I've read so many things about Neilsen-Massey, that I bought myself a huge bottle earlier this month... While it smells great, I don't really notice a difference in the finished product compared to my normal stuff. (I usually use Berkeley & Jensen pure bourbon vanilla from BJs)
Make your own with vanilla pods and vodka, you won't ever go back to the commercial stuff.
I make my own.....
Vanilla beans ordered online and vodka.... awesome stuff!!! Won't ever buy in the store again!!!
I would LOVE to make my own, but vanilla beans are so EXPENSIVE! What do you pay for your vanilla beans & where do you get them? By the way I use Watkins.
I buy my vanilla beans on ebay... super cheap! I've ordered twice and really like the quality
www.silvercloudestates.com
I buy mines from here and love them you get 8ozs(approx. 40) for about $30 and they last.
I like this site http://www.bulkfoods.com/spices.asp. Not sure if they are cheaper or more expensive than others since this is the only one I have found like this.
If you think about how much vanilla you use it's cheaper to make your own. I use mason jars and try to do a few jars at a time since I use so much. Then when half the jar is gone I refill it and use all of that. After you have used it all you can dry your beans out and put them in sugar or use them in recipes that call for vanilla. Just scrape the beans out.
I use either the pint or the next size up mason jars for the pint you can use 4 or 5 beans and for the larger one I used 7 or 8. it depends on the size of the beans. After I put the beans in I just fill up the jar and let it sit for 3 weeks. The longer it sits the darker and more vanillay(if thats a word..lol) it gets.
Does it matter what type of vodka? I'm partial to Belvidere's myself I ask, cause some of those rotgut vodkas have such a strong odor to them.
I use 80 proof and the kind I buy is Nikolai. I always heard 80 proof or higher is best.
I'm not sure how good of a price that is, but it sure beats what I paid, $8 for 2 beans!
Make your own with vanilla pods and vodka, you won't ever go back to the commercial stuff.
Make your own with vanilla pods and vodka, you won't ever go back to the commercial stuff.
I make my own.....
Vanilla beans ordered online and vodka.... awesome stuff!!! Won't ever buy in the store again!!!
Madagascar Vanilla Beans E-Bay on-line & the cheapest rot-gut I could get out of the liquor store.
THE Best Madagascar I have ever had!! And my cakes are h-e-a-v-e-n-l-y!
I just now looked on e-bay & I can't believe how cheap vanilla beans are! Who do you guys recommend to purchase fom?
http://www.organic-vanilla.com/servlet/Categories?category=Bourbon+%28Planifolia%29+Grade+A+Gourmet+Vanilla+Beans%3AShorts%5C%3A+6%22-+7%22+%2815+-+17%2C5cm%29
I think they are out of what I want...but I made vanilla with these beans. Perfect.
OhMyGanache - I'm hesitant to use the paste!!! Is it indeed just as good or better than Madagascar Vanilla?? For 37 bucks, it seems like I've got a bettter cash deal on making my own. Man, but I wished someone lived close enough to go borrow some of the paste!
Thank You ladies so much.....when making your vanilla what is the color? Dark? Clear?
Thank You ladies so much.....when making your vanilla what is the color? Dark? Clear?
All clear vanilla is artificially flavored. Real vanilla, home brewed or store bought, is dark because the vanilla beans and seeds are dark.
I've only bought off Vanilla Products USA on eBay, but I've been very happy with my purchases there. The last time I bought off of them, I got a 1/2 lb of madagascars and a 1/2 lb of tahitians for less than $30 total, and they included an extra 1/2 lb of tahitians. Everyone got a mason jar of home brewed vanilla extract last year with the extra tahitians
Can anyone please tell me how to make your own? I would love to try. Do you just mix the two together? do you have to cook it? what's the ratio of beans to vodka?
TIA!
Madagascar Bourbons are robust in flavor and have loads of seeds. They're great for just about anything you want vanilla for. Tahitians are more "floral" in flavor and have fewer seeds. I like the Tahitians better for things like creme anglaise, pastry cream, ice cream base, creme brulee, etc. It's a personal preference - as inexpensive as they are on eBay, get a few of each and play with your food
To make your own, you need: Vanilla beans + booze + time.
So let's say you bought yourself a half pound of beans from eBay (you could buy a new car for what that quantity would cost in the grocery store). FYI, you want to store your beans as airtight as possible - I keep mine in a ziploc bag with the air squeezed out, then in a rubbermaid container, then in a dark cabinet. Air dries them out.
In addition to the beans, you need:
1. A glass foodsafe jar (dark glass if you have it, but Mason jars are cheap and work just fine). It's my understanding that plastic breaks down after a period of time so glass is better. You want something with a wide mouth so you can fish the beans out relatively easily at some point.
2. A dark cabinet where you can keep your extract while brewing.
3. Cheap a$$ rotgut vodka, enough to fill your jar - do not waste the good stuff on this, because the vanilla will take over any flavor the vodka may have. Save your Goose to marinate an olive.
4. Patience. That's the hard part.
So to get it started, make sure your jar is clean and dry. I start a fresh batch with about 6-8 beans, depending on how generous you're feeling with your bean stash. Split the beans, toss pods and seeds into the jar, and fill the jar with vodka. Screw the cap on tightly, and stick it in the cupboard.
Every time you use a bean, throw the scraped pod into the jar of brew. If you use the pod to poach in cream for a pastry cream type product, rinse it off before you add it to the brew. You can also stick the pod in your sugar jar for a week for vanilla sugar...but then still add the pod to the brew. So what I'm saying here is use your vanilla beans as normal, but instead of throwing out the pod, you're going to recycle it into vanilla extract. Thrifty, eh?
And in between - ignore the jar. Let it sit in the dark and do it's thing. You'll notice the color deepen, and when you open it, the vanilla aroma will get stronger and stronger. How long it will take for it to be ready to use depends on your pods to vodka ratio, and how often you add more pods, but it will probably take a couple of months to get a usable strength at first. Basically, you'll be able to tell by smell and a little taste when it's ready. I siphon some off the "mother jar" into a smaller jar to use, then add more vodka to the mother jar. In the year I've been brewing, I did sieve out the original beans and started again with fresh ones.
I find the home brewed vanilla to have a sweetness to it, and a wonderful aroma.
And if you're REALLY adventurous, you can make your own lemon, lime, and orange extract much the same way. Using a vegetable peeler, carefully peel the zest off the citrus fruit (avoid the pith), add to a jar, cover with vodka, then either trim the peel off the fruit or halve and juice as normal.
Happy brewing!
If you make your own do you use the same amount that is called for or less because it's stronger?
Sorry, that's probably a dumb question.....
I have never tried making my own, and I love deep flavor Mexican vanilla; however, my favorite is Vanilla Paste. The vanilla seeds are in the paste and add an extra something to the product. I used to reserve it for special items becasue of the price, but http://www.surfasonline.com/products/11946.cfm has it for a reasonable price.
If you make your own do you use the same amount that is called for or less because it's stronger?
Sorry, that's probably a dumb question.....
Depends on how strong your home brewed is. To add to the confusion, the strength of your home brewed will vary because if you're still soaking beans, it's going to grow stronger.
You can keep a bottle of commercial extract (You'll need some anyway to use while you're getting your own started) and do a comparison sniff test, but ultimately you kind of have to use your own judgement.
The extract that I started brewing about a year ago is quite strong but sweeter than commercial vanilla, so I usually use what's called for in the recipe (I'm also lazy). If I'm making something where vanilla is the dominant flavor (for example, a vanilla pound cake), I usually scrape 1 vanilla bean and add the seeds AND add a teaspoon of home brewed extract. Yum.
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