[ENG] Making Homemade Vanilla Exract

I almost always use vanilla extract in every baking, for me it's such a crucial baking ingredient that makes everything tastes even better. Unfortunately, it's quite hard to find it here, even at my baking speciality store that i always go to, sometimes  it's available, but most of the time it isn't.  And it's quite pricey. So i decided to try making my own vanilla extract, and if it works, i don't have to worry about where to find it anymore. Plus, it's cheaper! :D So this is more like a fun project, and if i fail, i'll just drink the rest of the vodka *teehee*

I bought 3 different vanilla beans from 3 different online seller, all of them are local Indonesian vanilla beans. I just want to compare and find the best vanilla beans from these sources, and which one makes the best vanilla extract. And hopefully one of them has the quality of the store-bought vanilla extract.
I actually also very curious about Madagascar Bourbon vanilla beans, but i can't find it here even from the local online seller. I may have to search from international seller and find if they can ship it to Indonesia, but i think the shipping fee & tax will be quite huge.

The left one (#1) wasn't packed in vacuum, 58 grams & cost about IDR 60.000 (4.5 USD). The right one (#2) was packed in vacuum, gourmet quality, 50 grams & cost IDR 100.000 (7.6 USD).

This one (#3) also wasn't packed in vacuum, 10 vanilla beans (about 30 g) & cost IDR 68.000 (5.2 USD). The quality is between vanilla beans #1 and #2.

This time I used vanilla beans #1 and #2 to make vanilla extract which was the worst and the best quality of the three and see how much different it'll yield to the quality of the extract.

#1 Really dry & has various size in one package. The long one is around 19 cm and the short one is around 13 cm in length.

#2 The best quality of the three. Average length around 20 cm which beyond my expectation since the seller told me they'll be around 14-17 cm in length. Pretty plump, has gorgeous dark brown (almost black) color.

If you're interested in buying these vanilla beans, i put the link at the end of this post. Last time i checked they also ship internationally ;) 

I couldn't find small bottle with tight fitting lid, so i used these mason jars instead, which also have tight fitting lids to prevent evaporation of the alcohol. I'll be using the smallest one on the left for making vanilla bean paste, and the other two for vanilla extract.

Recipe from Beanilla.com - Homemade Vanilla Extract

Ingredients:

1 cup (250ml) vodka (the cheap ones will do, or bourbon / rum / brandy)
7 vanilla beans
1 glass bottle/jar (preferably with a tight fitting lid)

(for the non-alcohol version you may want to try substituting the vodka with vegetable glycerin, but i haven't try it myself so i'm not really sure about how it'll turn out ^^)

I used 1 cup of vodka for the gourmet quality vanilla beans (#2), and 150 ml (a little over 1/2 cup) for the other one.

1. Wash your glass bottle/jar and all the kitchen tools that you'll use (knife, cutting board) thoroughly with soap. I rinse them again with warm drinking water just to make sure they're super clean, then leave them to dry on paper towel.

2. Slice each vanilla beans once long-ways and place in the bottle/jar. If you're using jar like me, you may have to cut the beans to the length to fit your jar.

i cut the beans in half so they fit the length of my jar

3. Measure 1 cup of the vodka, pour it into the bottle/jar. Make sure that all of the vanilla beans are completely submerged. Since i was too lazy to grab & wash my measuring cup, i just used the other jar which has measuring bar on it to measure 1 cup of the vodka.

first i measured 150 ml, pour it into the jar w/ vanilla beans in it,
 then measured another 100 ml

i ended up used a little over 1 cup (about 280 ml) so the beans are completely submerged

3. Shake it once/twice a week. And wait for about 8 weeks for it to turn to delicious vanilla beans ;)

Store it at room temperature and out of direct sunlight (such as kitchen cabinet).

And then the other batch with different vanilla beans. I repeated the same steps, but this time i cut the vanilla beans in third.

My kitchen cabinet is kinda full & messy, so i decided to put these babies in the corner of the room behind the photo frames ^^ I covered them with aluminium foil to ensure that they're protected from the light.

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btw i totally writing the date wrong lol. it's supposed to be 19.05.15 -.-

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I'll update once a week with the photos of these vanilla jars ;)

[UPDATED]

DAY 8

DAY 1 vs DAY 8

DAY 16

DAY 22

DAY 30

[FINALLY UPDATED!]

Taste test with my 5-month-old homemade vanilla extract!

[ENG] Homemade Vanilla Extract - The Taste Test

 




References:
Beanilla.com - Homemade Vanilla Extract
Beanilla.com - How to Store Vanilla Beans
Food and Tools.com - Making vanilla extract, vanilla sugar, vanilla bean paste and vanilla salt

I bought my vanilla beans at:
Organic Indonesian Vanilla