Making Homemade Vanilla Extract (aka…Why Laura Bought a Gallon of Vodka)
ByYes indeed. The four boys and I went into Walmart a few days ago for the sole purpose of buying vodka. A gallon of it.
I felt the need to tell the check out lady why I was buying an entire gallon of vodka. She just looked at me like I was a lunatic and shrugged as if to say, “Hey, do whatever you want to with your vodka, girl.”
And then she wouldn’t let Justus carry it out of the store. You know…just in case I was buying the vodka for my nine year old minor.
It made for some good discussion on the way home: what drinking alcohol can do to your brain…why the lady had to make sure I was over 21 to buy it…why it’s okay to carry a watermelon out of Walmart when you’re nine but not a couple jugs of vodka.
All that to say: I just started my very first batch of homemade vanilla!!! I’m super excited. My friend Jill sent me a beautiful bottle of her homemade vanilla a couple of weeks ago and it’s fabulous!!! (I guess you could say that I was pressured by a friend into buying alcohol. “Go ahead Laura…make your own vanilla. Everyone’s doing it.”)
Now that I’m hooked on the idea…I thought I’d try to influence you too…
You will need:
A gallon jar
One gallon of Vodka (the cheap stuff is fine) (To keep you from standing in the liquor section too long to calculate this…2 bottles of 1.75 liters each will be the exact amount you need to make a gallon of vanilla.)
80 Vanilla Beans (You’ll need about 3/4 pound to have 80 beans) – enter code hhm2012 for a 10% discount on Vanilla Beans through Olive Nation!!
Kitchen shears
Begin by slicing through each bean lengthwise, leaving about one inch at the top of each bean uncut so that it stays together.
See? Like this…
Place all of your cut Vanilla Beans into your jar.
Fill the jar with vodka. (I took the following picture with my left hand while pouring the vodka with my right hand. This proves that apparently…I can really handle my liquor.)
Once the jar is full with beans and vodka, put the lid on…then put the jar in a dark place (like in the back of a cabinet). It needs to stay there for FOUR to SIX MONTHS in order to become vanilla extract! Occasionally, you should get it out and shake it up a bit, then put it back into it’s dark place.
Here’s the cool thing: If you start a batch of vanilla really soon…it will be ready in time to put into little bottles and give as Christmas gifts. (Family members reading this…you have exactly six months to forget all about this post and be surprised on Christmas morning.) If you don’t get it started right this minute…from what I’ve researched…a little less than six months of “vanilla extracting” time won’t hurt anything.
To complete your vanilla once six months have passed: strain out your vanilla beans with a coffee filter lined colander and tada…you have vanilla extract! Bottle it up in dark amber bottles - give it as gifts and start cooking with it yourself!! Yum!
AND…if you don’t want to make a whole gallon of vanilla…you can make a lesser amount:
- 1/2 gallon of vanilla….use 1/2 gallon of vodka (1.75 liters) and 40 Vanilla Beans (enter code hhm2012 for a 10% discount!)
- 1 quart of vanilla…use one quart of vodka and 20 Vanilla Beans (enter code hhm2012 for a 10% discount!)
Well…I know I’ve influenced many of you to eat healthier and plant potatoes in a container. Is it now possible that several of you are going to run out to buy liquor? Tell the clerk the Heavenly Homemaker sent you.
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Read details on where to purchase small vanilla bottles here. Also, you can read this post to learn how to finish and strain your vanilla after 4-6 months.
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I recommend that you purchase your Vanilla Beans through Olive Nation!! You’ll receive FREE SHIPPING and if you enter the code hhm2012 you’ll receive 10% off your entire order!!!! (The free shipping applies to vanilla bean purchases only!) I bought my most recent batch of vanilla beans through Olive Nation and was VERY happy with their prices, promptness and quality of vanilla beans. Plus free shipping and a 10% discount? It can’t be beat! Thank you Olive Nation for offering HeavenlyHomemakers readers free shipping and a special 10% discount!
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You can purchase dark amber bottles here!!
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Here’s where I ordered my labels for vanilla bottles. ;)
My vanilla has been sitting 5 months and I tried to make some frosting with it. The frosting tasted like vodka and not like vanilla. What should I do now?
