Crazy fermenting vanilla extract

[mr x]

So I decided to make another quart of vanilla extract with some 45% alcohol and vanilla beans. Well last night, Shelley heard a pop in the kitchen, and found that the cork had blown out of the Grey Goose bottle I was mixing the extract in. I'm looking at it today, and it looks like a tornado in there, bits of vanilla flying all over the place.

[andrewtrsmith]

Very weird, I usually do my vanilla in mason jars and haven't had a problem yet. 2 split beans and enough vodka to cover them in a small jar. Where'd you get your vanilla from and how long has it been in the bottle?

[NASH]

Very weird, I usually do my vanilla in mason jars and haven't had a problem yet. 2 split beans and enough vodka to cover them in a small jar. Where'd you get your vanilla from and how long has it been in the bottle?

Geez what are you doing, making an oz at a time?

X - I say have a shot to check

[mr x]

Yeah, I go a bit heavier on the beans, maybe 20-30 per 750ml. There were small CO2 type bubbles rising when I first threw them in, but I just assumed it was trapped air working it's way out. Whatever happened, it seems to be calming down now...

[NASH]

Me likes my food wit flava

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[mr x]

Those are going to be insanely vanilla. I'm probably going to have to order another lb myself while the dollar is kicking ass.

[NASH]

Those are going to be insanely vanilla. I'm probably going to have to order another lb myself while the dollar is kicking ass.

Yup. And as is the case with hops, more = better

[mr x]

Covers up all them fermentation flaws.

[andrewtrsmith]

Very weird, I usually do my vanilla in mason jars and haven't had a problem yet. 2 split beans and enough vodka to cover them in a small jar. Where'd you get your vanilla from and how long has it been in the bottle?

Geez what are you doing, making an oz at a time?

X - I say have a shot to check

Hahaha, nahh i'd say maybe a cup at a time, i've usually got 4 or 5 of them on the go at a time and yea, i probably should be using more vanilla as i've got probably 40 beans kickin around in the baking cabinet.

[NASH]

Check out this site for the shiznit on vanilla extract:

http://www.vanillareview.com/make-vanilla-extract/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Vanilla extracts age like fine wine and beer. It'll be that much better in 10 yrs, in 20 yrs, and the stronger the vanillin the better. Single fold vanilla extract requires about 6 beans per one cup o booze, is double or triple fold better? Yup you guessed it, it's the crack of the vanilla extract world, it's like liquid gold, about as common as 24 packs of Dark Lord RIS and if you ever find any handcrafted 2-fold anywhere it'll set you back dearly, especially if vintage dated with a few years age on it

How many beans are used per unit of alcohol? This is an easy one – it’s regulated by US law. Really!

From the FDA 21CFR169:

Extract is 70 proof/35% alcohol.
Extract contains 13.35 oz. of bean per gallon of alcohol. It seems that 13.35 oz of bean need merely to be exposed to the alcohol, not that this amount of matter is extracted/dissolved into the alcohol, I await confirmation and will update accordingly.
Moisture content of beans should be under 25%, more beans are required when moisture is higher.
Remember, the quality of the beans doesn’t matter for these regulated proportions, only the weight

In plain English:
“13.35 ounces of vanilla beans per gallon of extract is single fold (single strength) vanilla extract. As most vanilla beans are ~120/pound or 7.5 beans per ounce of weight. A gallon of extract is 128 fluid ounces, so that would mean ~98 beans per gallon or SIX (6) whole beans to make ONE cup (8 fluid ounces) of single fold vanilla extract…Anyone who tells you any differently is just teaching you how to make vanilla flavored booze.” kieth.

Take that point to heart! To make an extract you must use at least 0.8 ounces (6) vanilla beans per cup of final extract. Hand extracts should use extra beans because they lack the efficiency of mechanical extraction processes. I recommend 1 ounce (30 grams, 7-8 beans) per 1 cup (250ml) of 40%(80 proof) alcohol.

Recipes on the web are all over the place: some call for 1 bean in a gallon of brandy left for one year, others call for 2-4 beans per cup with 1-6 months soak time. Few come anywhere close to reaching the ‘legal’ requirements of an extract.

[maltster]

Where do you guys buy your vanilla beans?

[mr x]

I bought mine on eBay:
http://stores.ebay.ca/Vanilla-Products- ... 4340.l2563" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Might try these guys out of France next time:
http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie ... K:MEWAX:IT" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[andrewtrsmith]

I've gotten mine in the past from Amadeus trading

http://www.amadeusvanillabeans.com/company/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

and thanks to Nash's correction to my extract technique (serious thanks) i'll likely be purchasing more towards the end of August

[NASH]

I've gotten mine in the past from Amadeus trading

http://www.amadeusvanillabeans.com/company/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

and thanks to Nash's correction to my extract technique (serious thanks) i'll likely be purchasing more towards the end of August

Right arm

Buy mine from X's man on eBay too

[Jayme]

I totally forgot about my jar of vanilla extract to be until I read this thread! How long do you guys usually let your extract sit on the beans before straining it out? Hopefully I used enough beans to cover up the 'shiny' quality of my 'vodka'...

[mr x]

I don't plan to ever take the beans out.

[NASH]

The vanilla blog fella recommends 6 months...

Sent from the hop-phone.

[Jayme]

The vanilla blog fella recommends 6 months...

I read that. But what do YOU do?!

[NASH]

The vanilla blog fella recommends 6 months...

I read that. But what do YOU do?!

6 months

[ratchet]

I think I'm going to have to try this.

Is there a specific type of alcohol (vodka, bourbon, etc?) that you'd recommend... and is there a large difference in taste depending on the quality of liquor used?

[Jayme]

Greg and Robert certainly have more experience than I, but from what I gathered reading on the internet prior to trying it out, vodka is ideal (at 47.5%) since it's flavour neutral. I can't remember off the top of my head why not to use rum or bourbon, but it think it's got to do with the strong flavour of those liquors overpowering the vanilla. That said, you can do whatever you want! Perhaps even a vodka/rum mixture would be nice!

[NASH]

Yeah vodka is best to avoid competing flavours. Not sure if a higher quality would make much if any difference considering the volume of extract you'll be using for cooking.



Sent from the hop-phone.

[NASH]

I packaged up my vanilla extract into 3 oz bottles for Xmas gifts, it's lovely stuff, and potent! This time I blended them all together for complexity from the 3 different types of beans. I filtered ~ 1200 - 1300 ml made with 100 beans, I spilled a few drops on the counter while packaging and it dried into a gooey syrup

[Jayme]

Oh thanks for the reminder! Mine should be ready by now.

[Graham.C]

I bought mine on eBay:
http://stores.ebay.ca/Vanilla-Products- ... 4340.l2563" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Might try these guys out of France next time:
http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie ... K:MEWAX:IT" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Am I understanding this title right from your e-bay guy?

1 ONE LB Madagascar Bourbon Org Extr Vanilla Beans 6~7

is 1 pound of grade B bourbon beans. Is the org just an indicator of Organic? (I don't think vanilla is a heavy fertilizer/pesticide crop anyways)