Vanilla Extract: Make Your Own Or Buy

kah22

Taking into account cost and taste which do you think make your own vanilla extract or buy a premium extract . Here's a recipe I picked up from VanillaMart, but it does seem pretty heavy on the pods!
Ingredients:

1. Vanilla Pods -30 grams (Approximately 10 Vanilla Pods)

2. 250 ml Alcohol (preferably Vodka - 40% or 75/80 Proof). Smirnoff or Stolichnaya will do.

Preparation:

1. Cut the Vanilla Pods lengthwise.

2. With a butter knife (dull edged), scrape the caviar from the split vanilla pods.

3. Cut the scraped pods into small pieces (approx 1 inch long)

4. Stuff the pod pieces and the scraped caviar into a brown/green bottle.

5. Add the vodka and close using a cork or a suitable closure.

6. Shake the bottle vigorously everyday for the first week and store in a cool dark place.

7. After the first week, shake the bottle a few times each week.

8. After 6 months, use a funnel and a strainer to filter the extract leaving the seeds in the extract. If you do not want the seeds, use a coffee filter paper.

9. Once filtered, the extracted beans can be dried out and used to make Vanilla Sugar.

10. Store the bottle is a cool and dry place. If stored properly, the vanilla extract can last for 10 years or more!.

Steve059

I also make my own. My recipe uses 6 pods to make 250ml of extract, which meets the legal requirement for commercial single strength vanilla extract. 200ml of vodka should fill a 250ml bottle, because the pods will displace some of it. [FONT=&quot]Some recipes use so few pods that the result is little more than vanilla flavoured vodka. I use the cheaper B grade pods: they contain less water than the premium grade ones, but water is exactly what you don't want when making extract. I also use Tesco Everyday Value vodka.
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kah22

Steve059 wrote: »

..... I use the cheaper B grade pods: they contain less water than the premium grade ones, but water is exactly what you don't want when making extract. I also use Tesco Everyday Value vodka.

this is my first sortie into making Vanilla extract. I had ordered 20 Gourmet Madagascan Bourbon Vanilla Pods from VanillaMart do you think I should move down a grade?

Haven't got a Tesco but I assume Sainsburys or Lidli do a similar Vodka

The ordered pods won't go to waste, I have plenty of uses for them

Kevin

nuatha

I've made my own for quite a few tears now. I use own label cheap vodka, I do use premium organic bourbon vanilla pods - largely because its cheaper buying them in bulk and I have other uses for them.
I don't chop the pods down after removing the seeds, but put them into a litre bottle and add 750ml of vodka (I'll use about a dozen long pods or possibly 18 short ones). I only filter extract that I'm giving as gifts. When the in use bottle falls to around half I'll top it up and switch to the next bottle, to give it at least three months before use. (I'll top a bottle up once, when I start using it again, I'll fish the pods out and they'll go into a sugar pot to make vanilla sugar, which means I don't top a bottle up twice).
HTH

Shereen

I've been using this recipe and I'm delighted with the results: http://www.northsouthfood.com/homemade-vanilla-extract/