Vanilla Extract Experiment Phases 1 and 2

My first food love was definitely cooking, but I always found it to be such a false division between those who cook and those who bake. Sure we all specialized or gravitate toward being more artistic or more scientific, but I don't think you can be a great cook without knowing a little about ratios and reactions at least intuitively and likewise when it comes to baking, without that great inspiration of mixing and matching flavors its hard to go beyond chocolate chip cookies. (Not that they aren't delicious!) If you're going to love one, you should love the other.

My mom baked a lot and when I went to college I started doing the same. There are two ingredients I almost always use more than the recipe calls for: cinnamon and vanilla extract. I am starting to work on a bunch of muffin recipes and after seeing a few videos on how to make vanilla extract I decided I should try it!

Seems simple enough... join me on the journey:

Phase 1: Gathering the Ingredients

Vanilla: Apparently vanilla is the 2nd most expensive spice in the world after saffron (Joy of Baking). So being the recent graduate student and food truck worker that I am, I had to set sail on the world wide web and find the best deal. If you find a better deal, let me know, but so far it seems Beanilla seems to have the best prices with a Tahitian pod costing $1.25 or 10 for $7.99. So far all I know is the smell but it's absolutely intoxicating. My roommate was joking that I was getting high off the beans. If there is an intoxicating effect I sure was feeling it!

Mason Jar: Some sites suggest you can use the bottle of booze, but I wanted a wider mouthed jar and a good seal so I opted for a mason jar. You know those jars people use for canning. Well I had a dual purpose for getting a 12 pack of quart sized mason jars and I'll give you one guess. That's right canning will likely be an upcoming post! I chose Ball Mason Jars because they have a pretty good reputation and you can order online and pick-up at an Ace Hardware for $11.49

Vodka: Supposedly any 80 proof alcohol should work to soak up the flavor of the bean with lighter or weaker flavored alcohols giving you a purer vanilla taste. To me vodka tastes like water with some fire and rubbing alcohol mixed in (sorry vodka fans... and Russians), so it seemed the closest to giving a neutral taste. Some websites recommend rum to impart a little rum flavor with the vanilla for certain recipes. I've also read of bourbon used for a similar reason.

Being ignorant of most alcohol except for some wines, I decided to go with low to middle shelf classic: Smirnoff. (Quick Yakov Smirnoff style joke: Soviet Russia, vanilla extracts you!... now back to your regular scheduled blog).

Phase 2: The Process (Recipe)

Vanilla extract actually couldn't be easier.

1. Use a sharp paring knife to cut a slit down one of the flat sides of each pod.
2. Place pods in a mason jar or any other tight sealing jar. Alternatively you can empty the alcohol bottle and place the vanilla pods into the bottle.
3. Fill jar with your chosen alcohol enough until pods are covered (or close... I'm hoping my slightly exposed beans don't cause any issues!)
4. Seal jar (if you're worried you can follow the steps to properly seal a mason jar, I was lazy and just screwed it shut)
5. Give the jar of extract a good shake. *Insert lousy shakeweight joke here*
6. Store in a dark space and shake a few times a week for a minimum of a month. At least 2 months seem to be recommended and 6 months according to Ina Garten (the Barefoot Contessa) is optimal. You'll know it's ready or close to ready when it's nice and dark.

I will be following up with a blog about the finished product and tweeting if not blogging with pictures of my extract at each week. I'm also going to include ways to use the soaked pods (apparently it's easy to squeeze out a vanilla paste) and how to replenish your extract (add more beans occasionally and refill vodka to the top).

Bottom Line

You may have wondered why I included prices in phase 1. Well I have two reasons to make my own vanilla: First is the reason to make almost anything at home. To control the ingredients and quality. This way I know the beans, booze and bottle (rather jar, but alliteration is fun) that are used.

Secondly it ends up being much cheaper. Here's some math for you. Yes I know you like math.

750ml bottle of vodka: $14.29

32oz mason jar (12.18/12): $1.02

10 Tahitian vanilla bean pods: + $11.60

$26.91 for roughly 750ml (or 25.36 ounces) of extract

As opposed to the vanilla I buy at Giant which is $3.14 for 2 ounces or $39.82 for the same 750ml/25.36 ounces.

So I saved $12.91... but wait! As I will explore in a future blog, the pods can be reused and recycled either for more extract or for their vanilla flavor rich innards. so that $12.91 is just the initial savings. So next time around I might not need as many pods and I will already have a jar. Now to steal some vodka at parties. Think anyone will notice the distinct smell of vanilla when I randomly open my extract and dump some vodka in and run?

Stay tuned food fans!