How to Grind Super Sticky Bud

If you’re making top-shelf pre-rolls, you have to use top-shelf bud. And if you’re using top-shelf bud, it’s probably sticky. At least it should be.

And if you’re making pre-rolls, that means you are grinding that super sticky bud, which probably means your grinder is getting gunked up, slowing your production process and potentially sabotaging the potency and flavor of your pre-rolls.

But don’t worry, the Pre-Roll Experts have a quick and easy tip.

Growing sticky, top-shelf nugs is only the beginning. To help your grinder get through even the most resinous buds during your pre-roll production process, freeze your grinder blades.

We all know that when producing consistent, high-quality pre-rolls, it all starts with the grind.

What makes your bud sticky are the trichomes, of course. It’s where the resins, cannabinoids and terpenes are produced and is, for all intents and purposes, what gives your bud its flavor and its potency. They are the part of the plant you most want to protect through the entire process, from cultivation to cure to processing to pre-roll.

And when they are broken open, they release those resins. During the grind, as those trichomes are broken open, the resin gets all over your blade, gunking it up.

And if your machine and the room where you are doing your grinding is at room temperature or above, the resins inside the trichomes can become more viscous, which can coat your machinery, resulting in a blade that is covered in sticky residue and simply not performing the way it should.

The answer, believe it or not, is cold.

Keep it Cold

Lowering the temperature helps protect the trichomes from breaking as easily, which means more flavor in your pre-rolls and less down time cleaning your machine. So you should always keep your grinding room a little cold.

Additionally, by freezing your grinder blades and running them for shorter amounts of time, you can further avoid resin buildup on your blade and keep your pre-roll production moving smoothly.

The Test

We did a comparison, running two pounds of flower through our grinder at two different temperatures. One pound was run with the blade at room temperature, and one pound was ground using a blade taken out of the freezer.

In the end, it was easy to see the difference freezing the blade makes on the cleanliness of the machine, as well as the quality of grind.

Using the room temperature blade to grind up the first pound of sticky, high-quality hemp through our Industrial Cannabis Grinder – which uses a high-torque, low RPM motor to push the flower through a grinder screen, helping keep the temperature down – we began to see a resinous buildup on the blade almost immediately.

However, when we used a grinder blade that was left in our freezer overnight, the resin build-up was much less, meaning more of those resins, cannabinoids and terpenes went into your grind instead of staying on the blade. That means more potent and more flavorful pre-rolls.

If you are regularly grinding pounds and pounds of sticky material, we recommend purchasing a couple of additional blades to minimize downtime. Since the blade is very dense, it can take a long time to freeze. You can get it to a working temperature in about an hour, but the longer it stays in the freezer the better.

We recommend running the frozen grinder blade for 15-20 pounds at a time before switching it to a new blade fresh out of the freezer. Additionally, you can keep your grinder screen in the freezer as well to prevent further loss of cannabinoids and gunk buildup during the grind.

You can also drop the blade temperature to 30 degrees Fahrenheit by placing the blade in dry ice, which is very cheap and easy to obtain. But the easiest thing is to just store your grinder blades in a freezer so that they are ready to go when you need them.

To get your blades ready for the next day, simply clean it off and place it back in the freezer. Use a razor blade to strip help remove the resin before dropping it back in the deep freeze, so your grinder blade is ready to go when you need it.

Final Thoughts on Grinding Sticky Weed

Having a frozen grinder blade on hand will save you a lot of time and cleaning and is only required when the strain is very sticky. It will allow you to grind up to 20 pounds at a time of resinous buds before switching to your normal grinding set-up and continuing your production.

And regardless of whether you freeze them or not, having extra blades, as well as extra buckets, will minimize downtime and keep your production process flowing smoothly. Save your flavor, freeze your blades. It’s an easy way to boost production and quality.