Vanilla

[Winchester]

The price is ridiculous. I've been using Penzey Double-Strength Vanilla now for years. I've also been making my own vanilla, using both bourbon and vodka. I love them both. I'm due to make vanilla and should get it done now if I want it for the holidays this year.

I went to eBay. Oy! The prices for vanilla beans is w-a-y out there! I used to buy 30 Grade A beans at a time, split the beans, scrape them well, and put 30 bean halves (15 beans) and the scrapings in a fifth of bourbon and then the remaining 15 halves and scrapings into a fifth of Grey Goose. I love Grey Goose.

Anyway, I'm not doing it. It's way too expensive, til I buy the beans and the alcohol, I might as well just buy the double-strength vanilla be done with it. A 16-ounce bottle of double-strength vanilla from Penzey's is $140. No, no, and no. A 16-ounce bottle doesn't last that long around here.

Cook's Illustrated recently did a taste-test on imitation vanillas. Baker's Imitation Vanilla came in first. So I thought I'd give it a try. I can't find it around here, so I bought it on Amazon. It came in today. An 8-ounce bottle of Baker's is $6+ change. To place the order, I had to buy 2 bottles. I gave one of them to our admin asst, so she could try it, too. If I like it, I'll order more so I have it on hand for baking, esp this coming holiday season.

I also bought a bottle of Buttery Sweet Dough Bakery Emulsion. Figured I'd give it a try in my doughnuts this weekend. I opened the bottle and it smells wonderful.

Stay tuned! I'll review them after using them this weekend.

 

[Kat0121]

This is what I use. It's amazing.

www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003L259AU/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

You're right. The price on vanilla is insane.

 

[lizzie]

The price is ridiculous. I've been using Penzey Double-Strength Vanilla now for years. I've also been making my own vanilla, using both bourbon and vodka. I love them both. I'm due to make vanilla and should get it done now if I want it for the holidays this year.

I went to eBay. Oy! The prices for vanilla beans is w-a-y out there! I used to buy 30 Grade A beans at a time, split the beans, scrape them well, and put 30 bean halves (15 beans) and the scrapings in a fifth of bourbon and then the remaining 15 halves and scrapings into a fifth of Grey Goose. I love Grey Goose.

Anyway, I'm not doing it. It's way too expensive, til I buy the beans and the alcohol, I might as well just buy the double-strength vanilla be done with it. A 16-ounce bottle of double-strength vanilla from Penzey's is $140. No, no, and no. A 16-ounce bottle doesn't last that long around here.

Cook's Illustrated recently did a taste-test on imitation vanillas. Baker's Imitation Vanilla came in first. So I thought I'd give it a try. I can't find it around here, so I bought it on Amazon. It came in today. An 8-ounce bottle of Baker's is $6+ change. To place the order, I had to buy 2 bottles. I gave one of them to our admin asst, so she could try it, too. If I like it, I'll order more so I have it on hand for baking, esp this coming holiday season.

I also bought a bottle of Buttery Sweet Dough Bakery Emulsion. Figured I'd give it a try in my doughnuts this weekend. I opened the bottle and it smells wonderful.

Stay tuned! I'll review them after using them this weekend.

I have a dear friend whose son goes to Texas each Christmas.While there,he goes to Mexico and brings back vanilla.I have had both the Danncy brand and Levencedora (which is what I have now) in both the regular and clear and they are liter size.My opinion is they are wonderful!The levencedora is my favorite,though.Anyway,they're available on Amazon at a pretty good price.Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[Winchester]

When a friend was in Mexico for her honeymoon, she brought back a huge bottle of Mexican vanilla and split the bottle with me. It was good stuff!

Williams Sonoma sells Nielsen-Massey vanilla products. I've never seen the vanilla paste and now, I'll have to check it out. Thanks!

And I'll check Amazon for the Levencedora, too. Thanks much!

An old friend of mine told me one time that he thought the absolute best perfume ever was just vanilla. He said it was one of those comforting smells and he loved it.

 

[Kat0121]

When a friend was in Mexico for her honeymoon, she brought back a huge bottle of Mexican vanilla and split the bottle with me. It was good stuff!

Williams Sonoma sells Nielsen-Massey vanilla products. I've never seen the vanilla paste and now, I'll have to check it out. Thanks!

