How to choose a grinder?

The grinder is also known as a herb mill or a tobacco crusher. It is a small and genuinely useful accessory for crumbling various aromatic herbs or tobacco. Some are manual, others electric; some are plastic, others metal, or brightly coloured. Here are the different types of grinder and how to choose yours.

Electric or manual grinder?

The manual grinder calls for a minimum of effort to turn the various parts or to work the crank. Some have a filter and a chamber. Manual grinders are affordable and come in many colours, shapes and materials.

Electric grinders have since arrived on the market. Their shapes can sometimes be more entertaining than those of manual grinders. Either way, they require no particular effort to crumble tobacco. This accessory costs a little more than the manual grinder.

What about the materials?

Wood is popular with purists. These are often handmade objects, made of fine woods with nails acting as teeth. They work very simply, by hand, and the decoration is often ethnic in style. They are small, easy to carry and hard-wearing.

There are also acrylic grinders, and most grinders are in fact made of this material. In terms of price, they are firmly entry-level and do not last very long, though their colours are attractive.

Metal grinders are fairly sturdy and reasonably well designed, yet they do not necessarily cost more. Most of the time they come with a filter. Aluminium grinders are probably the longest-lasting, but they remain expensive, as they are computer-machined in the same way as aircraft parts.

Which type of teeth to choose?

Nail teeth have almost disappeared, as they are not practical. The most common and most effective are the shark teeth found on acrylic grinders, along with diamond-shaped teeth. The latter are more often found on aluminium grinders. Fin-shaped teeth, meanwhile, cut herbs very cleanly. Electric grinders, for their part, most often have blades.