do I really need the vitamix dry container?

[Arduinna]

How useful is the vitamix dry container?

Since it's cheaper to buy the set with it than get one later I'd like to know before I purchase.

[HeatherB]

Subbing because I'd love to know, too! We have the Vitamix 5200 now and it, but we're seriously considering getting the dry container for things like grinding flour. I'm not entirely sure what else it's useful for, though.

[Arduinna]

You know, I searched old threads here and came across one that says that the wheat flour ground in the dry container is coarser than that from the nutrimill. And apparently you can knead dough in the dry container, but I already have a stand mixer and a food processor that I've used for years to knead dough so I really don't need another device for that. I think I'm going to just buy a dedicated grain mill like the nutrimill instead of the dry container. It is about 100 dollars more that way but it grinds finer from what I've read.

[Arduinna]

Ok so I found this in my owners manual

Wet Blade Container: Designed for processing liquids including juice, frozen mixtures, sauces, soups, purees, batters, and for wet chopping. The wet blades can also grind grain and knead dough, but they are not quite as efficient as the dry blades in this application. If used for grinding, your container will mar and become cloudy.

Dry Blade container: Designed specifically for grinding dry materials such as grains, cereal and coffee. Also used for kneading bread dough. The dry blades can NOT process liquids efficiently, and the blades are clearly marked “D”. Caution: Grinding dry material for more than 2 minutes could damage your machine. Regular use may result in cosmetic marring of the container and cause the blades to become dull.

Just thought I'd pass it along.

[HeatherB]

Thanks, Arduinna!