Making Homemade Vanilla Extract

I am exceedingly vulnerable to new DIY projects and homemade items that cut down costs. Every time I see a new idea that I like, I simply MUST do it. My most recent project that I had to initiate was making homemade vanilla extract.

I love to bake and I always use a healthy dose of vanilla extract. When the recipe calls for 1tsp extract, I generally pour the extract like a bartender pours a shot of vodka into a glass after getting a $20 tip.You know what I mean. You watch the bartender hold the bottle upside down, fill the jigger, and pour the shot into the glass while the liquor is still pouring from the bottle. Makes for one tasty drink, as does the heavy handed vanilla in cookies. The only problem is...that gets expensive. 

I used to swear by Nielsen-Massey Vanilla Extract. Mainly because my mom and sister use it and that's just what I grew up with. However, an 8oz bottle of the Madagascar Bourbon extract steals just about $20 from your wallet. Seriously? For alcohol and vanilla beans? I then gave the Costco vanilla extract a shot. 16 oz ended up being 10 bucks or something like that.  My only problem was that I wasn't really too sure what I was getting with that bottle. Being celiac, I need to be extra cautious with where my food comes from. Gluten (wheat, rye and barley products) can hide in ingredient lists in the most obnoxious ways.

Then one day, I was perusing homemade food items on Etsy.com. For the love of God, do not go to this site unless you either have a lot of money you don't want anymore or you have some serious will power. I came across a seller who was offering homemade vanilla extract in cute little bottles.

 It seemed so simple and so...cheap...

Oh yeah, I'm totally on this.

Ingredients for Vanilla Extract

Vodka (750 mL for $13)

Vanilla Beans ($20 for 1/2 pound)

Yup, that's it

 From what I've gathered online. You do not need super fancy vodka. Higher end vodka tends to be higher proof, which apparently is not as effective as the 70-80 proof vodkas. I'm not saying buy vodka from a plastic bottle like you used to get in college...just not grey goose. I found Svedka on sale for 13 bucks for 750 mL, a little over 25 oz. Then, I bought my vanilla beans off amazon: 1/2 Pound LB Madagascar Bourbon Planifolia Extract Grade B Vanilla Beans 6~7" sold here. A couple of the reviews said that they were unhappy with the beans, but I got my super fragrant bag packed full of beans that looked like they were in good condition. I also got 3 free high end gourmet beans that I need to figure out what to make with.

I used about 30 beans (just about half my package) and cut them into 1" sections. Increasing the surface area of the beans helps with the extraction process. The vanilla bag instructed that you should use 1/4 pound of beans for every 16oz of vodka...I ended up with a ton of beans in my package and half the package seemed a little too much considering some places online said you could as little as a couple beans per quart. It depends on how strong you want your final product to be.

 To make space for all the beans, I poured out some of the vodka and started plopping the beans right into the vodka bottle. After cutting the beans up, you'll start getting covered in the vanilla bean caviar, or the gelly like insides of the beans that are little brown specks that you see in good quality ice cream, creme brulee etc. It's not a bad moment, you'll smell wonderful for the next few hours. 

You need to make sure your beans are absolutely covered with alcohol. Any exposed pieces might mold and then you're out $30 and have to go buy store bought extract and then this whole thing was a total waste of time and money. I filled my bottle back up to just about the very top. I also put in two whole vanilla beans that I'll use later in sugar to make vanilla sugar.

Final step, give the bottle a good shake to get the beans soaked in the vodka. In the above picture you can see that the vodka is already tinted from the vanilla caviar suspended in the vodka.This is a long term project, as you need to shake the bottle daily for a month and then every few days after that. I'll keep posting pictures as the weeks go on so you get an idea of how the color changes over time as the alcohol extracts the flavor. Make sure to keep the bottle in a dark place, or use a dark colored bottle to protect against UV light. I'm keeping mine in the closet so that it's out of the way.

 Vanilla extract lasts for years and you can keep adding more vodka as you take it out as long as you remember to keep shaking the beans around every now and then. It also makes an awesome homemade gift. I plan on giving this trial run a go and if I like the flavor I'll make a larger batch for Christmas gifts. I'll strain the extract into re-usable bottles with the latches on top (because they're cute and I want an excuse to buy some) and dress them up with ribbons and labels.

I also might try something besides vodka, like a decent bourbon or something. Yum!

Update:

It's working! I took this picture about 10 days into the infusion process. It already smells amazing, and the color is very dark. When I shake it around I see more and more separate beans floating about, giving up their good flavor.

Here is an up close shot to give a better idea of what the color looks like (Day 14). I'm starting to think I used way too many beans. However, this ends up still working out because I can decant some out into a new bottle, move over some beans, and add more vodka to each. If you make a decent amount, you can continue adding small amounts of vodka, and the vanilla beans will continue to give off their flavor. This is basically a renewable source of vanilla extract...Take that Nielsen-Massey!!