Grinding Basics
Grinding your herb is a nuanced process. Grind your bud too fine, and you can end up with clogged airflow holes or torched bowls. Grind too coarsely, and your airflow will be too great, resulting in a loss of valuable oils, potency, and aromas. Unfortunately, manual grinders rely on the user to get a good grind, and if you are inexperienced, not paying attention, or it just isn’t your thing, it is very easy to ruin perfectly good bud with a lackluster grind. In order to get the perfect grind, every time, most bud enthusiasts have turned their backs on manual grinders and opted instead for a more advanced handheld electric grinder to get the most out of their herb experience.
When grinding, it is so important to start with a clean grinder – this post gives great tips and advice on cleaning, hygiene, and user responsibilities when it comes to taking care of a grinder. A dirty grinder can increase your risk of jamming, clumping, and losing your oils to the build-up caked inside. When cleaning your grinder, be sure to use extra caution around any electrical components by removing batteries or power sources and avoiding any submersion in water.
Electric and Manual Griding
Electric or battery-powered herb grinders can be anywhere from as-fast or 20 times faster than a typical manual grinder. If you’re used to manually grinding your herb, the first time you use a battery herb grinder you will likely be blown away at the speed – whereas a typical electric grinder operator will feel transported back to the stone age when forced to use a primitive manual grinder. It is so important to know your own personal limitations and expectations when it comes to your grinding experience – if you are someone with muscle pain or fatigue, carpal tunnel, or arthritis, a manual grinder may exacerbate these symptoms with the repetitive squeezing, twisting, and turning. A great deal of dexterity is then required to clear the grinder of herb and funnel it where it needs to go. If these are concerns for you, try to find a grinder with a hygienic dispensing tip to eliminate these steps (and reduce the risk of contamination).
Hygiene is a big factor when grinding your herb – you don’t always know how clean your prep area is. There could be bacteria, viruses, and other contaminants around that you don’t want mixed into your finished product. Nothing like accidentally packing a cat hair into your bowl! Manual grinders require an extra step between grinding and consuming. The herb must be removed from the grinder and somehow placed into the desired receptacle. Some brands of electric grinders have a hygienic dispensing cone tip, so that their grinders can grind your herb and dispense it directly where it needs to go without risking spillage, wastage, or contamination.
Our recommendation
We tested a multitude of available electric units on the market, our top pick is the Mamba electric herb grinder. It has a large storage capacity, runs on AA batteries, was designed with ergonomics in mind, and looks phenomenal on display. The engineers went to great lengths to source high-quality parts, and took special care to ensure a smooth, easy, one-handed operation. We found it gave us an ideal, fluffy grind each time we used it – and we tested it extensively. The Mamba grinder is inexpensive, especially considering the high-quality parts, and can also be found at select retailers.
