Vanilla Extract

[leechlake]

I was joking about growing and making vanilla extract.  I have a hard time growing even tomatoes let alone vanilla.  My expertise is walleye fishing.  There are two things in life I am patient about and that is walleye fishing and deer hunting.  I've taken non fisherman walleye fishing and they are amazed that I can stare at my line all day when the "normal" Kris they know can't sit still.

Anyway, here's how to make vanilla extract.  Take vanilla bean at cut length wise.  Take 1 cup of Vodka and add beans and every few days move it around and after 8 weeks you've got vanilla extract.  There are a wide array of vanilla beans of various smokiness and flavor so you can go crazy on this.  

[ThunderLund78]

For a second I thought you might be hijacking your own thread with the very first post!

I think I'm like you - can't sit still unless I'm in a boat or a tree.  Type A all the way, otherwise

[leech~~]

1 hour ago, leechlake said:

I was joking about growing and making vanilla extract.  I have a hard time growing even tomatoes let alone vanilla.  My expertise is walleye fishing.  There are two things in life I am patient about and that is walleye fishing and deer hunting.  I've taken non fisherman walleye fishing and they are amazed that I can stare at my line all day when the "normal" Kris they know can't sit still.

Anyway, here's how to make vanilla extract.  Take vanilla bean at cut length wise.  Take 1 cup of Vodka and add beans and every few days move it around and after 8 weeks you've got vanilla extract.  There are a wide array of vanilla beans of various smokiness and flavor so you can go crazy on this.

Funny, my wife will "only" use Watkins - Original Double Strength Vanilla Extract Made with Madagascar Bourbon. Until this post I never even looked at the bottle to know that it had some hoch in it!

[delcecchi]

Vanilla extract has to be at least 70 proof, I think,  by government edict (that ought to rile the libertarians)

[reinhard1]

Maybe I oughta start drinking the stuff instead of cooking with it.  good luck

[Pat K]

My aunt used to make her own vanilla extract. She used cheap bourbon and soaked the sliced beans for 3 to 4 months in pint jars. What ever gives vanilla it's flavor is not water soluable but will dissolve in alcohol. She used to give pints of it for Christmas presents. I've never tasted chocolate chip cookies as good as the ones made with her vanilla extract . 

[LindellProStaf]

I have a whole new respect for vanilla extract now.  Whenever I use it in baking I always put a lot more than they ask for.  Sub-consciously it must have been the booze calling.  

[leechlake]

1 hour ago, reinhard1 said:

Maybe I oughta start drinking the stuff instead of cooking with it.  good luck

do both.  I think the nexus of enjoying cooking is somewhere rooted in drinking.  I'd like anyone to prove my theory wrong.  If it wasn't for beer and booze most of our families would be eating Kelloggs cereal every night for dinner

 

 

 

[leech~~]

3 hours ago, reinhard1 said:

Maybe I oughta start drinking the stuff instead of cooking with it.  good luck

Well for like $9-11 bucks a little bottle for the Watkins, I can see why the guys under the bridges aren't running to the store for it!

[RebelSS]

Just looked at my little bottle of Spice Islands Pure Vanilla Extract (so it says), "35% alcohol by volume"....so it is 70 proof. I'll haveta make some more vanilla nut muffins. 

[leechlake]

for some reason I'm hankering for some vanilla poppy seed muffins.  All the drug groups would be covered.

[Dotch]

I've been looking at a bottle of Mexican vanilla we got from some friends. It's good stuff. Says it has alcohol in it but can't find any indication on the bottle how much it contains. Maybe I should start doing some shots and see how long it takes to get a jag on to get some idea. Better yet, maybe Donald Trump can force them to put the amount on the label and make them pay for it. 

[Cicada]

When I worked at a grocery store in Bismarck, ND, the three most commonly stolen things were cigarettes, baking extract ( if I remember correctly, Anise extract had the highest alcohol content), and Lysol.  The cigs and extract are a given, but did you know you can get very high and very brain damaged from Lysol?  In spray form, they would spray into a baggie and inhale.  They would pour the liquid form through several slices of bread and drink whatever came through. And,...that is why we found them passed out by the dumpster.

[leechlake]

I guess my habit of smelling doe urine isn't so bad after all?