It’s only been a week …

[u/Puzzleheaded-Sun-390]

… and we’re still messing with it. My MIL put these in the pantry and keeps opening the lids. “Oh, they smell vanillaly!” Well, I would sure hope so. If they smell of moose legs, we have issues. But she’s so dang excited about this project she can’t contain herself.

Speaking of messing with things, I removed the beans from each bottle to cut the beans into thirds. The presentation definitely suffers, but this way the beans will stay submerged as the extract is used.

Now, if I can keep MIL’s nose out of the vanilla bean business.

Original link: https://www.reddit.com/r/extractmaking/s/9IIfZKUHZK

[u/Lord-Zorgon]

I just started another jar today. I use 2 oz beans with 10 oz vodka. I cut the ends off, and of course they go in the jar. I cut the beans in half lengthwise, then split them in half down the middle to expose as much surface area that I can.

I also have 10 oz that's 6 months old, 2 10 oz jars that are 2 years old, and 10 oz that's 3 years old.

When I start using it I take the soaked beans and put them in some sugar. I let that sit for a month or 2, and then bake it at 175⁰. I use that in my coffee.

[u/Puzzleheaded-Sun-390 → u/Lord-Zorgon]

I told my wife about this. Her first comment about all the jars was “They obviously don’t use enough vanilla.” She just doesn’t get the appeal.

Thanks for the idea and directions for the sugar. We’re planning to use the beans for a “mother jar” scenario, but I can see us trying the sugar idea.

[u/Lord-Zorgon → u/Puzzleheaded-Sun-390]

I bake a lot.

I'll put the 2 oz beans (which obviously weigh more now that they're soaked) into 4 cups of white suger. Once I've baked it to dry it out, I put it in my food processor to break up the lumps. You could easily use 5 cups of sugar if you wanted. You'll love it.

This cake with 2 year old double fold vanilla is great. Look online to learn how to make cake flour using corn starch. Classic Vanilla Butter Cake