Making vanilla extract--the boozy way

M

marilynfl

Moderator
Two weeks ago I realized that 1,600 wedding cookies had blown through my supply of vanilla. While shopping I bought pure vanilla extract and pure vanilla bean paste and then saw another vanilla on sale for 25% off. So...good to go, right?

Only then did I read this little article in CI...

vanilla instructions.jpg

...so imagine my delight upon realizing I could make my very own vanilla extract. I suspect this is what God felt like the day He/She/They realized He/She/They could make butterflies.

I opted to use Wild Turkey Bourbon and 8 vanilla pods, cut in half and sous vide'd in an 8 oz canning jar. Eighteen hours later, I had the booziest smelling vanilla in North Carolina. I ended up squeezing the beans (much easier than scraping) in the batch and adding about 40% regular vanilla to mitigate the booziness. I've yet to test it, but hope the alcohol aroma will bake off.

still...butterflies!!!
 
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I think some made this back in the days we were at Gail’s. I’ve never tried it given I once bought Trader Joe’s vanilla and disliked it. Ditto Tahitian vanilla. Guess I’m a scardy cat when it comes to vanilla. I recently ran dry myself and since I currently have a Costco* card decided to try their fan favorite vanilla. I deem it just ok. My previous big bottle was from smart n final, and it was better, but they have a new store brand now. Anything that’s a forward vanilla flavor though and I spring for the big bucks Nielson-Massey. I haven’t tried the penzey’s double strength though, mostly out of fear I’d forget to use 50% of what a recipe calls for. I can’t wait to hear how yours turns out —and if it’s less or more expensive than purchasing premade.

*I’ve found several of their Kirkland brand products to not be as good as they once were. I nearly threw their cinnamon out, but I’m seriously spoiled by penzey’s. I’m pretty sure it’s not even the same product in the container. People always notice when I use penzey’s cinnamon, so I know it’s not just me. I’m using up Costco’s for toast. I won’t buy again and as such, don’t plan to renew my card ether.
 
I sure do agree with Costco's cinnamon and vanilla; not buying either again. I use Neilson-Massey as my favourite but the price is blowing my socks off. Even the Mexican 'vanilla' (never sure what I was getting there) was more enjoyable than a lot of the alternates, but it too has increased in price about ten fold. It used to be so cheap that I would just pour indiscriminately. I used to use vanilla as a sub for sugar in respect for the resident diabetic.

The recent prices have sent me to artificial vanilla (ouch) for use in products that I hope won't show the difference too much (as I tend to add it unconventionally) while I await sale prices for the real thing. I cringe at the thought that life has lowered to this level where my favourite flavour is now often artificial.

About a year ago, I investigated the reasons behind the huge jump in prices and recall that it was all related to pickers demanding higher wages, having discovered the great demand for their product..... nothing else.
 
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