Learn How To Grind Herbs For Vaping

Nov 6, 2024
man holding grinder with blue background

In the vast world of grinder linguistics you’ve got the daily grind, meatball grinders, just plain old grindr, and finally herb grinding. Now despite what one may think, grinding herbs is a little bit more complicated than putting two and two together; there really is an art to the grind.

That’s why for today’s Sutra Vape Briefer we are going to be diving into the world of grinding dry herbs for your vaporizing enjoyment to give you some expert tips on how to get the most out of your favorite herbal materials!

grinder opened with dry herbs on black table

Why Should You Grind Your Herbs For Vaping?

Grinding your herbs is an essential part of getting the most out of your vaping sessions due to it maximizing potency via increased surface area and acting as an important quality check.

When you grind up your herbs and place them in your oven, you want the materials to be warmed evenly, avoiding the not like a hot pocket syndrome of one section being roasted into ash, while the other herb is left alone. By shredding your herbs, you are breaking them down so that they can all evenly receive heat across their whole surface, instead of just one part.

Another bonus aspect of grinding is that when you break your materials down you get to perform your very own quality check on them. Grinding allows you to see the entirety of the herb in ways you wouldn't be able to when they are whole and gives you the peace of mind that you know your materials are quality inside and out.

What Types Of Grinders Exist?

As a quick introductory aside, we wanted to catch you up on what kinds of grinders currently exist out there so that you have a good idea of the playing field.

For the most part Grinders come in either 2 or 4 piece options and make use of two individual sets of sharp teeth, that when twisted will pull apart dry materials so they can be effectively enjoyed. 4 Piece grinders will include a kief catcher on the bottom to collect all of the finest materials that your herbs produce.

Some grinders are even powered by electricity, but in our opinion we think that you really cannot beat the old tried and true metallic grinder. They never run out of battery and can literally last you a lifetime thanks to their simple, but oh so effective designs.

man holding Sutra Grinder side view on blue background

How Do You Pack Your Grinder With Herbs?

To get started with your grinding, first locate a grinder from your collection. After you’ve chosen your selection, remove the top component to expose the bottom set of teeth.

Now you have to load your dry herbs into the grinder, but before you do so take a moment to prepare your materials so that they are primed to effectively grind. This means you want to avoid taking whole chunks of materials and jamming them in. Instead you should break them apart with your hands so that they are a collection of smaller pieces, this will make grinding much a much smoother process.

Only pack one side of your grinder, you want the herbs to be completely surrounded by the sharp teeth in order for them to work. Additionally make sure to pack the bottom component, this way you can press on the top and use the downward force to make quick work of your herbs.

Can You Overfill Your Grinder?

Yes! Despite how they seemingly magically prepare your dry herbs, there are limits to these work horses. If you have too much material in your grinder then it will cease to work effectively and you’ll have to unload some of it.

Think of your grinder like your mouth, if you tried to jam an entire meatball grinder into your mouth, your jaw would have quite a hard time actually chewing it. Grinders are much the same way in that they need just a bite of your materials at a time to really operate correctly.

That’s why it's always better to just take your time with grinding instead of rushing it, you want to have a consistent grind to avoid large oversized clumps that will impede your vaporizing.

woman holding a dirty used grinder

When Should You Clean Your Grinder?

Should you notice that there are any stuck materials or build up from use, make sure that you take the time to pick out all of the older herbs. While time consuming, this will prevent your grinders teeth from becoming blunted from overuse and ensure that your herbs are prepared for vaporizing properly.

Clogged grinders can produce herbs with inconsistent grinds, so always make sure to stay on top of your cleaning to keep things calm and vaping on.

black Sutra Grinder standing with packaging in front of office desk

How Much Do You Grind Herbs For Vaping?

When grinding your dry herbs for vaping you want to achieve a middle ground where the materials are coarse and separated, but not so fine that they can slip through a screen. This allows the herbs to be packed easier and more effectively during your session.

After you do your initial grind, take a peek in your chamber to see its consistency. If you think it needs to be a bit finer, flip it upside down while firmly holding onto the top and give it a few more twists to put the materials back into the teeth.

Repeat this process until you feel your herbs are of a consistency where they can be lightly sprinkled into your dry herb chamber without falling through the cracks.

Keep in mind when you're grinding that the age of dry herbs will affect how quickly they are ground. Fresher herbs will be much harder to grind and take more effort from your grinder as they are often denser due to them still retaining some moisture.

Older materials will be more crackly and dry, this makes grinding them much easier but also runs the risk of becoming so powdery that they clog your chamber or even near the point of combustion while vaporizing due to their overly fine texture.

What’s The Best Grinder For Vaping?

At Sutra Vape we offer two absolutely excellent options for grinding with our Aluminum 4 Piece 65mm Grinder and Aluminum 4 Piece 50mm Grinder!

Both of these Grinders have been made out of premium machine grade aluminum before being finished with a top quality gloss to insulate the metal from any bumps or scratches. They are able to make short work of dry herbs thanks to their specialized milled teeth being precision designed to carve apart your materials with ease.

The 4 pieces included in each Grinder are the two sets of teeth, a large chamber for ground herbs, and finally a bottom chamber to accumulate fine materials like kief. This gives you everything you need to effectively prep your herbs for vaping while at the same time collecting precious kief for immediate or later use!

A Fore-Ground Conclusion

With the hard part out of the way, all you have to do now is pack your vape and get ready for the best dry herb clouds of your life!!! The more you grind, the more you will be able to fine tune the exact consistency that you yourself prefer.

Check back at our Sutra Vape Blog to see more insights, tips, and tricks from our team to take your sessions to the next level! Keep calm and keep vaping on!