The Vanilla Extract - Bottled
Here they are! The little 4 oz bottles filled with my homemade vanilla extract. Each pint jar yielded 12 oz, so that makes 12 bottles of extract. Four different flavors:
Vodka, Rum, Brandy, and Kirschwasser.
And here are the leftover beans. Looks like the chopped ones are at the bottom. What to do with them?
Vodka, Rum, Brandy, and Kirschwasser.
And here are the leftover beans. Looks like the chopped ones are at the bottom. What to do with them?
What would the different uses be for making it with different types of alcohol?
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I've never tried this before, so hopefully it should impart some different flavors when I make vanilla ice cream, or almond cookies. You can definitely smell the difference in them. The one made with vodka smells strictly of vanilla. The others with hints of the alcohol used.
On another point, I wanted to use up some of the bottles that I had laying around
I only wish that I kept notes when I started. Some batches I chopped the beans, some I split and scraped, some I used a bit of both, and some had whole pieces. Generally, they all seem to have extracted the same amount of vanilla, judging by the color and aromas.
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Do the pods still smell of vanilla? If so, you could dry them out and add a few to your sugar jar to make vanilla sugar.
Can you share the method of making vanilla extract? I am growing vanilla orchids.
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I did run the pods through my dehydrator at a low setting, and yes they still smell of vanilla. I already have some vanilla sugar going, which I will probably use for ice cream or something. I take my coffee black, so using it for that is out!
I had bought a pound of Tahitian Extract Grade B Vanilla Beans off of eBay. I think it was around $16 with the shipping, and gave me more beans than I could use. I gave at least 6 oz away to friends.
The method is really simple, and if you look around you'll see varying methods. I wish I could tell you how many ounces per pint jar of alcohol that I used was. I think it was 2.5 or more. Simply snip them, or split them, or both, and put them in a jar of your favorite alcohol. Vodka gives you the purest vanilla flavor. Shake the jar ever now and then (I don't even know if this is needed, but I did it because everyone else was). I let mine steep for 6 months and I think that they came out great.
Good luck with your orchids!
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