Vanilla Extract update

Well, more than two weeks later, it's nice and dark, but man, the alcohol smell almost knocked me out when I took a whiff! I guess I should still try and take a taste.

If it still seems mostly alcohol, I think I'm going to strain, and add at least another four chopped up beans, and I might need to water it down a bit more. Another two weeks of shaking, and perhaps it will be ready for fall baking season! The funny part is I don't actually like vanilla flavoring in much, but I'd be willing to gift it to the right cause. Fun experimenting!

Vanilla Extract

I finally started my vanilla extract today...it is pretty simple, just like a tincture. After reading up on several recipes the consensus was 6 vanilla beans, to 1 cup of 70 proof alcohol. I had 4 vanilla beans, and 100 proof alcohol so I roughly adjusted accordingly and we'll see what happens.

Step one: Slice the beans lengthwise and scrape out the goo with the back of the knife.

Step two: Chop up the rest of the bean/s.

Step three: Put goo, and chopped bean/s in jar and add alcohol to extract those delicious flavors.

Step four: Set on a windowsill and shake vigorously at least once a day for two weeks.

Step five: Strain and bottle extract, discard (compost) vanilla bits. Use!