Every cannabis user has, at some point or another, been ready to light up but lacking a ready-to-use weed grinder. While a grinder isn’t always necessary, it’s still important to find a technique to shred your cannabis. However, a grinder is not required. It simply makes everything more streamlined and orderly. To make your flower burn more evenly, grind or shred it into tiny bits. It is not possible to smoke an intact flower, regardless of your preferred smoking method. When you roll a joint with a whole nug within the paper, the airflow is obstructed and the joint burns unevenly. It is possible to use unground flower in a bong, although doing so would probably still block airflow and lead to a less pleasurable hit.
Of course, using a grinder is hands-down the best way to grind cannabis. Even the most obstinate, unyielding grinder enthusiast, nevertheless, can find oneself without a tool when they really need one. You need to find a technique to transform your bud into an easily smokable state because you are surrounded by positive energies but lack the means to grind your cannabis. After all, festivals, concerts, and other huge public events offer ideal conditions for sharing a few joints with friends or making new ones.
However, did you realize that the typical grinder hardly ever leaves the coffee table? Not that it’s undesirable at a rock event, but it’s often perceived as being delicate or even precious. If there’s one thing that stoners, especially those who favor joints, grow sentimental about, it’s a dependable metal grinder with several layers and a kief-catcher. Before the trip even starts, a prized object like that is frequently abandoned as a safety measure.
Whatever the cause, you don’t need to worry any more if you find yourself without a grinder. When you’re at home or on the move without a grinder, we’ll go over a list of alternatives with you. Use your imagination to come up with additional techniques to make the procedure even simpler or more entertaining as the following is by no means an exhaustive list of grinder-less grinding choices. Also keep in mind that you might want to get a reliable travel-friendly cannabis grinder. We might advise taking a simple plastic tool to assist you on your hot spring holiday even though we don’t necessarily advocate bringing your nice three-chamber grinder. Or, to keep things even more discrete and portable, you can use a basic grinder similar to a credit card. These clever gadgets are small enough to fit in your wallet and resemble a compact cheese grater.
10 options to grind weed without a grinder
Using anything other than a conventional marijuana grinder can be damaging to the quality of your bud, though perhaps that should go without saying. However, we recognise that in times of need, desperate means must be used, and the strategies outlined below will help you if you are without a grinder. Always be ready, and stop by our headshop to get the best grinder possible.
1. By using your hands
It goes without saying that you can pick your nugs apart with your fingers in a pinch. However, smoking a very dense, sticky strain of marijuana can substantially hinder your ability to roll spliffs. Although Spiderman’s hands are fantastic for swinging from his webs, they can be a real mess when rolling joints. This is how buds are typically ground up in several cultures, particularly among Mediterranean smokers.
2. Use a shot glass and scissors
This is a far more tasteful answer. Although certain tools are needed, they are all standard household goods. It’s the next best technique to use a grinder because it’s quick, clean, and really effective. Simply place the marijuana in a small glass, a la a shot glass, insert the scissor blades, and begin slicing madly.
We won’t dispute that cutting all of your priceless, sticky cannabis buds into tiny pieces could be a hassle. But let’s be honest, a little tiresome (or contemplative) snipping will be worthwhile if each piece ends up being the ideal, smokable size.
3. Use a coffee grinder
It’s a typical household item that can work quite well as a grinder. Because coffee grinders tend to pulverize the coffee buds too much for our tastes and because your coffee might never taste the same again, we suggest caution. However, there can be times when the grinding strength of your buzzing electrical companion will be useful. If you use a coffee grinder and keep the pulsing to a minimum, you might just get the perfect grind.
Just be aware that your trip to work the next morning will feel like a pleasant dream if you don’t clean your electric grinder thoroughly afterward. However, that would be a nice bonus!
4. Use a knife and chopping board
Almost all kitchens are equipped with a knife and cutting board. Grab a good knife—the same one you’d use to cut potatoes and onions—and start chopping up your marijuana buds. Make sure the blade isn’t serrated and that it’s clean. You don’t want to mutilate your blooms and lose those priceless trichomes by tearing them apart like a lunatic.
5. Use a mortar and pestle
Why shouldn’t stoners use this pair of grinders the same way scientists, herbalists, and cooks do?
But be aware. Buds that have been adequately dried perform best with the pestle and mortar procedure. You can end up shattering your weed rather than breaking it up into small pieces if it has too much moisture.
6. Compress your weed
Perhaps grinding, snipping, cutting, ripping, squishing, or “mortaring” are ineffective or just not your style. Whatever. The good news is that you have another option, and you might even prefer the outcome: Greetings from the marvels of hash production! No chopping and slicing is necessary!
Have a straightening iron on hand? If so, you can extract those priceless cannabinoids and terpenes from your marijuana and turn it into some truly wicked rosin. Simply wrap a large bud in parchment paper and squeeze the goodness out of it between the heated straightener plates. You’ll receive some sticky resin as payment in a little while.
7. Wash your weed
It’s nice and all to use a hair straightener for some sticky resin fun, but let’s take our hash-making endeavors to the next level by generating delicious bubble hash out of our marijuana! Because ice is used to generate bubble hash, some people refer to it as “ice-hash.” But don’t worry, you won’t have to clean out your fridge or make a mess of your kitchen.
Those gadget-loving stoners with a sense of adventure are familiar with ice washers, which are machines that miraculously perform all the necessary tasks. Among the ice hash machines, The Bubbleator by The Pollinator Company is arguably the most well-known. Simply said, you plug it in, add some water, ice, and marijuana, and magic happens. The final output is solvent-free premium hash. Have you noticed that we didn’t discuss crushing your marijuana? That’s because while preparing bubble hash, we don’t need to! Simply use a pair of scissors or your hands to cut them into smaller pieces.
8. Shake your weed
If you are familiar with the botanical components of a cannabis bud, you may be aware that the trichomes—tiny “crystals” on your weed that give it its sticky texture—contain the majority of the beneficial components (and you are very high). It’s intriguing that you can gather the crystals by shaking them off and using them to make hash. By the way, these crystals, also known as trichomes or kief, are the secret to some extremely potent hash.
Modern pollen shakers make it possible for users to separate the trichomes from subpar marijuana and transform them into wonderful high-grade hash. 10g or so of dried buds should be added to the shaker, which should then spend 45 minutes in the freezer. After that, shake it hysterically for the following 10 to 15 minutes. To avoid having your fingers freeze, we advise putting your hand in a towel. Another solvent-free extraction technique, but this one requires more labor.
9. Make a DIY shaker
Perhaps you don’t have a pollen shaker on hand, or perhaps you’re just getting one now because it seems too tempting to pass up. In any case, there is a cost-effective DIY option you can employ. Find an empty pill container, put a little penny in it, and then shake it vigorously. Give the empty medication bottle and the penny a good scrub before you begin because cleanliness is next to godliness. Even while it doesn’t have the same “pro” appearance as a true pollen shaker, it is still amazingly effective and leaves no mess.
10. You can blend it
This is the last one we’ll cover, and we only suggest utilizing it in extreme cases. “Emergencies” in the sense that none of the aforementioned choices are actually an option. It is terribly ineffective, and should only be used as a last option.
To sum it up
Let’s reiterate the fact that a grinder is absolutely necessary if you enjoy smoking marijuana, which we assume you do because you are reading this. We’d even go so far as to advise having multiple grinders rather than just one. Nobody likes to lose their favorite grinder, so keep it close to your rolling papers and invest in a less expensive grinder for outings. Comparable to packing a Saturday night special, it is better to have one than to not have one.