beesneeds now I am more confused. I may think on this again, I don't really use very much vanilla. I just thought it might be better. Thanks for all the info.

I've done so, but didn't think it improved what I could buy... or was even as good. What I do do is add all used or going-dry vanilla pods to the already exisiting vanilla. It adds to the flavor, AND is in the jar if needed. I can pull out a pod when needed and it is as good a new. I guess it's my way of preserving the pod.

I believe it makes better much vanilla than you can buy in your grocery store but of course if you are going for quality and ordering it you probably wont be able to do much better. I like a very strong vanilla and use several beans. High quality vanilla extract is expensive but so are good beans. Good vanilla beans is like good cinnamon. You have to try them out. I say go for it. I use either Brandy or vodka.

I also tried and quit making my own. I used vodka and I used bourbon, but it just ended up tasting like vanilla vodka or vanilla bourbon, and I didn't care for the flavor of either. I went back to buying it.

Annie

Using Vodka should give you the same flavor profile as the average Vanilla extract because essentially that is what most vanilla extract is made of-grain alcohol and vanilla beans. I believe the alcohol content is pretty close as well 35-40% if I am remembering right. Could you taste the vodka in your baked goods or puddings Annie? Classier extracts are made with other liquor but are very much more expensive and certainly you would use them when you wanted that additional flavor I would think. I used to play around with making extracts, You can do all sorts of fruits and nuts and once did black berry with Tequila. Some one gave me several bottles of tequila. It made the most extraordinary Liqueur I ever tasted.

Here's what Cook's Illustrated has to say about vanilla powder and vanilla paste. I only use vanilla paste (of those two), and I use it so seldom that one jar lasts for years. If I am making custard or vanilla ice cream (which is pretty much the only time I use vanilla), then I use vanilla beans. I only use vanilla when I specifically want a vanilla flavor - otherwise I will use a liqueur instead, and my favorites are Frangelico, Amaretto, Nocello, Cointreau, Calvados, Cassis, Praline (from New Orleans), and a coffee liqueur also from New Orleans that is especially potent. I have more liqueurs than this, and so I seldom need or want vanilla.

Vanilla is far from a neutral flavor, and I find that it often interferes with other flavors rather than enhances them. I seldom make cakes anymore, but I would use vanilla in pound cake and in a few other white cakes, but I never use it with chocolate, as I prefer a nut liqueur or even a coffee liqueur to vanilla. I use Calvados when I make torta di mele.

Unless I am making vanilla ice cream, for which I only use vanilla beans, I will use a liqueur instead of vanilla. I use Cointreau in strawberry ice cream, and that very much enhances the strawberry flavor, whereas vanilla masks and competes with the strawberry flavor.

I would like to grow my own vanilla orchids, but they take up a lot of space, and it takes four years to get flowers. Also, they like a lot of humidity, which I do not have, but it's warm enough in the winter where I live in Los Angeles to grow them outdoors - the lack of humidity is the main issue. Also, squirrels tend to eat new growth of orchids that I have on tree branches, but I can put wire guards around them.

I'm not an alcohol person, but I thought vodka didn't have a flavor ? Also, I thought the point of making your own vanilla was because it was cheaper, not better. Sounds like I was mistaken about both things. I've been wanting to make vanilla for years, now I'm not sure.

I did/do it as a way to use up the rather expensive vanilla bean pods after I've scraped out the seeds/pulp., which I use in cooking. I have good bourbon, and I have the bean pods, so waste not, want not, I say. I love the taste of bourbon, which has a vanilla flavor, and have often used it as a flavoring by itself.

Of course Vanilla isn't neutral. It tastes like vanilla which is a distinctive taste. Vodka has no extra flavor since it is rectified by being at least double distilled to make it neutral. When it is distilled they remove the first part of the distillate(headings) and the last part(tailings) and that is where the flavors of the grains or what ever are that gives it the distinctive flavor as in corn whiskey for instance has a very distinctive taste but you could make vodka out of it if you wanted to. Vodka tastes of alcohol which is more of a feeling than anything. You might wonder how on earth I know so much about it but I was a chemistry minor so the distillation process was something I knew and I have toured distilleries in Scotland and Austria. In Austria they encourage distillation of brandies, other Schnapps, and liqueurs as a small farm industry. We stayed on farms where they did it. Fascinating stuff.

I think some people (especially those who do not cook) confuse the word vanilla (which can mean bland, although not in a culinary sense) with actual vanilla beans, which do have a strong flavor.

I love vanilla ice cream and vanilla custard (but not cream soda), but I do not like vanilla mixed with other flavors, for some reason, and yet I see so many cooking shows (especially ATK) where vanilla is added, supposedly to enhance other flavors, especially chocolate. I think cayenne does more to enhance chocolate flavor (if used in minute amounts) than vanilla does.

I need to shop watching ATK, but I do not have cable in Cathedral City, and our Samsung TV has an ATK channel. I have the cookbook anyway.

