Breaking the weed

aelag · Post by **aelag** » Wed 22nd Mar 2006 10:18 am

Unfortunately we don't really get week in my country. We mostly smoke hash. For this reason I'm planning of sampling alot of weed when coming to A'dam. However, I have some problems thinking of the process. Was thinking of buying a grinder to help me break it. Would I need to know anything else? Like for example, will there be non-smokable stuff to remove? Or can I just include all the ground stuff in my joints? Sorry if this seems like a stupid question but am totally inexperienced with weed.

Szyslack · Post by **Szyslack** » Wed 22nd Mar 2006 11:06 am

Get a grinder, take out the stems in the bud, grind weed, roll joint, Bob's your mothers brother.

aelag · Post by **aelag** » Wed 22nd Mar 2006 03:48 pm

Cheers for the reply mate. Hopefully all will eventually go well...

Doog · Post by **Doog** » Wed 22nd Mar 2006 08:23 pm

Is it true that grinding the weed actually removes some of the THC crystals from it

I've seen loads of posts (and quite a few pictures) about guys who use the crystals for topping off bowls or whatever

Does the weed not become less potent.

BostonDiesel · Post by **BostonDiesel** » Wed 22nd Mar 2006 09:55 pm

are you talking about grinders with the sieve screen in them or regular traditional grinders?...Regular grinders dont purposefully sift the crystals, but they do tear the gear up and might cause a bit of left overs stuck to the inside (that some would call hash)...i personally think breaking up gear in a grinder is a sin...the precious buds need love when being broken apart, not treated like a piece of meat in a processing plant...but the other grinders, those with the screen and collection plate, do in fact sift crystals from the grinded product...but due to the mashing of the gear when you first grind it, most of the crystals, that would have come off if you used a kif box, end up being "stuck" to the shredded pieces...

who wouldnt want some crystals on top of their bowls?...i just wouldnt use a grinder to sift them out...use a kif box...shake the buds in it when you get them...and you will have alot more crystals left over versus what the grinder will provide...and you save the integrity of the buds and its calyxs...

it is up for debate, i am sure, but i dont think that a tremendous difference would be noticed if some of the crystals were sifted off the bud...and you will only lose some of them, not all...and you dont lose the cannabinoids from the plant material itself...that has a lot to do with effect of the gear...

Doog · Post by **Doog** » Wed 22nd Mar 2006 10:05 pm

Big thanks BD

My grinder is just a simple lil plastic one with no collection screen or anything like that.

Just lots of little plastic sticks on each side ready to shred.

Good to see that I won't lose anything by preparing the weed in this way.

On my last vsit, I didn't have a grinder and I just broke up the buds as small as I could and placed the little lumps into my joint.

Didn't really feel anything (maybe shit weed) but this is the main reason why I have bought a grinder for this time around.

Rez · Post by **Rez** » Wed 22nd Mar 2006 10:50 pm

Hi all,

Most of the buds that I bought last week were so well cured/dried that they easily crumbled (in fact they crumbled really well) into the pipe or the joint with no need for tools.

At most, pick up a cheap grinder from one of the many headshops

Rez

Vaporizer · Post by **Vaporizer** » Thu 23rd Mar 2006 02:27 am

[quote="BostonDiesel"]are you talking about grinders with the sieve screen in them or regular traditional grinders?...Regular grinders dont purposefully sift the crystals, but they do tear the gear up and might cause a bit of left overs stuck to the inside (that some would call hash)...i personally think breaking up gear in a grinder is a sin...the precious buds need love when being broken apart, not treated like a piece of meat in a processing plant...but the other grinders, those with the screen and collection plate, do in fact sift crystals from the grinded product...but due to the mashing of the gear when you first grind it, most of the crystals, that would have come off if you used a kif box, end up being "stuck" to the shredded pieces...

I totally agree! To me smoking herb is a ritual and I enjoy breaking it up by hand but I can see how a grinder can come in handy to roll a quick one.

Lofrequency · Post by **Lofrequency** » Thu 23rd Mar 2006 09:43 am

I used to be against grinders as I thought they would cause too much damage, but now i'm of the opinion that crumbling your bud by hand does just as much to the delicate thc glands etc.
So now I grind.
You also get a more even burning joint when your ground weed is mixed with the tobacco (as opposed to having hand broken lumps).

Yet another plus point for grinding is that finely ground bud powder is extremely good for use in cooking...

BostonDiesel · Post by **BostonDiesel** » Thu 23rd Mar 2006 03:18 pm

maybe this is for another thread...but i lick my joints...a lil saliva goes a long long way to keeping the j burning slow and even...licking a j seems to be a style that is either "in" or "out" for most smoking circles...so as far as using a grinder to get a better j burn response, i dont see that as an issue...i think doing it by hand has a few benefits over shredding...though it does take longer and is more labor intensive...but...hand broken up joints retain the calyx clusters if it is broken up properly...these lil balls of joy are best kept somewhat intact as they create a perfect burning medium with little spaces between them for the pull of the hit to travel through without creating a heavy suction on the j and causing a cherry to start building on the end...large cherries cause too much heat when burning the product and kills the flavor...anyone who has ever smoked a j in a big circle knows that after a few passes, it has a super huge cherry, tastes like crap and burns way too fast...the calyx clusters allow for an even burn and fuller, thicker hits of freshly burnt gear...as well...the flavor is retained, as the insides of the calyxs are not exposed and do not lose any of its "goodness" until it is burnt...its like firecrackers...if you have a handful of the little ones, they go off one by one and arent very impressive, though evenly distributed...but if you took all the gunpowder from the little ones and put it into one m80 and lit it, you get a huge explosion and release the most power possible...and any amount of glandular damage caused by breaking up by hand is minimal compared to the damage from a grinder if done correctly...

nytvd · Post by **nytvd** » Thu 23rd Mar 2006 05:08 pm

old fashioned guy here...i like to handle the gear with my fingers and break it up that way...part of the ritual.

BostonDiesel · Post by **BostonDiesel** » Thu 23rd Mar 2006 07:14 pm

ritual it is and should be...honor it!

Stygian23 · Post by **Stygian23** » Thu 23rd Mar 2006 08:23 pm

There are too many rituals in herb, wasting 30 mins to hand break some buds for a doob just isn't one of the more vital ones. Grind it and bind it, then waste time on some of the other rituals.

nytvd · Post by **nytvd** » Thu 23rd Mar 2006 08:31 pm

u must be a young whippersnapper

...
30 minutes is a bit long, it only takes a few minutes for me and I enjoy every second of it.also the residue on the fingers tells you about the weed.

but you make a good point - last week at amnesia the budtender rolled a J for a handicapped guy and used a grinder to make best use of time...

Doog · Post by **Doog** » Thu 23rd Mar 2006 08:33 pm

Stygian23 wrote:There are too many rituals in herb, wasting 30 mins to hand break some buds for a doob just isn't one of the more vital ones. Grind it and bind it, then waste time on some of the other rituals.

My thoughts exactly. I can appreciate how BD and the others really get into the science of the plant but I just wanna get into the stone.

And if it doesn't work out with the grinder then I can always buy some solid.