Hi and welcome to the Big Mo’s 101 Blog! If you’re an experienced smoker, this one probably isn’t for you – as posts like these are meant to be informative for new or less experienced smokers to guide and better help them understand the use of different smoking accessories.

What is a Grinder?

Grinders help you grind your flower (plant material) down to a finer, even consistency. They’re typically made of either metal, plastic, or wood – metal is preferred by most customers because of its strength and durability. Grinders are usually palm sized and cylindrical, with anywhere from two to four separate interlocking pieces. When you remove the top piece, it will reveal the upper chamber, which holds “teeth” designed to grind up and pulverize your flower.

Types of Grinders

While a two piece grinder is the most basic version you can find, a four-piece grinder is usually considered to be the industry standard, and is favored by most smokers. These four-piece grinders consist of three separate chambers: the upper chamber (the one with the teeth/pegs) where you load your flower, the middle chamber where the ground plant material drops into, and the pollen chamber (also known as a kief catcher). This chamber is where the ultra-fine kief/pollen from your herb drops into through a fine mesh screen (this is the super-potent trichomes from the plant). Oftentimes, grinders will come with a small plastic scraper in this chamber. Over time, kief will collect here. You can then scrape it up and load it onto whatever you’re smoking to give it a boost!

How to Use a Grinder

Now that you know what a grinder is and how the different parts function, let’s talk about how to actually use it!

Unscrew the top lid of the grinder and evenly distribute your flower in between the teeth of the grinding chamber, using your fingers to gently break up bigger buds if necessary.
Replace the lid of the grinder and rotate it either clockwise or counterclockwise about 5-10 times, or until all of your herb is ground to your ideal consistency.
You’ll want to continue rotating the grinder until all the herb has fallen through the holes of the top grinder chamber.
Unscrew the entire top piece to remove it and the lid to get to the plant material that’s fallen into the collection chamber.

If you’re feeling brave and bold, unscrew the bottom kief chamber to find the highly-concentrated, fine particles of kief from your herb.

You're All Set To Use a Grinder!

That’s it! Now your bud is ground, and you’re ready to roll. Grinding your bud can be a great idea for many reasons. You can pack your pipes or joints with more consistent and even plant material, leading to a smoother smoke. Certain things like a vaporizer will work way more effectively with ground material versus hand picked buds. With added kief, you can get more intense effects. Finally, some people (the same people who probably love meal-prepping for the week!) like to grind up a bunch at once, so they don’t have to fuss with picking and packing as they go. Big Mo’s offers generic and brand name variations in a variety of sizes and colors.

We know that the community and industry we are a part of is often unfairly judged and criticized, as are its members. Because of this, we want to be the type of company that this industry deserves, and we will always strive to be the best that we can be. Big Mo's is bigger than just the sum of its parts, and we owe the world to our incredible #BigMoFam – thank you all from the bottom of our hearts, and stay tuned to see what BIG things are next for us!

Sachi & Mo aka SachMo

What is a Grinder?

Types of Grinders

How to Use a Grinder

You're All Set To Use a Grinder!

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