All alcohol has a "flavor" of its' own, including vodka, whether it's flavored with herbs or fruit or berries or just "alcohol". So vodka is one of the worst, for me, because it doesn't even have a flavor of berries or coffee or whatever to cover up the taste of alcohol.

Like Lars, I use vanilla beans in things like ice cream, I like the "flecks" in ice cream and custard. I also have vanilla powder and vanilla paste. I much prefer either to homemade vanilla booze, but neither one is cheaper, if that's a consideration.

Annie

I agree with Annie on the vanilla issue, but not on the Vodka. Mind you, I'm not a big drinker, but I'm considered a vodka snob in some circles. I don't drink it straight and maybe there's the problem. Maybe different vodkas do different things to whatever else is in the drink, but I can taste the difference in what vodka was used.

@CA Kate z9 it’s not the mixers, it’s the vodka, and you’re absolutely right they taste very differently between brands. My own preference followed neither price nor marketing.

I think it's dead cheap vodka that has no particular flavor. I have some of the kind one uses for deodorizing costumes and alcoholizing raisins that pretty much tastes like boozy water.

Can someone explain why you'd want to make a paste from a bean? I understand if you have too many to use, but why not just buy a bean when you need one and use it? That way, you don't have the problem of other flavours getting in there.

It's not always possible to buy single beans. Most stores around here sell prepackaged multiple whole vanilla beans, if they carry them at all.

And vanilla bean paste is sold in some stores. It's not something home made. I like the thicker formulation and it seems more flavorful than liquid extracts.

I can taste the difference in most vodkas, they have an array of tones like wine does, just much more subtle. I'm not big on it outside bloody marys. I make a nice green peppercorn and wild chive vodka for those. I've used Absolute in the past, but thinking about trying Svedka since it's corn instead of wheat. My love has discovered parsnips, so I'm thinking about making a parship schapps with a traditional Polish potato vodka. A parsnip schnapps in a bloody mary would be interesting. He wants tp grow parsnips and make vodka, but I think this might have to do for now, lol.

It's why I don't use it to make vanilla extract and use everclear instead- I don't taste an alcohol type in everclear. But I'm fusssy, I do this with my other cooking alcohols too. And sometimes my drinking ones :)

Several years ago, Dan Pashman and Planet Money staff examined whether expensive vodka is really that different from cheap...

https://www.npr.org/2018/03/01/590022606/is-there-really-a-difference-between-expensive-vodka-and-cheap-vodka

"...Can we make our own premium vodka? We learned that a lot of companies actually buy a vodka concentrate in bulk from a handful of suppliers. Then they just add water. So we've got a hold of a sample, brought it here into the studio...

PASHMAN: ...Added some water...

PASHMAN: ...And sent it to a lab along with a sample of Grey Goose and a sample of some of the cheapest stuff we could find. A few days later, we got a call from Neva Parker. She's the vice president at White Labs in San Diego. She ran our vodkas through what they call a comprehensive spirits test.

Based on that information, Neva, which of these three vodkas would you suspect should be the cheapest, least-desirable vodka?

NEVA PARKER: If I had to choose based on this analysis alone, I would say number one.

PASHMAN: That was the Grey Goose. And the ultra luxury choice...

PARKER: Number three.

PASHMAN: Number three was the cheap stuff. Now, to be fair, Neva did say the differences in all three samples weren't anything most people were going to taste. She compared the reports.

PARKER: I mean, look at these. They all look very similar as well...."

But did they also run them by a professional taster?

I'm not that sophisticated, nor experienced with spirits, but I can taste the difference between unflavored vodka with personality and the alcoholized water kind—though maybe it doesn't go with price and some top shelf can also be tasteless, and perhaps some rotgut also has discenable flavor.

But then there are additives... I recently saw an ad for a botanical vodka that pretty much sounded like gin without the juniper, which is a whole different kettle of fish—though I've yet to see herring flavored vodka....

"...PASHMAN: So our one lab didn't detect any taste-able differences even with our homemade vodka. And the law seems pretty clear to us. But Grey Goose insists there is a difference. They also invited us to come have a drink with them. We are willing to continue our research. For NPR News, I'm Dan Pashman, host of The Sporkful food podcast."

Good find Carol!

When you are running a distillation the very first of the headings can actually be toxic so you take that off and then the next will have very distinctive flavor notes which might or might not be what you want but in Vodka and Schnapps you would take that off and then you get to the middlings and that is where the most pure alcohol is but in the first go through you would get some flavors and then as you distill your distillate gets weaker and you start to pick up stuff that will now come off because the boiling point has changed. Fractional distillation is what this is called. You are getting into the tailings. A woman in Austria who was a hobbyist with an amazing still set up would use the tailings to make liqueurs. I thought her liqueurs tasted murky. My German wasn't up to understanding a lot of her explanations but I could see and use my knowledge of the process. She used the headings to wash windows! Vodka is normally distilled at least twice and then run through filters. They swear it makes a difference. People's abilities to taste vary so we are all going to get something different.

When the article above talks about concentrate they mean the proof of the alcohol which has to be reduced with water. Maybe the difference is in the water?

