What's With All the Vodka??

No, I'm not suddenly having a pregnancy craving for vodka. To be honest, I don't even know what it tastes like. Up until last month, I was probably part of the rare 1.5% of 30-something year olds who had never purchased alcohol--with the exception of cooking wine and rubbing alcohol. So it felt a little funny to go purchase a 1/2 gallon plus another quart of vodka on two recent shopping trips.

The vodka was for yet another do-it-yourself project that sounded like a good idea. We go through a fair amount of vanilla extract in our cooking and baking around here. So when I found a blog that described in a few easy steps how to make your own vanilla--the really real stuff, not the fake mix of flavored chemicals I usually end up getting--I was intrigued.

It called for 2 ingredients--vodka and vanilla beans*. Easy enough! The lady who originally posted the instructions made a gallon of vanilla. I thought I'd start with a smaller batch, and make a half gallon. (It ended up turning into 3/4 of a gallon.) Here's the simple how to:

You'll need about 40 vanilla beans** for each half gallon. (That's 20 beans per quart, or 80 beans per gallon. In case you want to make more or less.) You'll also need vodka--however much vanilla you want to make, that's how much vodka you'll need to buy. Then you'll need glass jars. I used quart sized canning jars.

First, take a clean pair of scissors and cut the vanilla beans from bottom to top, leaving about an inch uncut at the top. Like this:



Since I used quart jars, I put 20 cut beans in each jar, then filled the jars with vodka.


Seal the jars and store them in a dark, cool spot for about 6 months.


Give the jars a shake occasionally. In 6 months (it shouldn't hurt anything if you go a little shorter or longer) take the jars out. Strain the vanilla beans out with a coffee filter lined colander. Bottle up your vanilla extract in dark, amber bottles and start using it! Better yet, start a batch in the next month or two, and share the finished product with family and friends as Christmas presents! (Sorry if I just spoiled the surprise for some of our family members reading this. You've got about 9 months to forget and be surprised all over again.) :)

I'll try to remember to let you all know how it turns out 6 months from now!
(It turned out great, by the way!  And I was able to use the same beans (saved from the coffee filter) to make a second batch after the first one was done!  After having done this a couple times now, I would recommend letting the vanilla age for a minimum of 6 months--if you can wait and let it sit longer, you get an even better flavor.)

*About the vanilla beans. I looked in several stores and online sites to try to find the best deal on vanilla beans, and Olive Nation had by far the best deal I could find.  In fact, through 9/20/13, you can get free shipping on vanilla beans AND 20% off.  Use the code SAVE20 when you check out.

**Also, when ordering from Olive Nation, you have the option to order the beans by the 1/4 lb, 1/2 lb and 1lb. I ordered a 1/2 lb, which turned out to be around 60 beans--enough to make 3 quarts of vanilla extract (or 3/4 of a gallon). I was only expecting enough beans to make a half gallon of vanilla, but I had enough beans left over to make one more quart; hence, my trip back to the store to buy more vodka.

Update--The 1/2 pound of vanilla beans actually allowed me to make SIX quarts of vanilla extract, since I was able to use the same beans again after my first 3 quarts were finished.  The six quarts were enough to give out as Christmas presents to family and friends one year, plus have two years worth of real vanilla extract for my own baking needs!