OT - Vitamix dry blade necessary?

[firmaholic]

I love my dry container and prefer to use for my nut butter instead of the wet container. I first saw a tip on YouTube, where a woman was making raw almond butter and insisted that we try the dry container, not the wet one that Vitamix recommends. I am now a believer and make peanut butter, almond and hazelnut butter in the dry container. I also use it to make all kinds of different flour in it. My favorites are buckwheat and almond flour.

[nevertoolate]

Thank you all for sharing your experience and thoughts about your Vitamix.

Originally Posted by katmom

Here is a link explaining the difference between the wet and dry blade containers. I have both containers, but rarely use the dry blade.

http://www.smoothiesisters.com/vitamix/faq/

This info about the specifics of how they work is really helpful. Thanks, Katmom.

Originally Posted by rosepetals

I purchased the dry container during the sale awhile back.

I LOVE IT !!!

I make raw dehydrated flax, nut crackers with lots of vegetables weekly.
The blender makes it a breeze to make flours out of the nuts and flax seed. It works so much better due to the angle of the blades.

DH has stopped purchasing store crackers since I started making my homemade crackers.

A typical recipe will contain flax seed, pumpkin seeds, Brazil nuts or other nuts. I add in a whole blended yam, dates, onions, carrots, tomatoes, bell peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, sometimes I add in a green powder for extra nutrition. I season it with smoked paprika and Italian seasoning to make it like Doritos per DH. It's not really Doritos, but tastes yummy to me. When I make foods I research the nutritional qualities and the medicinal properties or how the food will work for me in improving my health. Foods like this are very nutritious in comparison to store purchased foods. I vary the seasonings depending on what I want the crackers to taste like.

Wow! We eat a plant-based, mostly whole foods diet. These sound delicious! Can you share or post the recipe, rosepetals?

Originally Posted by rosepetals

I used to do everything in the wet blender. If you make flours it tends to bog down as it pulls the flour into the blades which stops the spinning.

With the dry blender it moves the flour upwards so it does not overwork the motor or stop the spinning of the blades.

I found it very helpful, but it does depend on how much you grind your own flours. It does work well for blending up wet stuff also. I experimented. It's just a different movement.

If you make nut butters, I think the movement of the blades in the dry might work better than the wet due to the lifting action.

I also made herbal tinctures out of dry herbs and roots which were very hard in the wet blender. I think that wears down the blade. If I would of had the dry one, the action would of been better. It just depends on how often you plan on using it.

Originally Posted by firmaholic

I love my dry container and prefer to use for my nut butter instead of the wet container. I first saw a tip on YouTube, where a woman was making raw almond butter and insisted that we try the dry container, not the wet one that Vitamix recommends. I am now a believer and make peanut butter, almond and hazelnut butter in the dry container. I also use it to make all kinds of different flour in it. My favorites are buckwheat and almond flour.

This clinches it! I definitely need both the wet and dry containers!

It's not that we can't afford it. My DH just has this thing about spending that much money on a blender. He thinks it's mostly hype. Also, he recently retired and I'm planning on retiring next year. We are trying to downsize and simplify our lives somewhat, so adding to our kitchen gadgets goes against the grain. (I don't mean to make him sound like some kind of controlling penny-pincher, because he's not. If I wanted to buy this, I would just do it, but I want him to be happy about this too and not roll his eyes every time I turn it on, LOL.)

Thanks again to all of you and wish me luck!

Ann

[firmaholic]

Good luck!! You are gonna love it. I call my vitamix a life changing experience.

[beyond.omega]

Congrats! The Vitamix is definitely worth every penny, and I agree with firmaholic that it is a life changing experience.

[rosepetals]

I posted how I make them in the recipe section. I don't follow a specific recipe. It explains, so hopefully you will have some ideas as how I make them.

Lately I cook or make foods to maximize the nutrition or what they can do for my body vs. eating just to fill up.

[cyana]

Ann....you won't regret a VitaMix. I'm not joking when I say I'd take this over any other kitchen appliance.

Rosepetals - Thank you SO much for sharing your cracker recipe. Can't wait to experiment.

[paideiamom]

The thing that surprised me about the Vitamix is how LOUD it is. I even bought the "quiet" one. I wish they sold those shields like you see in the smoothie shops that cut down the noise. I would definitely buy one of those.

[cyana]

Originally Posted by paideiamom

The thing that surprised me about the Vitamix is how LOUD it is. I even bought the "quiet" one. I wish they sold those shields like you see in the smoothie shops that cut down the noise. I would definitely buy one of those.

I keep foam ear plugs in my kitchen's junk drawer for using with the VM and my coffee grinder. I purchase them in the industrial size packages at Home Depot.

[workoutjunkie]

Why did I read this thread...I suddenly want a Vitamix.