- Making Vanilla Extract

Dear Fans of Hounds Who Cook,

Today we have been on a culinary mission to make vanilla extract. First we ordered a pound of vanilla beans online for about $20. And so far we've used half of them and made four pints of vanilla, so it turns out to be an excellent gift idea for blessing your epicurean friends. The problem is you would have had to start it in November to have it ready in time for Christmas. No matter. We are giving ours as gifts with the "ready date" clearly marked.

In addition to buying the vanilla beans (they say grade B is best for extract - it's most flavorful) we also purchased a liter of vodka. This was not to get us through the tedious bean splitting process, it's actually the liquid into which the beans infuse. And we don't know anything about vodka, being dogs, so we got a mid-priced brand.

We are assured online that once you have made your own vanilla you won't want to use even the most exotic commercial brand again. We are hoping it is true and we are giddy with delight to share our process because the vanilla fragrance has filled our senses and we can't think of anything else for probably a whole day.

Making Vanilla Extract
Me's Independent Rating: not yet rated

1/2 pound vanilla beans, Grade B
1 liter vodka

With a sharp knife, slit the vanilla beans lengthwise. With a table knife, gently scrape out the beans inside. We used 2 ounces of beans per cup of vodka, which will make very strong ultra-awesome fragrant and scintillating vanilla for cooking. The online recipes call for at least one ounce per cup. Commercial recipes use about 3/4 ounce. So what you are buying there is vanilla flavored liquor, we're thinking.

Use dark glass bottles or jars to keep the light out of the concoction, and sterilize the bottles and caps before using.

Cut scraped beans into lengths about 1/3 to 1/2 the height of the bottle. Put both the seeds and the scraped bean pieces into the jars. Fill with vodka. Cap tightly and shake.

This week shake the bottles once a day. Week 2 through 4, shake the bottles a few times a week. Week 5 you have vanilla extract to use and enjoy in baked goods. (If you use this in uncooked food, like frosting, you will taste the alcohol - commercial brands use additives to cut the alcohol flavor.)

Since the vanilla is unfiltered, it may add specks to your baked good. Yum. For more specks, shake the bottle before measuring. For no specks, filter the vanilla.

Filtered Vanilla
Filtering is not necessary, but if you don't want specks in your delicacies or want to make double use of the beans, you can filter the vanilla. Word on the web is that after six months the flavor is extracted from the beans and leaving them in the bottle won't enhance flavor any more. So we think that's a good time to filter it.

To filter, pour vanilla through a coffee-filter-lined funnel into another sterilized bottle. Use the filtered pieces to make vanilla sugar.

Vanilla Sugar
Let vanilla pieces filtered from the extract dry several days. Then transfer to a clean jar. Cover with sugar. Set aside for a few days. Shake to break up any lumps. Use in place of sugar in any recipe, especially sprinkling on baked goods.

Tips from Elias: Even after you remove the beans, word is that the vanilla continues to improve with age. Keep it in a dark cupboard and stored in dark glass (or a paper bag if necessary) while it's steeping / infusing / extracting.

Tips from Guthrie: You can also use the vanilla pieces in our delicious recipe for Lavender Sugar. Check that out.