Stay in Touch
Get sneak previews of special offers & upcoming events delivered to your inbox.
Sign in
05-11-2018 11:54 AM
I was watching a Barefoot Contessa show featuring an all things vanilla theme when she briefly discussed making your own vanilla.
She showed the how to followed by the comment that the bean pods in her jar were 30 years old and she just reuses them when making a new batch.
While I love Ina, I always see her using bottled vanilla. Your thoughts on reusing vanilla beans for THIS long?
05-11-2018 12:05 PM
Vanilla is one of a few things that never expires. So I could her keeping it for so long. Also honey never expires.
05-11-2018 12:09 PM
@SnowpuppyI didn't see the show, but that is now you make vanill sugar which is used for many things.
Unless you grow vanilla beans, you have to buy them.
05-11-2018 01:26 PM
Wow 30 yrs. That's a long time to be re-using Vanilla Beans. She probably only uses the bery best out there so maybe so.
I should buy some Vanilla Beans so I can make my own Vanilla. It's so expensive now.
05-11-2018 01:52 PM
@Nightowlz wrote:Wow 30 yrs. That's a long time to be re-using Vanilla Beans. She probably only uses the bery best out there so maybe so.
I should buy some Vanilla Beans so I can make my own Vanilla. It's so expensive now.
The beans are now outrageously priced, too!
I am going to make a batch this month so it cures in time for holiday baking. The 30 year shelf life was a nice thought to offset the initial investment in bean pods but I don't think I'm going to chance it.
05-11-2018 01:52 PM
@Nightowlz wrote:Wow 30 yrs. That's a long time to be re-using Vanilla Beans. She probably only uses the bery best out there so maybe so.
I should buy some Vanilla Beans so I can make my own Vanilla. It's so expensive now.
The beans are expensive too.
05-11-2018 04:19 PM
@SnowpuppyI can not believe how high vanilla beans have gotten.
1/31/2015
I bought 1/2 lb of Grade B Madagascar Vanilla Beans from Beanilla ($31.45-10% Coupon=$28.31 Free S&H)
There were 61 beans in the 1/2 lb bag. Their web site says "Approximately 72-85 Beans", but I weighed them & it was exactly 1/2 lb.
I bought 2 1.75 liter (7.4 Cups-or 59 oz/14.8 Cups-118oz for 2. There are 16 C in a gallon.) bottles of Korski 80 Proof Vodka ($14.00 Each)
$28.31+28.00=$56.31 $3.80 per C of pure Vanilla Extract.
8oz of the Grade B Madagascar Vanilla Beans are now $199.95 on Beanilla. There is a 5% off coupon available.
I may reuse beans, I didn't when I made my vanilla in 2015, but I can't imagine them having much flavor left after 30 years!
05-11-2018 04:33 PM
A very large part of the world's vanilla bean crop comes from the island of Madagascar, which has animals that are not found anywhere else. Unfortunately, many of those animals are becoming very endangered because their habitats are being encroached upon to grow these beans. Hopefully someone out there is looking for another way or place to grow vanilla.
05-12-2018 05:29 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWdVuddIrkQ
above is the clip of Ina making vanilla extract
she keeps refilling the jar with volka and beans - how to you keep track of which vanilla bean is cured enough to take out and squeeze the seeds out
I don't use enough vanilla to try this experiment - but it does look interesting
she also uses the spent pod to put in sugar - for vanilla sugar
LOVE INA
05-12-2018 08:17 AM
After mascerating in alcohol for all that time, they will not go bad. I haven't had my pods for that long, but I never throw them out, unless I've scraped them to oblivion.
Get sneak previews of special offers & upcoming events delivered to your inbox.
*You're signing up to receive QVC promotional email.
Find recent orders, do a return or exchange, create a Wish List & more.
Privacy StatementGeneral Terms of Use
QVC is not responsible for the availability, content, security, policies, or practices of the above referenced third-party linked sites nor liable for statements, claims, opinions, or representations contained therein. QVC's Privacy Statement does not apply to these third-party web sites.
© 1995-2024 QVC, Inc. All rights reserved. | QVC, Q and the Q logo are registered service marks of ER Marks, Inc. 888-345-5788