Gins are alcohol distilled with botanicals and they do vary wildly.

@beesneeds Do try Svedka, that was my vodka of choice, and it’s cheap. To me Absolut ranked among the worst despite their excellent marketing. And I didn’t care for Grey Goose. Svedka had a nice clean taste that I prefered for the same reason I preferred Beefeater over most other gins.

I wonder how much containers affect taste as well, since a 'flavorless' liquid could absorb that. Cheaper vodkas are usually packaged in plastic, and who knows what they're stored in before bottling.

I've made my own vanilla for 40 years at least! I prefer rum and use the light rum for my vanilla. When vodka became popular I tried a batch with vodka -- not a fan. I like the more complex flavor with the rum. You can also make it with bourbon but I never have.

Thanks, Patriciae, for the explanation. I've heard similar before but taking the equivalent of several pages of turgid lingo. Yours was concise and excellent.

Carol, I can't stand canned soup because of the can flavor! But even my cheap vodka does come in a glass bottle. ;)

Wow. I didn't know you couldn't buy one vanilla pod!

You can here.

I can get just one by me too, at Meijer. Spice Island. I've noticed it before because it is one bean and expensive. But I can't find multiple beans in a packet around here. When I go back home I can find packets in a couple places. And this might sound weird, but I've occassionaly seen beans in the gourmet foods section at places like TjMaxx.

I need to stop at Meijer today, I'll try to remember to peek at the spices area to see what they have. They might have vanilla paste too and I just never noticed. Also think I'm going to pick up Svedka, the wild chives have their spring plush going on :)

Not weird, bees. I've learned to check the foods aisles at TJMaxx, Marshall's and Home Goods for good deals on spices, teas, etc.

I recently found smoked salt and smoked paprika when nobody else seemed to have any.

Most supermarkets sell them. there is a spice store here in Calgary that I love that sells madagascar beans. I bought a few bunches of them, split them and put them in a big bottle of vodka. You can use other liquor as well. I rarely use store bought vanilla.

I checked at Meijer. They were out of stock. But it is Spice Islands, one bean for 7 bucks. Didn't see vanilla paste, but I might not have been looking in the right spot.

Also checked TjMaxx- had a little time to kill before lunch. They didn't have any beans. A lot of other fun food stuff as usual.

I don't think it will be worth it for me. I just love to try new things.

FWIW, the vanilla beans I get at local bulk/natural foods stores are maybe $2 apiece.

This is a 4 ounce bottle that I made. I have many of these as I used a 26oz bottle of vodka. I cut the beans small and tossed them in the brown bottles after two months. This is about 2 years old

lizzieswellness What is your exact recipe, if you don't mind sharing. Do you leave the beans in the vodka the whole time or take them out after 8 weeks? Do you strain the beans or particles out? (Vanilla for dummies!)

Leave the beans in. you can actually top up with more booze as you use it

I don't make my own vanilla, but I do keep my spare pods in the liquid vanilla until needed.

Ok, now where to buy beans? I would have to order them. They $7 + a piece at the grocery store.

I have tons of amber bottles from all my vitamins.

Vanilla Saffron Imports are a small outfit who specialize in a couple of things, top quality: https://saffron.com/store-shop/vanilla-beans/ 2 for $7 inc. shipping in USA, and they also have cut,

I tried making my own vanilla once. I was so disappointed. After a year of sitting, it was merely okay. I prefer to toss my spent pods into a jar of sugar and make vanilla sugar. I roll sugar cookies in it.

I was in Belize 2 months ago and visited a spice farm. Learned about the difficult process of pollinating the flowers so the plant will produce beans. No wonder vanilla is so expensive!

That does concern me, bbstx, but I'm going to put two beans more in each small bottle. If I'm going to do it. It's going to be good!

The only vanilla I think is really good is Nielsen Massey bourbon Madagascar so if I can't make it like that or better it won't be worth it. But I'll give it a shot!

Okay so I'm getting ready to order and is there a ratio of how many beans to how much alcohol? I'm going to use vodka in one of the bottles and in one bottle I will use bourbon.

@Bumblebeez SC Zone 7 Im on my phone but here is a link to how to make it

https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/homemade-vanilla-extract/

I'm excited. I have beans on the way from vanilla saffron!

The beans came today and I was disappointed in how small and thin they are but the shipping was fast and they also included a package of 12 organic assorted tea bags so that's nice.

I met my sister for dinner yesterday. She not only made vanilla, she made lemon extract (I've done the same but think I need to add more lemon peel and let it sit longer), coffee extract and cinnamon extract. Now I want to make some too, but have no idea what I'll use them for. LOL

Well, RATS!! I've had only good from them. I'm so sorry.

You can make any sort of "extract" as in dried cherry, any sort of nuts, apricots, or any other dried fruit. All you have to do it nib them up into strips and soak them in some neutral spirits, You get amazing color and flavors. You can use the fruit afterwards to enhance any baked goods and the extracts as flavorings. Use it in addition or instead of vanilla.

patriciae