I've ordered lots of Organic Vanilla beans on eBay and have been very happy with both recent purchases. The beans both companies sent were fresh, super moist and made the BEST extract. I still have some left from 6 months ago and they are still wonderful.

100 6" Organic Madagascar Extract Vanilla Beans was $25.69 including shipping from saradooky

60 5" - 7" Organic Tahitian VANILLA Extract BEANS was $14.98 incl shipping from allfinerthings

I use 6 Madagascar and 4 Tahitian beans per 16 oz rum and age it 12 months. It's like liquid gold.

I buy from Vanillaproducts on Ebay..
Last time I bought the 30 bean sampler..

i order my vanilla beans from Penzey's. ;)

I've started using the Nielsen-Massey Vanilla Bean Paste instead. It's lovely and cheaper and more convenient than scraping the beans. It gives the nice little flecks too.

I'm not recommending them per se because I've never looked into it, but prices at Vanilla, Saffron Imports look good. And they've been around for a while.

Here is a link that might be useful: Vanilla, Saffron Imports

I've ordered several times from Vanilla Saffron Imports.
The last time just a month or so ago.
Wonderful products, very fast service.
The vanilla beans are a very good value. I usually buy the 1 lb. Tahitian Chef's quality for $19.95.

Not affiliated, just a happy customer!

Deanna

Thanks all. I'm trying the Organic Madagascar Extract Vanilla Beans from saradooky on eBay. Price was right and good feedback. Hopefully they are good.

Bonnie

Whatcha makin"?

I am sure you will love the beans. If you end up scraping the seeds, toss the "empty" pods in your sugar canister. Yummm...vanilla sugar

Well I already have a bunch of vanilla going from my last batch - will give some of that as holiday presents. And I did put some of the 'skins' in sugar.

But right now, I'm OBSESSED with making French Macarons - which I finally seem to have down. I like using vanilla bean in the batter rather than vanilla extract, plus a little almond extract (I actually researched making Almond extract - Not gonna happen :-).

French Macarons have been on my to-do list for years. Just gotta practice getting them into circles and not ovals. LOL.

Bonnie

Oh, those are lovely-looking, Bonnie. Would love to have your secrets uncovered or at the least the recipe you are using. I see you managed to get the "feet" - so important I've read. I also have been wanting to make them with great trepidation. Just bought the almond meal/flour.

I just want to grab one of those and pop it in my mouth!

A little off topic. If one purchases a batch of vanilla beans, what's the best way to store them, if you don't make extract from them all?

Sally

French macaroons? Nom, nom, nom...

I'm planning on blogging the recipe as soon as I get chance. I read a ton of websites/blogs to see the different techniques, and what seemed to work. Found one blog that really spoke to me and I used her recipe and tips. Interesting tips like it really doesn't matter if your egg whites are room temp or not, and you don't really have to let the tray of piped batter sit for an hour before you bake them. She's right!

It took me 3 tries to get it, and now I can't stop making them. LOL.

On topic: I received my beans from Saradooky on eBay but haven't opened them yet. They look good, though.

Bonnie

Bonnie, WHAT!! That's like getting a gift and not opening it.

And please share your blog link as soon as possible. These are on my list of to-do's but I've always felt rather daunted by them.

Saw vanilla beans at Costco yesterday. They come two tubes to a pack, each tube with three or four beans, and the price per pack was about 12 dollars.

I'm comparing prices of on-line sources for vanilla beans and am amazed at the differences. $8.50 for 2 beans at Nielsen-Massey, and $7.99 for 10 beans at Top Vanilla. Both use Madagascar vanilla. NM's vanilla products are "kosher certified, Gluten-free certified, and they have been a certified organic producer since 1998". Other than that, what justifies such a big price difference?

Jenn, take a look at this report about vanilla beans.

Here is a link that might be useful: Vanilla Beans

Thank you, Lynn, for the link to the very interesting site about vanilla. The site includes a very detailed recipe for making vanilla extract which I intend to try very soon.

Their vendor review does not include Nielsen-Massey, but their review of (the MUCH less expensive) Top Vanilla is very favorable. There's a lot of information and I haven't been able to determine why NM's cost so much more!

I'm imagining a vanilla cake made with homemade extract and vanilla bean-infused sugar. Yum!