Homemade vanilla extract

February 3, 3:16 PMDetroit Cooking ExaminerCourtney Monigold

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Welcome back to February's edition of DIY!

How to remove seeds from vanilla bean

My friends were enthralled by the fact that I actually used REAL vanilla beans in desserts. But when I told them I had come the conclusion that it was time for me to make my own (yes, homemade) vanilla extract, they thought I was absolutely, positively straight jacket material. I tell you, I am not crazy, but merely passionate about vanilla…especially homemade vanilla extract.

Won’t you tag along on my ‘crazy’ vanilla journey?

The thing is, I have never actually ‘tried’ making my own vanilla extract, I have only heard from my fellow foodie friends on the blogs I read. I figured if another home cook could do it, I could do it. What have I got to lose….

First what you need to do is find a glass bottle with an airtight cap. After doing a bit of research myself, I settled on a green colored glass wine bottle left over from dinner. [Hey, Im into recycling these days, re-using is even better. ] To spare you the trouble of research…I’m going to share all my findings with you! If you can be patient (which I am not), it takes about 5-6 months to ‘brew’. After that…you are in for some O’ so fantastic rewards….

Here is what you need:

 *1 Cup GOOD Vodka (75-80 proof, triple distilled) I used Kettle One.
*1 oz. (~ 8 beans)Grade B Madagascar Vanilla Beans
Dark Colored, glass bottle, sterilized
Tight fitting Cork, topper, cap, sterilized

*These are ratios, so you can double it if you need to. You are waiting this long, you might as well! And the taste only gets better in time (like fine wine) so feel free to make more because you may have this for 10 years! Grade A vanilla beans aren’t necessary, besides, Grade B vanilla beans contain less water, and this is what you want for an extract anyway. I purchased my beans on eBay. I got about 40 beans for $15. Not bad, considering the gourmet market around the corner sells a measly 2 beans for $11, CHA - CHING! In this day and age of an economic crunch…I have to be smart.
 

The tools you will need

Directions:

1. OK, don’t be scared, you need to sterilize the bottle for 30 Minutes. Why? Well, I won’t get into a whole microbial story for you (to my fellow biology freaks like me) but think about it…this stuff is going to be sitting, in a dark, cool place for 6 months. Alright, the vodka would probably kill all those little microbes, but if there is any scent or gunk at the bottom, the vanilla will take on that flavor. Do me a favor, if you are going through the trouble of making vanilla yourself, clean the bottle! So boil a pot of water, pop the bottle and cap in, boil away for 30 minutes, and pull it out with some tongs to dry.

2. Slice the vanilla beans in half lengthwise, and scrape out the seeds. The inside is sometimes referred to as the caviar of the vanilla. I did this while my bottle was sterilizing. (See photo above)

3. Measure out appropriate ratio of vodka to the amount of vanilla beans. You want to make sure the vanilla beans are covered by the vodka. What I did was cut the beans into 1 inch pieces. You will get a more intense flavor if you cut the beans into pieces. 

Scrape out the caviar then chop the bean pieces