Vanilla Extract - from Shayla

[Dublin Girl in Oz]

My attempt to make beer ended with loud noises coming from the front room where the beer was stored in a cupboard - I  initally thought someone was shooting at the house and then realised it was the beer bottles exploding! 

I will try the vanilla extract - doesn't sound too difficult!

Sylvia - Melbourne

[Thermomixer]

That has happened to lots of us thinking we  will add a bit more sugar to really give it a kick !!

[Salsa Picante]

Hi!

And how did you try to make beer? Just out of curiosity .

[judydawn]

Susanne, we have home beer brewing kits here in Australia.  You can buy them at the supermarket and it is a very popular thing to do. Guess this is what Sylvia used.

[Dublin Girl in Oz]

Yes it was a Supermarket Home Brewing Kit - have given that up!

Sylvia - Melbourne

[Salsa Picante]

Okay,

I read a few articles on it on the internet and thought it was very funny . Then I looked up a more professional brewers kit and found this here.

But that´s almost 1500€ and I can buy lots of beer for that money . And I wouldn´t know what to do with 20l at once!

[Thermomixer]

Yeah, my Polish neighbour showed me how to make it in a new clean rubbish bin with tight fitting lid and some plastic pipe - cheaper 

[meganjane]

Thanks for the link to the cheap vanilla pods!! I just bought the 250g pack. Can't wait to make vanilla essence!!

[andiesenji]

When my girls took me to America a bit back and we did a bus tour to Tijuana (just over the border and into Mexico), I noticed (apart from the zebra striped painted donkey everyone was having a photo taken with!) that there were signs everywhere advertising the sale of bottles of pure vanilla essence.  Apparently it was really cheap but I only used to use imitation vanilla essence back then and couldn't understand their obsession with the real thing.  Anyone know why they were making such a big deal of it - do they grow the beans there I wonder?

I can't find that anyone replied to your post about the Mexican vanilla, and since I am familiar with the subject, here is the answer.
It is not advisable to buy vanilla extract in Mexico because, although the Mexican vanilla beans are excellent for cooking, some of the companies that manufacture the extract "stretch" the volume produced by incorporating tonka beans in their products.
The tonka bean contains a toxic substance called coumarin, which is related to Coumadin, the prescription medication that slows clotting in blood. 
Mexican and other Hispanic people like the stronger flavor and are willing to take the chance of problems but the FDA here has banned it.

http://www.ptinr.com/data/templates/article.aspx?a=850&z=3

I have been making my own vanilla extract for many years and it makes wonderful gifts.  I also make vanilla paste, which is a labor-intensive task which I hope to find will work and be much easier in the TMX. 

[Nay-nay]

Wow!!  Thanks for that information andiesenji. And please include your vanilla paste recipe - or is it up on here already?? 

[andiesenji]

I haven't yet converted it to the TMX.   It is fairly complicated because to smash the fine fibers in the beans, they have to be cut up and put through a poppy seed grinder as nothing else is fine enough (except for one of the Indian stone mills but I don't have one) and I still have to work the mass in a mortar with a stone pestle.  It takes a lot of time and a lot of effort.


I also meant to mention - someone inquired about alcohol-free vanilla extract.   Glycerin will work very well, as will some of the sugar alcohols (no ethanol in them)  but glycerine, as some people spell it,  will extract the flavor compounds from the vanilla beans.  They have to be chopped and crushed before combining with the glycerin and the mass gently heated  to 42° C.  Then allowed to cool and stored away from light for at least three months - six is better - shaking the jar vigorously at least every week (be sure it is well sealed)
The next step is to add 1/3 the volume purified water, shake well and then strain off the liquid into bottles.  Again, it is best to have brown or blue bottles that keep as much light as possible from the extract.
You can save the vanilla solids and add more glycerin for a second extraction but this one will take longer.  I usually just pour off some of the glycerin, then dilute it and top up the level in the jar. 

The ratio is 10 beans to a liter of food-grade glycerin.    My local health food store orders it for me in larger containers than it is usually sold retail. 

Another one that is used for commercial "alcohol-free" extracts is Xylitol. 

[Very Happy Jan]

I have been making my own vanilla extract for many years and it makes wonderful gifts.  I also make vanilla paste, which is a labor-intensive task which I hope to find will work and be much easier in the TMX. 

Could you let me know how you do the paste please andiesenji. I have lots of vanilla beans leftover after making the Vanilla extract that is brewing in my cupboard and would love to make the paste. I was going to just "wing it" but would love some information from someone who has made it

[Very Happy Jan]

Ohh you and nay -nay posted in the time I typed, left the comp without posting & came back

[Thermomixer]

Thanks for the useful info -    Never stop learning.

[andiesenji]

Vanilla Paste

First, split, chop and crush the beans – I use a granite mortar and pestle.

Place them in a jar and barely cover with glycerin, very good for extracting flavor from the beans.
I use a combination of - 8 Mexican, 4 Bourbon or Madagascar and 2 Tahitian - beans. The combination is because the various types have different flavor components and a blend gives a better overall taste.
Personally, I can do without the Tahitian because they are a bit too “perfumy” for my taste but some people like it.

Soak the beans in the liquid for 4-6 weeks.  Stir the mixture from time to time with a non-reactive spoon – I use one of the large “cooking” chopsticks.

Or you can use the bean with which you have made vanilla extract.

After the soaking period:
Put the beans and the liquid through a food grinder with a very fine die. I use a poppy-seed grinder as most food grinders, unless you can find one of the old ones with a nut-butter disk, won't grind finely enough. (This is a hand-cranked device, not electric.)

If you have or have access to one of the Indian stone mill grinders, it will work very well to work the mass into a smooth paste.  I borrowed one to test it (Butterfly 3-stone wet grinder) and it took 22 minutes to get 1/2 a liter to the consistency I wanted. 
Smooth but slightly runny. 

!!Do not use a blender – I've tried it and the results are not good, the fibers in the bean husks do not get chopped as fine as with the "mill."  I used my Vita-Mix, which usually does an excellent job and I still had the tiny fibers in the mass. 

Use a tablespoon or so of hot water to rinse as much of the residue from the mill as possible, add it to the paste, and spread it over the bottom of an enamelware or stainless steel skillet over very low heat stirring and folding it periodically with a silicone spatula until it has thickened to a paste consistency, i.e., when scraped off the bottom, it should stay in place, not collapse back into a puddle. Commercial pastes include thickeners but I prefer not to use them, even the "organic" ones.

Store tightly sealed in an opaque glass or porcelain jar with the least amount of "head space" - do not store in metal, plastic or in crockery containers.

I want to add that made this way, this is halal and can be used by Muslims.