I've been making my own for 40 years or more. Haven't bought vanilla in "forever" -- I think it's better than what you buy.

I buy my pure vanilla at Costco. Needed a new bottle, it was $27.00. It was not the Kirkland brand, I didn't see that. Penzeys was far more expensive and I haven't looked up the Nielson Massey vanilla

How do you make your own, and how long does it keep??

vodka and vanilla beans

It's the price of the beans that has gone up. There was a big article on it awhile back. I can't remember if it was a cut in world production or a blight or what.

I haven't used these extracts, but I've bought saffron (the best!) and vanilla beans from saffron.com. They have bulk sizes of quality vanilla extract. Not cheap, but a lot less than Nielson-Massey (which I'm also using currently) and I trust the source.

Very interesting article. We can grow the orchids here, and south of me, down towards Ft. Lauderdale and Miami they will even set pods, but nobody wants to do the work necessary to make their own vanilla from scratch.

BTW, around here we often see big bottles of something called "Dominican" vanilla for much less than regular vanilla extract costs, but that's because in this case, "Dominican" means mostly fake. I've asked several Dominican friends why this is and they have no idea. BTW, fake as in made from Tonka beans rather than vanilla beans, although sometimes it's just plain old synthetic vanillin.

The recipe is easy -- for each six ounces of alcohol (your choice of rum, vodka or bourbon), cut one vanilla bean lengthwise, then cut in pieces with scissors and drop into the alcohol.

Cover tightly (a cork is great) and keep at least six months before using. The light rum turns dark -- like the store vanilla that we are used to.

I usually have three bottles in the larder -- one I'm using, one that's about done and one that I've just started.

I usually make a large bottle each year near the holidays and keep it on the shelf for as long as possible, hopiing it will last until the following year. It doesn't have to sit that long before using, but won't go bad -- if anything, it just gets better. I hope that will allow me to ride out the peak in prices now.

I've tried making my own vanilla and just don't like it, it tastes just like vodka (or rum, or bourbon, all of which I've tried). I went back to buying vanilla, I usually get it on line at Olive Nation, or at Penzey's, but I did buy some at Costco and it was OK, but still had that alcohol flavor that I dislike. Not overwhelming, but still there.

I can get alcohol free vanilla at Olive Nation, or buy vanilla paste, so I often do that.

Annie

I also buy vanilla paste - I think it is the best substitute for vanilla beans.

Annie I've always done rum -- white rum -- but I did try vodka once (my culinary hero Ina Garden uses vodka) and I thought it was too austere -- too much like alcohol so was glad when that bottle was gone! I've never done bourbon but I think that's what was brewed in the south in the old old days. I really can't taste the alcohol -- but then after 40 years maybe I'm just used to it! LOL!

I've never made the vanilla, but I do make Peppermint and lemon, by the quarts lol. I use it to freshen rooms...put 1/4 cup of baking soda in a cute open top container, not a jar, add a few drops of Peppermint extract and your room will smell lovely. I hate room sprays. I put the lemon one in my towel closet, all the towels smell heavenly.

I like the bourbon one (Nielson-Massey) because the extract tastes sweet, not that raw alcohol taste.

I found that the Neilson-Massey was actually cheaper than McCormick at the supermarket. It was $9 but ounce per ounce it's cheaper.

McCormick has some outlandish prices! I'm still peeved about the $9 for a little glass McCormick spice jar of arrowroot I had to shell out at the discount chain supermarket because I didn't have time to go to Whole Paycheck, where a pound of Bob's Red Mill is $6, but you have to have a canister (it comes in a standard cello bag). I have plenty of glass spice jars and canisters. I didn't need to pay for either. But with deadlines the $9 was worth my time. And I'm still peeved.

The Nielson Massey Madagascar Bourbon was 28.29 for 8 ounces.

I like to use the scraped seeds in most recipes, but I also make my own flavouring w/ bourbon - good bourbon tastes like vanilla anyway. I just throw the broken vanilla bean pods in a jar, after I've scraped the seeds & cover w/ good bourbon, then shake well occasionally & before using. It's super good in custards, pies & chocolate chip cookies.

I recently discovered vanilla powder (meaning I used it, I already knew about it) & it is wonderful, but also quite pricey.

Our local natural foods stores sell individual beans for less than $2 each.

I just saw a cooking magazine yesterday that mentioned Kahlua is a good substitute for vanilla. It would be interesting to see what a small bottle of Kahlua would cost compared to vanilla.

Coffee liqueur? Surely that's a good substitute for changing the flavor of your cake, the way Amaretto (almond) or Grand Marnier (orange) are. I wouldn't just add it willynilly the way we put vanilla in everything. :/

Kahlua is about $15/bottle U.S. Since so much is tariff, I have no idea if that's comparable in Canada. Some people only want the made in Mexico, and that can be half again as much, or even double. It used to be certified kosher, so people would bring it back from Mexico when they travelled, but that ended last Summer.

I remember some years ago Cooking magazine did a test on vanilla and found that in baked goods the brand name CVS (drug store) vanilla was just as good as the high priced stuff. Wonder if that is still true.

I don't know why it wouldn't be. Vanilla extract in cakes and cookies is more about the verve it gives to other flavors. That's why real vanilla bean, rather than extract, is so important in ice cream, where you can definitely taste exactly what it is.

There was also the test in baked goods, that the fake vanilla, vanillin, was preferred and no one could tell the difference between it and real vanilla.

Whew. I only use fake vanilla. :-) I've never tried the real to see if it really makes any difference.

There was also the test in baked goods, that the fake vanilla, vanillin, was preferred and no one could tell the difference between it and real vanilla.

I expect this is just another example of people preferring what they are used to. Same way that most people prefer a horrible grocery store cake over a home-made one, because, to them, that's what cake should taste like.

I'm thinking that perhaps the concentrations of the vanilla extract and vanillan were different. Chemically, they're supposed to be the same. Ever since I learned that, I've been figuring that the taste of "white" (I don't call them "vanilla") baked goods and ice cream was from the skimping elsewhere. Maybe it really is the vanillan.

Speaking of man made flavors, what I don't understand though, is why people like truffle oil. As far as I know, nobody's claiming that that's chemically identical to real truffle!

I read about the tests of real vanilla vs imitation done by Cooks Illustrated and Chowhound. According to their information, high temperatures destroy vanilla flavor. So, with baked goods, you're actually better off using imitation vanilla which holds up to baking temperatures and save real vanilla for ice cream and puddings...adding after the custard has cooled.

I am going to buy a bottle of fake to use for the soup kitchen cakes, will be interesting. I know the dark chocolate ganauche frosting I make sometimes is not universally liked. It's pricey to make too compared to a powdered sugar frosting.

To change things up, I sometimes use almond extract in chocolate cake & chocolate frosting.

I do like Penzey's almond extract and use it in sugar cookies and in buttercream frosting because I like that flavor. I also use orange extract in buttercream for cookies. I'd also read a review somewhere that chose Tone's vanilla as their top pick, available at either Sam's Club or Costco, I don't remember which. I bought some but didn't like it as well as I did Penzey's.

Annie