Because of the effects that they produce, grinding operations may modify significantly the surface of a material and change its properties. The major part of the plastic work of cutting is tranferred to the part being ground as heat. In the case of the austenitic stainless steel studied here, grinding leads to an increase in hardness which can be attributed to the superficial plastic deformation of the material. However, for the most severe grinding conditions, a change in the deformation process is observed leading to dynamic recrystallization. This process is characterized by grain growth and dislocation rearrangement under the combined effect of the temperature and the stress level reached during grinding.