Regular readers, bear with us, this is our semiannual post on making homemade vanilla extract, ha. We post this because, for many readers, it's new. Plus, as this blog always does, it helps us keep track of when we do stuff so we can look back and see a timeline, how often we make it so we know how much we used, etc.
2nd Man requested that I start another bottle so it would be ready October, just in time for holiday use.
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| Vanilla Bean Kings extract making |
Our go to place now for buying our vanilla beans is VANILLA BEAN KINGS. They have a nice variety and have great prices. We order "Grade B" beans, they are best suited for extract and we use Madagascar, the most flavorful.
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| Homemade vanilla extract |
We use ten beans in one 750ml bottle of vodka*. Cut them in half (along the length to expose the inside) and drop them in the bottle. That's it. Six months later you have a giant bottle of premium vanilla extract. You can filter it with a coffee filter and decant it into smaller bottles or containers. 2nd Man just uses it as is.
Cost:
10 Beans (free shipping): $12
750ml Vodka (local store): $14
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$26 for the finished bottle.
The 750ml is approximately 25 fluid ounces.
A 4oz bottle of Nielsen-Massey vanilla extract is about $25. That puts this bottle's value at around $150!
Not bad for a $26 investment.
*Side note, Smirnoff vodka is the brand we've always used and they are NOT a Russian company, they are British owned and most of the American product shipped here is manufactured in Canada.
I started my homemade vanilla back on Jan. 7.9 (I labeled my bottle) I have to label, cause at my age I would be apt to forget. :}
ReplyDeleteI did cut a slit all the way the length of my vanilla beans; if too long, then cut them in half and made a slit down the length.
Yay, I didn't know you had started some. Awesome. Should be best by July though you could use some now. 2nd Man has been known to dip in ahead of schedule when baking, ha.
Deletedon't know where that .9 comes in at but shouldn't be there. Blame it on my keyboard once again.
ReplyDelete:-)
DeleteThe batch I started back on the 7th of Jan. I used bourbon from my uncle's stash as that is what I had on hand. Yesterday (Monday) hubby did go to liquor store and came home with 2 bottles of vodka, so now I guess I will have to order more vanilla beans. I only wish someone around close that carried / sold vanilla beans in bulk. ( I hate ordering anything on line)
DeleteI've been doing the same thing for years. Better quality than most and SO much cheaper.
ReplyDeleteIt's so easy, literally takes 5 minutes, of course then the waiting, ha. And yes, the quality is so much better, pure vanilla extract with nothing else.
DeleteMy last batch went to the dump with my house! I am glad you did not buy Russian vodka. I always thought Smirnoff was Russian.
ReplyDeleteSorry about that. Never too late to make some more. Yes, 100% would not do business with any Russian company. When it came time to buy vodka I had to check. We like this brand because it's affordable (no need to make vanilla using top shelf alcohol) and it's easy to find. So I did some checking, it's named for Vladimir Smirnoff who fled Russia during the revolution and it's British owned. The other big brand, Stolichnaya started in Russia but the owners fled to Latvia and that's where it's made. We read that only 1.3% of all US vodka actually comes from Russia and they are some really high end harder to find brands. #StandwithUkraine
DeleteI read your vanilla post in 2020 and went right to the liquor store. Love having a vanilla stash. Thank you so much for the posts.
ReplyDeleteyay, thank you! It's so easy and so rewarding. Thanks for the kind comment.
DeleteGreat heavens! How long does it take you to use up a 750 ml bottle of vanilla? At the rate I use vanilla, the bottle would outlast me! Sounds really good, though...
ReplyDeleteOur bottle lasts, with 2nd Man's baking, almost a year. But if we wait until October for example when we run out and then start a new batch, we'd have six months from then to wait. So we make it semiannually I guess.
DeleteSince you asked that made us think about it and I googled to see how many tsp in 750ml. It's 152 tsp. I guess if you have a recipe that takes 2 tsp of vanilla, that's about 75 baked items over the course of a year. Over a year, with cookies at the holidays, cake frostings, scones, glazes for things, even a tsp or two in our waffles/pancakes, that's about right, ha.
Dianne; Homemade vanilla makes for a great gift to put in a bakers gift basket.
ReplyDeleteyes, I should have added that. In fact, this year we are thinking of labeling some and giving away to friends who bake.
DeleteIn line with Dianne's comment, does the extract ever really go off?
ReplyDeleteI made some years ago (possibly the first time you posted about it, definitely a year or so before 2016, as that's when I moved house and I remember deciding to dump it but then moving it after all). I really should have decanted some into a smaller bottle, I may have been more likely to use it then. But, I really don't bake very often and even then, I never feel like the extract makes a huge difference if it's left out (yes, I am one of THOSE bakers :-D ).
So, should I dump it, or maybe just add in some more vanilla beans to up the flavour?
LOL - I've just searched my blog for vanilla extract. I first mentioned it in 2010 after seeing it on someone else's (now-defunct) blog and then, in February 2013 I wrote "I even got to use my home-made vanilla extract for the first time (still smells a bit alcoholy to me but the vanilla smelled good too)."
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