Video Overview | Knock Feld2 Hand Grinder

Transcript

Hey folks. It's Steve with Prima Coffee here. Today, we're taking a look at Knock's Feld2 Hand Grinder. This is sort of the more grown up, slightly refined version of the previous Feldgrind Hand Grinder. And actually, I've got one here so I can show you them side by side. We have the original Feldgrind here, and the new Feld2. So, there's some obvious differences, but with the same burr set inside and the same general sort of stature, they are still very similar to each other. So, moving up to the Feld2 isn't quite as much of an upgrade, not distinctly anyway. But, still a very similar grinding experience with very similar results in the cup as well. So, probably one of the first things you'll notice is we've got a brand new grinding handle, and actually the Feld2's handle, it's still detachable but it's built right into the adjustment dial and lid, which is all just sort of one piece held together. So, this is a little bit less portable in that the original Feldgrind handle comes right off and can slide into this band on the side, packs down pretty compact for storage or for travel.

Knock Feld2 Hand Grinder

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Stepless adjustment from Turkish fine to coarse

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So, the Feld2 is a little bit more bulky, just in that we have a new handle that takes up a little bit more space. So, the Feldgrind originally obviously has this detachable handle, it has this detachable lid, two separate pieces. And then, the adjustment dial is a lot smaller, you'll notice. So originally, you would lock the handle on, you can see your grind setting through the window in the handle, but you probably have to take your lid off to make adjustments, and you have to kind of pinch the wheel and turn it like this. It's not that difficult, but it is a somewhat confined space. So, if you've got larger fingers or maybe don't have great dexterity, it can be a little bit difficult. Now, with the new Feld2, we have a great big adjustment dial, really big numbers, really easy to see. And then, we have this indicator arrow built right into the sort of handle connection. So, it's very, very easy to adjust the grind. Rather than turning the knob, which you can do, it's a little bit more difficult, it's much easier to just hold the adjustment dial itself and turn the handle on the grinder. So, you can quickly go back and forth between grind settings.

Very, very easy to do that way. Maybe not quite as much if you have beans in the grinder already, but we'd suggest making adjustments with the grinder empty anyway. So again, you have this great big dial, really easy to see numbers, and then a very clear arrow that helps you know where you're adjusting. Overall, the grind range is pretty similar to the previous Feldgrind. Again, we have those same 38 millimeter conical steel burrs. They're ceramic coated, so they'll hold onto their sharpness and have a pretty nice long life span. And overall, the grind range is pretty similar. One full revolution on the adjustment is slightly different, but you still have access to Turkish fine, espresso, drip grinding, all the way up French press really. So, when you zero out the burrs and you take it all the way fine and close it up completely, that very first sort of zero to one revolution is pretty good for Turkish. One to two revolutions is going to be good for espresso. Three to five will be good for drip, and somewhere around six or seven will be good for French press or whatever your coarse grinding needs might be.

And again, very, very easy to kind of just throw it right up, go a full revolution. All you have to do is turn this really easy to use handle. Now inside, we have a new body design. This is a unibody milled aluminum body casing. So, actually it has slightly less capacity in the hopper versus the previous Feldgrind. Where both of these could hold about 30 to 40 grams of beans, depending on their size and density, the Feld2 will hold maybe 3 to 5 fewer grams than the Feldgrind would for the same coffee. So you have a slightly reduced capacity. Not a huge deal. Most people are going to be grinding around 30 grams anyway, just because it can get a little bit tiring to go for longer. But you do have a slightly smaller hopper capacity, while you do have a larger grind bin capacity. You can see here, same general diameter. But a little bit taller. So, we hold about five, maybe eight grams more ground coffee than before.

So, while you have a slightly reduced hopper capacity, you actually do have more leverage when grinding. You got a longer handle, a nice big comfortable pommel here. So, it's a little bit easier to get through the same size dose for the same grind setting. So, especially for espresso, you've got more leverage and it makes it easier to grind a few doses out for dialing in. And performance with espresso's actually really nice. We found that the shots taste pretty good. Probably comparable to a Baratza Sette, and maybe even a little bit better, in terms of flavor clarity. So, I'm going to show you what grinding is like here. I'm just going to throw a few grams of beans in, and I'll give you a sense of what it's like to grind with this guy. Just throw my lid and handle back on. This is probably set somewhere in the drip range right now. So, sort of a medium grind. You'll see it's really quite easy in the the drip range.

Obviously, the finer you go, the more resistance you have and the harder it is to make each turn. But again, you do have more leverage than previous. So, I'll just show you what these grinds look like here. So, we have a pretty nice medium grind. This would be good for maybe a larger V60 or Kalita Wave or even up to a Chemex. You'll get pretty good flavor and performance out of that. Again, sames burrs as before. So, if you're familiar with the Feldgrind or even the Airgrind, you kind of know what to expect, in terms of flavor and performance in the cup, because you're going to be getting a very simlar flavor profile out of that coffee anyway. Now, one thing that is perhaps not our favorite thing about the Feld2, the new lid and handle, it's nice to have it all in one piece. It's a very solid assembly. The thing is, there's two little cut outs in here. So, you'll see that there's sort of D shapes, so this one is for actually turning the whole burr assembly, and this one is for adjusting the grind setting. So, you'll see they have their corresponding cut outs.

If you take this handle and lid off, and mess up the orientation of the cut outs, it doesn't go back on quite easily. So, you have to make sure that those cut outs are aligned properly. And trying to align it up by sight is a little difficult. Knock suggests that you twist these pieces to align the sort of D, the curve section of each, and then twist these to align them the same way, and just slip them back on. It's not super easy to get a good grip on those. So, what we like to do is just suggest, okay, get that first the smaller hole set in place, put a little bit of downward pressure, and just start twisting the adjustment dial. And as you do so, it'll just kind of drop in and lock into place, once it's oriented correctly. So, that's a little bit of a step back in our opinion, but it's not too difficult to address. Again, you just kind of need to put it on and twist until it drops in. Really easy to get the hang of. But overall, still a very solid hand grinder. Really good value for the price and the grind quality is pretty amazing for a hand grinder. So, that is the Feld2 by Knock. Thanks for watching.