The Great Vanilla Extract Experiment

In its Sept/Oct 2009 issue, Cook's Illustrated did a feature grading store-bought vanilla extracts. (McCormick's won, FYI.) They also spoke of the merits of making your own at home. I had one of those "I can do that!" moments, and then promptly forgot all about it. But the Healthy Eats blog that I read did a post about creative foodie gift ideas, and they referenced making your own vanilla extract, a la Cook's Illustrated. I decided to go for it.

I get my vanilla from thespicehouse.com. I buy single-strength bourbon vanilla extract, and I pay $2/oz. CI recommended using commercial-grade vodka as the alcohol of choice, mostly because (with the limitations of the home kitchen) it imparted the least amount of alcohol flavor to the finished product. So I followed their lead.

I started with one vanilla bean (I pay $5.24 for 3, so that's $1.75 for the bean) and I picked up a small bottle of Smirnoff for $4.99 (there's a heavy shot or two leftover, if anyone wants it). It makes 6 ounces, so if this works out, I'm making it myself for $1.13/oz. That's a good cost save.

Here's how it went down:

Supplies ready.

Bean split and scraped and jarred.

Vodka heated.

Alcohol + Heat = Danger

Hot vodka added to jarred bean and cooled.

Lidded and ready for a week-long gestation.

All I do now is give it a week, shaking the jar once a day. I hope it gets darker. It's not looking all that impressive right now.

This will have to be seriously good before I stop buying the spice house vanilla, even if it is a lot cheaper. They make the best vanilla in the world (no matter what CI says), and you get a free vanilla bean in the bottle. But sometimes you do things simply for the joy of the doing, and this is one of those times.