That grinder looks gorgeous. I wonder how easily it gums up. I clean my metal grinders with ISO, but this is wood. Some of you must have wood grinders, how do you clean them?
Hi,
As with the Box itself, we have attempted to design it in such a manner that will not require much cleaning, if at all. The main assumption that makes this possible is that anything that goes into the grinder is very dry (this is true for the Box also). Same as with a metal grinder, it will jam if you put stuff that is too wet and/or sticky. Also, it should be noted that this is not just another wooden grinder. Its internal action is very different than any of the other wooden grinders currently on the market -- it represents a new and useful technology. It has been designed from the onset to prevent jamming.
Another way to handle possible issues is to think of this device as a "finishing grinder". Use a common metal grinder first to break up bulk material for storage, and then use this grinder to finalize the grind when loading the Box. This grinder will take the results of any regular grinder and turn it into a perfect finish grind -- much finer than would be possible with any amount of effort with a metal grinder otherwise (the inverting technique notwithstanding).
In either case, it is to be understood that this is a connoisseur instrument -- it is not intended as a general purpose grinder. It is very specialized to solve a particular set of needs -- to get the absolute most out of your herbs with the minimum amount of "home installed technical stuff" (chargers, cables, etc).
While I agree it's an eye catcher for sure, and I'm trying to convince myself I'd really use it rather than my coffee grinder and bulk loading .125 gram loads into vials for use later...
It is important to note that we are *not* attempting to compete with the coffee grinder -- which for home use provides for excellent results. Coffee grinders are very inexpensive, widely available, and will generally provide a very fine grind. If people have not already tried one, I would recommend it. Also, if you are going to use a coffee grinder, you *must* get the whirling blades type -- any other type will *not* work for your application (it /will/ jam eventually).
Since there is very little relationship between the cost of a coffee grinder and its utility for this application, you will often get the best results from the cheapest coffee grinder you can find (which is a bit ironic). I also suggest that it is best to get a separate grinder for use with herbs -- or at least to clean them thoroughly whenever switching between coffee and herbs. Without cleaning, either way, it is going to affect taste -- it is simply easier to have two separate dedicated machines.
That said, there are a few reasons why our wooden grinder might also be recommended over a common coffee grinder. The one thing about an ultra fine grind is that it significantly increases the available active surface area. During use this is a very good thing. During storage, this advantage becomes a disadvantage -- it can lead to decreased effectiveness and taste due to diffusion and ambient oxidization (ie, to get "stale"). Attempting to store fully and correctly ground material for more than a few days is fairly tricky to get right (ie, it is hard to do). Therefore, best practice is, once dry, to grind *only* as much material as you need, just before you are going to use it. Unfortunately, this is one thing that a coffee grinder cannot do: grind just a little bit. Our grinder is designed just exactly to solve this problem -- to grind just enough and to load it directly to the Box (no storage needed). In other words, our grinder provides for minimal wastage, either due to age/staleness or due to mechanical effects.
The other main problem that we were trying to solve with our grinder is to have all of the benefits of a super fine grind while out in the field (ie, when away from home). There are no good coffee grinders that will work for grinding herbs that do not also require significant energy (whirling blade coffee grinders absolutely need electricity from a wall plug). As such, one of our main design intents was that our grinder tech must be able to operate purely on minimal mechanical energy -- thus making it both portable and practical.
Another significant advantage to our finishing grinder is that it has a tendency to automatically separate stems. Coffee grinders, by their nature, will powder most of the stems as well -- thus diluting the mix and contributing to a noticeably harsher taste. If there are any visible stems left after grinding with a coffee grinder (and there usually are some), they will have to be separated by hand before storage or loading. With the Magic Flight Finish Grinder, the stems remain behind while all of the good stuff goes through into the Box. Metaphorically, it is a little bit like a reverse osmosis unit -- it allows the good taste through while holding the bad tastes back.
Finally, it is to be noted that our grinder is _tiny_ compared to a coffee grinder. At about half the size, it is even smaller than the Box. Naturally, this makes it more portable. Having it be silent when in operation is also important, as it contributes to stealthiness. If you have a coffee grinder that you use /only/ for herbs, every one in your household -- and even your close neighbors -- will eventually come to associate that unique sound and know what you are about. We felt that these aspects were important enough that we even ensured that the grinder had its own custom tin, lined with felt, to ensure that even in not in use -- when just carrying it around -- that it would make no noise. We wanted to ensure that as with the Box itself, people walking next to you would not be able to tell that you had one in your pocket.
In any case, like the Box itself, the Magic-Flight Finishing Grinder is a unique product. It (the FG) has advantages and disadvantages -- some things it is really good at, and others it was never intended for. However, combined with the Nano grinder we are already offering, there is not much that a true connoisseur cannot do.
Over the next few days, I will do my best to post answers whatever questions I can.
Have a great day!
-- Magic-Flight