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Laura Reply:
November 25th, 2011 at 6:33 pm
If you still have your vanilla beans, I’d say shake the vodka and vanilla beans together well everyday for the next month to help the beans to extract better.
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My vanilla has been sitting for 5 months and it’s fabulous! We made tapioca pudding with it today and more than doubled the vanilla extract that the recipe called for just to try it out. No alcohol taste in the pudding, but good vanilla flavor. With that said, my family and I tasted the extract straight. Yes, there is a heavy alcohol taste. Then we tasted the extract that I had in my pantry from the store and it had a strong alcohol taste too. Thanks for the recipe. Any suggestions of where to get 2oz bottles.
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Laura Reply:
November 27th, 2011 at 2:19 pm
Here’s a post with links and explanations for where to get bottles: http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/where-to-get-bottles-for-homemade-vanilla
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I just used the code and IT WORKED. Cheers to making homemade vanilla girl. Thanks for the directions.
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Hi Laura,
I sure hope you aren’t completely weary of vanilla comments/questions…because I have yet another one for you. :) I bottled up my first batch of vanilla and it was a huge success! But I didn’t have the heart to throw away all these beans that still seem so fragrant and delicious. It seems like you suggested drying them out to use in sugar (right?), which I might do. But I also wondered if you think it would be okay to squeeze a little more life out of them by keeping them in my next batch of vanilla (adding new beans too)…and maybe just adding extra vodka? I guess my biggest concern is that I didn’t know if the beans eventually turn bitter or anything like that?
I hope that makes sense! Thanks so much!
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Tanya Reply:
December 15th, 2011 at 10:20 am
I was wondering the same thing. I just read this on Olive Nation’s website: “Both bean and seeds can be recycled for another sweet treat: Rinse and dry after using a few times and bury vanilla beans in 1-2 cups of granulated or confectioner’s sugar and cover.” That sounds like we can use the same beans again to make more vanilla extract.
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Lori Reply:
December 15th, 2011 at 10:41 am
That’s great info, Tanya! Thank you!!
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LindseyforLaura@HHM Reply:
December 19th, 2011 at 1:28 pm
It should be fine to reuse the beans. Just double the amount of beans
in the same amount of vodka as the original recipe…hope that makes
sense. :)
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Do you use the same amount of vanilla in your recipes or do you use half the amount since it maybe a little stronger than store bought?
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What brand of vodka do you use and what is the price of the vodka?
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What is the shelf life for the finished vanilla?
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Laura- or anyone who may know, I buy Mexican vanilla some times (live in the south- so its much cheaper & stronger than store bought) It says on the bottle- “mexican burbon” I am wondering if you can make the HOMEMADE VANILLA from burbon rather than vodka? & what the difference in tasted would be if any? Anyone know or have tried this? Thanks Bunches!!!
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Lori G Reply:
January 8th, 2012 at 12:25 pm
You can use bourbon in place of vodka….a little difference in the
final flavor. Google “homemade bourbon vanilla”…
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in the pic, you’re combining the liquor and beans in a glass jar-does it need to be glass or can we just use the plastic bottle the vodka came in? thanks!!
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LindseyforLaura@HHM Reply:
January 14th, 2012 at 1:23 pm
You can use the bottles the vodka comes in. Laura jut prefers her jars! :)
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Laura:
My vanilla project is developing a cream like substance…is this the alcohol reacting with the moisture in the beans? since Grade A beans have a higher moisture content than Grade B.
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Laura Reply:
January 20th, 2012 at 10:12 am
Yikes, maybe but I’m not sure. Sounds like it might be time to go ahead and strain out the beans and bottle your vanilla.
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Hello Laura, thanks so much for this very easy idea that makes me feel like superwoman! (Sad, I know. I’ll raise my standards later. For now, I’m enjoying superwoman status). :-)
I have a question, I saw other recipes that call for many fewer beans with the same proof alcohol that have gotten great reviews. I tasted a friend’s that use one bean for half gallon of vodka. ONE BEAN! It was not as strong as store bought, but it tasted vanilla-ish. One bean to 40 beans is quite a jump, though and I was wondering what you thought about that.
Have you tried other amounts of vanilla bean or do you know others that have and if so, what was the result? I can’t get this wrong, my superwoman-ness depends on it.
Thanks!!
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