7 Brilliant Ways to Break Bud Without a Grinder

It's not uncommon for a cannabis consumer to lack a grinder. Often, it's a piece of equipment connoisseurs or patients tend to grab, being familiar with the benefits of properly ground bud as they tend to smoke or vape it daily. However, for those of us that don't want or need to spend our hard-earned cash on a grinder, or are simply waiting to save up for a decent one, here's a list of ways to get your bud ready to consume without the hassle of getting your fingers dirty/sticky with precious trichomes.

But first - Why grind up cannabis? Why not put the whole bud or even half the bud in the bowl and smoke it like that? Because when cannabis isn't broken down and ground up:

• The flower will not burn evenly, and trichomes/cannabinoids on the inside of the bud will not get properly heated to smoke/vape and thus they're wasted.
  • This means wasted money.
• Smell & taste of the strain will not be experienced to the fullest since less surface area is exposed. When bud is broken up, more terpenes are released and better smelled/tasted.

Discover More: This is Why a Quality Grinder is Essential

1 - Shot Glass & Scissors

Place your bud in a clean shot glass. Hold the shot glass steady as you use your other hand to take the (cleaned) scissors and snip at the bud briskly with their tips. After getting the bud down to a decent consistency, be sure to scrape the trichomes off the scissors and from the inside of the shot glass (you can use a butter knife for this step) to put on top of your bowl or in your vape pen.

2 - Pill Bottle & Coin

Place your bud in a clean & empty pill bottle. Clean a coin or a marble and put it in the pill bottle with the bud. Place the cap on and shake it vigorously. This will get the majority of the bud to break up, but you may need to remove the broken up bits from the bottle and continue with the rest of the bud that hasn't broken up. Repeat this until your bud is nothing but stem. This strategy works best when the bud is drier and more brittle than average. Don't forget the collect the trichomes in the bottle and on the coin/marble.

3. Bowl & Parchment Paper

Over a bowl, place your bud between two sheets of parchment or wax paper and rub them together to get the bud to crumble. This is similar to simply using your fingers but ensures your fingers won't get messy. Both parchment and wax paper are stick-proof and moisture-proof, so all the trichomes will easily fall into the bowl instead of sticking to the paper. For buds that are harder to break apart (i.e. have more moisture) you can place the two sheets of parchment paper on a level surface, then use a larger/heavier/sharp-edged object to crush the bud up between the papers.

4. Mortar & Pestle

For those of us with good ol' fashioned cooking supplies readily available in our kitchen, a mortar and pestle can of course grind up cannabis buds just like any of your other herbs. You can look at YouTube videos about how to properly use a mortar and pestle.

5. Cutting Board & Pizza Slicer

With your bud on a clean cutting board, you can easily slice it up using a pizza slicer until its a fine consistency. Be careful with this method as sometimes it can cause small piece of bud to fly off the cutting board if you aren't careful / are too quick with the slicer. You may get fingers on one hand a bit sticky from trichomes as you hold the bud in place, but slicing it up will be fairly easy. You can also use a serrated knife instead of a pizza slicer.

6. Coffee Grinder

You can put your bud in a coffee grinder and turn it on for 5 seconds, with the bud crumbling at an even consistency. Always start with 5 seconds so you don't turn your bud into powder. Evaluate if you need to grind it a few more seconds if there are still large chunks. Don't forget to get the trichomes out of the grinder once you've removed the ground bud.

7. Bowl & Microplane Grater

Over a bowl, run the bud over a clean microplane grater just as you would cheese. While it will evenly break the bud up, trichomes may get stuck on the metal of the grater - so use this method as a last resort. Taking trichomes off a microplane grater isn't easy or fun.

Have your own method of breaking up your bud without a grinder?

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