircraft grade aluminum, Masterdam offers a variety of models, so be sure to look into each one if you’re interested in getting one.
Overall, there’s no need to shy away from Masterdam since it’s a grinder you can buy with confidence.
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Helena Miles
Experienced journalist with a decade-long experience of researching cannabis. She has been featured in many prominent outlets, such as The Growth Op, National Post and The Province.