And I'll check Amazon for the Levencedora, too. Thanks much!

An old friend of mine told me one time that he thought the absolute best perfume ever was just vanilla. He said it was one of those comforting smells and he loved it.

Someone who reviewed the KAF Fiori di Sicilia said she liked to dab it behind her ears. It does smell amazing.

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

i've always used imitation extracts, only buying pure extracts when i'm not able to find the flavor in imitation.

i really like the Shank's brand extracts. they're in Lancaster, PA. i'm not sure, but they may be an Amish or Mennonite owned company. i've currently got their imitation vanilla bean extract, pure orange extract, and pure peppermint extract -- all very good flavors! the prices for these are very good, too.

i bought a gallon bottle of Shank's imitation vanilla bean extract for $18.10, the pure orange extract 8 oz cost $4.98, and the pure peppermint extract 32 oz was $14.93.

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

Hope you find one that will work for you.

My grandmother was an excellent cook. Growing up, I was attached to her while she was in the kitchen. She always told me the "vanilla" was what made everything good. I thought it must be the best tasting stuff in the world and always pestered her to let me taste. She finally gave me some in a teaspoon and then I wondered why that stuff made everything taste so good. But yes, vanilla is the secret to good baking. I buy pure vanilla, but don't use a specific brand.

 

[susanm9006]

Quite a few years ago I bought two 8 oz bottles of Madagascar Vanilla at a TJ Max as an after Christmas closeout and this last fall I realized that I was down to a few teaspoons left in the last bottle. Seemed simple enough to pick up another bottle but I saw the insane prices in the stores and online. For three or four months I checked everywhere but just wasn’t going to spend $30 on vanilla. Then post Christmas I found the same brand I had previously purchased on closeout again at Marshall’s, 8 oz for $7.99. It was the only bottle they had or I would have bought more than one but I think I will be shopping for it every holiday. The original price was $12.99 which is still great.

 

[DreamerRose]

I'm stunned. A gallon of vanilla! What in the world do you do with that when you only use a teaspoonful at a time? Do you use it in anything besides baking?

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

I'm stunned. A gallon of vanilla! What in the world do you do with that when you only use a teaspoonful at a time? Do you use it in anything besides baking?

i only use vanilla extract in baking -- well, occasionally to make vanilla yogurt from extra plain yogurt or to make homemade vanilla yogurt (from scratch) too. i had been buying bundles of three 32 ounce bottles of vanilla extract from amazon and had no problem using them up......so an extra 32 ounces won't be a problem.

 

[Winchester]

That's like me. I never seem to have a problem using my vanilla. I try to do a fifth of bourbon vanilla and a fifth of Grey Goose vanilla. It really doesn't last all that long.

I think a fifth of whatever is roughly about 25 ounces, give or take. So I make approx 50 ounces of vanilla at a time, which less than half of your gallon!

 

[Tobermory]

I was in Costco today and remembered this thread when I saw this sign!

 

[muffy]

Is that a good price? When I was vegan I used to bake and I would buy a large bottle of pure vanilla extract from BJ's and it was very good. I forgot how much it cost.

 

[Tobermory]

My most recent vanilla purchase was from vitacost.com: Simply Organic Madagascar Pure Vanilla Extract, 8 fl. oz. for $27.59. So Costco’s is about half the price, but I’ve never tried it. I bought some vanilla extract from Trader Joe’s for a decent price, but while I like most TJ stuff, this was a miss for me. I’ll use it up in recipes where the flavor is more buried.

 

[AbbysMom]

Randomly bumping up this thread. I just got back from the Dominican Republic. In the resort gift shop they had 16 oz of real vanilla extract for $5. You better believe I bought some.

 

[susanm9006]

Randomly bumping up this thread. I just got back from the Dominican Republic. In the resort gift shop they had 16 oz of real vanilla extract for $5. You better believe I bought some.

Outstanding. Great gift for family foodies too.

 

[Winchester]

Randomly bumping up this thread. I just got back from the Dominican Republic. In the resort gift shop they had 16 oz of real vanilla extract for $5. You better believe I bought some.

I'd have dumped out all my clothes and filled the suitcase with vanilla!