As I understood it, you have to have their 'dry' set up to grind grains and 'wet' to do smoothies, etc...which is why I ended up with the BlendTec that does either dry or wet with the same blade and no extra $$.

You CAN use a single container for everything but grinding grain is going to dull the shiny plastic which is why they recommend using a separate container for dry grains.

I don't care about dulling the plastic - especially when the extra gadget is around $90 more. But the description said something about it being a special blade for the dry container so that's my hesitation. I guess I can always just wait and see but then I'll miss the special demo at Costco. (Though I can always wait for the next one and/or travel to one of the many other Costco's near me.)

Rather than buying accessories for the Vita-Mix you might be interested in getting a grain mill, instead.

I've thought about it but that's just more stuff to fiddle with and find a place for in a rather small kitchen. It's also one more thing to buy and one more motor that could break down.

Pbrisjar, please forgive the hijack, but when you mentioned processed grains not being good for you...do you have gluten sensitivity? I just put my daughter on a gluten free diet and we still haven't found a pre-baked bread that doesn't taste awful so now I'm looking into baking my own and was wondering about recipes etc. I hope I'm not prying but I'd be so happy if I could find a way to reintroduce sandwiches back into her diet. Thanks.

cheril, the Bob's Flour Mill Very Good GF Bread Mix is like the name implies very good. It makes nice sandwiches and excellent panini. The texture is very much like a "normal" bread. I also shape it into baguettes with aluminum foil support on a jelly roll pan to slice up for bruschetta. As far as pre-baked breads go, Glutino Corn Bread is tolerable when toasted up with butter in a cast iron pan. Good for grilled cheese sandwiches/tuna melts, etc. Be sure to toast both sides of the bread before filling.

Additionally, if you have gobs of time you can experiment with all the gf flours available to come up with your own mix. My all purpose mix is mostly garbanzo/fava bean flour ~6 parts, 1 part finely milled white rice flour(the kind in an asian grocery is usually milled finer,) 1 part brown rice flour, 1/2 part sorghum flour, 1/2 part arrowroot starch, some xantham gum. It took weeks of experimentation and hockey puck like cookies and oddly textured cakes before coming up with this. When making cakes I make sure and use applesauce and agave nectar to sweeten instead of sugar. It helps to keep things moist and has a much lower glycemic index.HTH.

pbris, sorry for the hijack. I don't know anything about the vitamix, but was looking into getting a whispermill to grind my own grains.

Laxsupermom, I can't thank you enough. Looking forward to trying your recipe!

Cheri King Arthur has a really good sandwich bread Mix that's GF. Unfortunately didn't work for us as dh is also lactose intolerant and it has milk in it

Laxsupermom, I'd also love to have your recipe for bread if you don't mind sharing.

2-4-6, I just use the Bob's Flour Mill mix for bread as I have yet to make a bread w/ the right texture. The all purpose flour recipe above should have read about 5 parts garbanzo/fava bean flour not 6. I should have proof read before submitting. And the applesauce & agave nectar are a must for the right texture in a cake.

I also understood there were different blades in the wet and dry sets for the VitaMix. How much flour do you want to mill at a time? I'd think it'd be a lengthy process and LOUD to do enough to make a good sized batch of bread in a blender. I wonder about the consistency you might get for flour with a blender, too. I guess I will have to try it in order to give an opinion. :-)

I am just about to try cracking/rough milling some grains in my BlendTec blender to make a multi-grain cereal type mix that I like to add to my bread. I have a Whispermill and love grinding our fresh flour, and it lets me choose from a course grind to fine. I've had it for several years without a hiccup.

Ideally I'd love a whispermill but I have to work slowly on this with Hubby. As a non-cooker he just doesn't get the need for all these gadgets. He is getting better about it, though. I figure if I start with this, I can show him the utility and then graduate to a real mill. Since I'd be buying the attachment at Costco no worries about any money lost.

I have a Vitamix and love love it. The dry container has a different blade in it specific for grinding. I don't have a dry container but I grind wheat berries in the 'wet' one once in a while and it does a great job.

According to the comparison I read, the vitamix wet container grinds wheat just as good as the Blendtec so you don't need the dry container unless you want to do a lot of grains.

I sometimes wish I had the 32oz container, especially when I make small amounts of salad dressing.

Enjoy your Vitamix!

Here is a link that might be useful: Blendtec Vitamix Review

Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum! I got my Vitamix 5200 last year from Costco and I am blown away by how incredible it is. I use it just about every day now. I can't believe I can make my own ice cream and almond milk! The vegetable cocktails are amazing. I'm developing a product that has to do with Vitamix. Send me any question you have related to the Vitamix blender via this link http://vitamix5200.org/question and I'll send you a free copy of the product when it is finished. I want to make sure I answer everyone's questions! Really excited to hear your responses.

Here is a link that might be useful: Vitamix 5200 Questions

vsawyer aren't you the same person stating the same thing on the vitamix website? It's considered spam here and isn't allowed.