There are no two ways about it. A grinder, especially one that has been designed to grind marijuana, is the ideal way to prepare your herb.
However, there may be times when you have a craving to enjoy your preferred buds but simply don’t have a grinder available. Or maybe you forgot where you used it and put it down the last time you ground some weed!
Don’t despair. There are other options and although they may not be perfect they will provide a way to prepare some nugs so that they can be smoked.
Why is it necessary to grind weed in the first place? Well just think about it. If you want to smoke a joint, spliff, or blunt you need to break your buds into a rollable size to fit inside your rolling paper. Only after grinding weed into small pieces, you can spread it evenly across your wrap and then roll the whole thing up into a smokable format.
And it’s not just this way of smoking that really requires grinding prior to using. If you prefer a spoon pipe, a handheld bubbler, a bong, or anything similar you do need to grind your weed in order to ensure that you thoroughly burn and smoke your entire nug so that nothing goes to waste.
No Grinder Options
As mentioned above a grinder specially designed for marijuana is by far the best option. First of all, you will get a more even grind so that all the pieces are of equal size. Second, grinders will leave intact more of the trichomes—and all the cannabinoids they contain—as they’re not rubbing off onto your hands.
Using Your Hands
If possible do this over a flat surface such as a rolling tray. If you don’t have anything suitable to use then you can make use of the palm of one hand and the other to break apart the nug. Gently roll the herb between your middle finger, index finger, and thumb. Check the crumbled weed for any larger pieces and break them down to a size more consistent with the rest of the herb.
When doing this try to strike a balance between breaking down the bud whilst at the same time protecting the trichomes as much as you can. This is where all the THC and other cannabinoids are concentrated and you will want to preserve these as much as possible.
No matter how gentle you are you will end up with sticky fingers and some trichome loss but you will now have weed that you can roll or add to a bowl.
Scissors
If you have some sharp scissors to hand you can utilize these to cut weed into small useable pieces. Best used with a small clean glass where the nugs can be kept in sight and won’t escape while you cut them into small pieces. Probably not as effective as using your hands to roll the weed but less messy on the hands and if you are careful should preserve more of the trichomes.
Kitchen knife
If you are a chef or good in the kitchen this is a no-brainer. A little like chopping any type of kitchen herb a really sharp knife and chopping board is an obvious solution to the lack of a grinder. Both your knife and board will gain some sticky residue so don’t overlook washing both after use.
Coffee grinder
This option will give you a pretty good result with well-ground marijuana as a result. However, it will leave the blades of the grinder sticky with resin. You may be ok with resin flavored coffee until it wears off but those you share your home with may not be quite so keen so this is an option to be used with caution.
Summary
As you can see you can improvise if you have to do so but as there are plenty of grinders of all designs, sizes, and prices readily available there really is no excuse for not having one on hand whatever the situation or circumstances.
