I got the idea to make some last year and it was a bit disappointing, but it all boils down to bad research on my part. Did the split the beans, toss it in the vodka and wait. and wait some more. Well, I used the incorrect ratio of beans to booze. Many reputable websites all have the same or very close amounts so I went with it and ended up 5 months later with very a lackluster / sub par product . I stumbled across the article over at serious eats, and to say the least I was way off the mark. He made a whole fifth (750 ml) bottle, but I was just making 6 oz batches to gift. I don't bake other than boxed cornbread or things along that line. So I made two in the sous vide as per the instructions, and I must say it's spot on, and since I'm leaving the beans in the bottles it should only get better with age. I did yesterday, and just did a side by side taste test with a bottle of McCormick pure extract. I think what I made tastes a little better, but your mileage may vary. It's clearly a good recipe for vanilla extract.
So I bought these beans , 25 for $17.99 which after using approximately 21 grams per 6 0z of vodka I still have 41 grams of beans left over. I already had the bottles on hand, and I purchase Tito's at the CGX on sale for $25.99 for a handle (1.75 L) but you can use any cheap vodka. It's just what I had on hand. So I made 12 oz total and for just ingredients it was $9 for half the beans and roughly $0.50 per fluid oz of vodka which would be $3 per 6 oz bottle. So basically $7.50 for 6 oz vs a 1 oz bottle of McCormick at wally world for $4.87... I'd say that's a deal.
3 hours @ 146F. I covered it in ping pong balls once the bottles were in.
Let these cool overnight.
I'm not going to strain them. The only hard part was not so much splitting them but cutting the beans to a very short length so they would stay submerged. Anyhow, if you've ever thought about doing this, it couldn't be easier.
Thanks for looking and happy Sunday. I'm going brewery hopping!
So I bought these beans , 25 for $17.99 which after using approximately 21 grams per 6 0z of vodka I still have 41 grams of beans left over. I already had the bottles on hand, and I purchase Tito's at the CGX on sale for $25.99 for a handle (1.75 L) but you can use any cheap vodka. It's just what I had on hand. So I made 12 oz total and for just ingredients it was $9 for half the beans and roughly $0.50 per fluid oz of vodka which would be $3 per 6 oz bottle. So basically $7.50 for 6 oz vs a 1 oz bottle of McCormick at wally world for $4.87... I'd say that's a deal.
3 hours @ 146F. I covered it in ping pong balls once the bottles were in.
Let these cool overnight.
I'm not going to strain them. The only hard part was not so much splitting them but cutting the beans to a very short length so they would stay submerged. Anyhow, if you've ever thought about doing this, it couldn't be easier.
Thanks for looking and happy Sunday. I'm going brewery hopping!
