Comments on: The best vanilla extract in the world http://www.foliosus.com/2006/01/25/best_vanilla_extract/ Plants, food and web design Fri, 16 May 2008 10:00:45 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Steve http://www.foliosus.com/2006/01/25/best_vanilla_extract/#comment-2010 Steve Sat, 19 May 2007 04:12:46 +0000 http://www.foliosus.com/2006/01/25/best_vanilla_extract/#comment-2010 Hi, Brent. I tried the Jim Beam and vanilla beans, and it makes a woderful vanilla extract. I got to thinking, how high end is high end vanilla extract? We're certainly not drinking it, of course, and your method of making vanilla extract, I may never go back to the original stuff. You' re right about the complexity of flavors adding that extra dimension of flavor, and without that nasty harsh alcohol bite of the extract. True vanilla extract isn't really palatable and I think since the Jim Beam has aged, it just makes the vanilla all the better. Cheers to your good cooking! Steve Hi, Brent. I tried the Jim Beam and vanilla beans, and it makes a woderful vanilla extract. I got to thinking, how high end is high end vanilla extract? We’re certainly not drinking it, of course, and your method of making vanilla extract, I may never go back to the original stuff. You’
re right about the complexity of flavors adding that extra dimension of flavor, and without that nasty harsh alcohol bite of the extract. True vanilla extract isn’t really palatable and I think since the Jim Beam has aged, it just makes the vanilla all the better. Cheers to your good cooking!

Steve

]]> By: Brent Miller http://www.foliosus.com/2006/01/25/best_vanilla_extract/#comment-568 Brent Miller Wed, 07 Feb 2007 05:19:06 +0000 http://www.foliosus.com/2006/01/25/best_vanilla_extract/#comment-568 You're right about this not being true vanilla extract. I use this for baking and nothing else. This is a slow maceration process, however: since the beans soak for 6 months to several years, and drinking alcohol is ethyl alcohol, you get the full flavor profile of the vanilla out of the beans. You just can't tell exactly what it is because of the bourbon. :) I wouldn't use this for a high end vanilla custard, although for a more middling vanilla custard it's quite delicious. Most of things I make seem to work better than with the more typical vanilla extract, just because of the added flavor complexity of the bourbon. If you wanted to do this yourself at home, it would be easy to obtain straight ethanol and do it with that instead: like that you'd have the <em>real</em> deal. You’re right about this not being true vanilla extract. I use this for baking and nothing else. This is a slow maceration process, however: since the beans soak for 6 months to several years, and drinking alcohol is ethyl alcohol, you get the full flavor profile of the vanilla out of the beans. You just can’t tell exactly what it is because of the bourbon. :) I wouldn’t use this for a high end vanilla custard, although for a more middling vanilla custard it’s quite delicious. Most of things I make seem to work better than with the more typical vanilla extract, just because of the added flavor complexity of the bourbon.

If you wanted to do this yourself at home, it would be easy to obtain straight ethanol and do it with that instead: like that you’d have the real deal.

]]> By: Steve http://www.foliosus.com/2006/01/25/best_vanilla_extract/#comment-563 Steve Tue, 06 Feb 2007 06:21:12 +0000 http://www.foliosus.com/2006/01/25/best_vanilla_extract/#comment-563 Hello: After reading your article about making vanilla extract at home using Jim Beam whiskey, I would like to point out that this method makes a wonderful infusion of vanilla flavored whiskey, and is perfectly acceptable for cooking, and other home recipes. However, a true vanilla extract needs ethyl alcohol to really pull the flavors from the pods along with a slow maceration process in a solution of alcohol/water wash, that in time, will yield true vanilla extract that cannot be matched in taste by any other method. Whiskey imparts flavors to the vanilla, as does vodka, and really masks the true essence of real vanilla. Hello:
After reading your article about making vanilla extract at home using Jim Beam whiskey, I would like to point out that this method makes a wonderful infusion of vanilla flavored whiskey, and is perfectly acceptable for cooking, and other home recipes. However, a true vanilla extract needs ethyl alcohol to really pull the flavors from the pods along with a slow maceration process in a solution of alcohol/water wash, that in time, will yield true vanilla extract that cannot be matched in taste by any other method. Whiskey imparts flavors to the vanilla, as does vodka, and really masks the true essence of real vanilla.

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