Homemade Vanilla
Posted by: TammyI can’t easily think of one thing I do that yields such delicious, gourmet results with the least amount of effort as when I make home made vanilla extract. I used to buy my vanilla extract from a reputable herb and spice company and I loved their vanilla but when the cost of their vanilla beans jumped substantially, they had to pass the cost to consumers. A gallon of vanilla jumped to well over $100! I had to make some decisions.
Quite a few of our Frugal-Families forum members make their own vanilla extract. I kept thinking I would try making my own vanilla extract but I was honestly in love with my purchased vanilla and the fact that it can take months for a good batch of homemade vanilla extract to come to fruition kept me from going for it. I’m also not a big online shopper when it comes to some things like vanilla beans and I kept forgetting to buy vanilla beans at my local food co-op, where I am a member. Then there was the vodka. We enjoy beer and wines (usually purchased from local wineries when we’re camping all around) but I don’t think about buying large bottles of vodka when I visit a package store.
Well, that has all changed. I just put together my second batch of homemade vanilla and I still chuckle when I think about the money I spent buying vanilla extract from my other company AND how “hard” it seemed to pull two ingredients together to get my first batch going.
You only need two things to make homemade vanilla extract: vanilla BEANS and plain vodka (although one of my forum members swears that rum tastes great, too). First, vanilla extract (and most extracts) are almost all alcohol. The alcohol is used to draw the flavor infusing oils out of the vanilla beans (or whatever extract you’re making) and when you cook or bake with the extract, most of the alcohol evaporates out. Vodka works nicely for making extract because legally, vodka is suppose to be void of flavor and thus lends itself to being ‘flavored’. I buy the LEAST EXPENSIVE vodka I can find in the package store. My first bottle came with a rebate slip if I bought the larger bottle, so I did. This last bottle was on sale and again, the least expensive.
Now, vanilla beans aren’t as easy as vodka. Don’t buy those skimpy, dried out beans in little jars in the grocery store that have quite possibly been there for months, and months and months. You should buy vanilla beans that are aromatic and flexible. Old beans are dry and brittle, with little of that aromatic vanilla smell. Several of my forum members have bought their vanilla beans from this eBay supplier with great success and product satisfaction: http://myworld.ebay.com/vanillaproducts/ I buy my Madagascar vanilla beans from my food co-op.
All I do to make my vanilla is place the bean on a cutting board and carefully slice down the full length of the bean to gently open it up and expose the vanilla seeds inside to alcohol and then just drop the bean into the bottle. I use two beans for the large bottle of vodka. Then, put it in a cool area to sit and mellow. You can give it a gentle agitation every week. You’ll see a gorgeous caramel color develop over six weeks or so. Some will tell you that if it smells like vanilla than it will taste like vanilla and you can use it. It definitely improves with time! I didn’t use my first batch of vanilla extract for almost eight weeks and I’ve noticed it’s grown even darker in the past four months since I first started using it. The aroma when I open the bottle to refill my smaller bottle is incredible!
Honestly, it took me all of two minutes to slice open two beans and drop them in the bottle of vodka. It might have taken me only one minute. I’ll generously say two. My bottle sits in my pantry and it gets the gentle agitation when I’m in the pantry getting other supplies. It’s so easy! The results are gourmet quality BUT the cost is a frugal gourmet’s dream. I researched PURE vanilla extract (remember, some of that cheap stuff is only vanilla FLAVORING!) and found that pure extract made from Madagascar and/or Tahitian vanilla beans ranges from $15-20 for an 8 oz bottle! I bought my 1.75 liter bottle of vodka for about $25 and two vanilla beans were $2.50. My 1.75 liter bottle is about seven-8 ounce bottles which would cost me $108 to $140 if I bought the extract in 8 oz. bottles. By doing the “work” myself, I bring my cost down to about $3.93 for an 8 oz bottle of pure Madagascar vanilla extract!
Yep, really hard work. 