Make your own Home-made Vanilla Extract

Would you like to know how make your own vanilla extract out of Bourbon Madagascar vanilla beans? You'll be stunned to learn that it's so easy. The most important ingredient when making this powerful flavoring is time. Before using your vanilla extract in any recipe, you want to let the mix ferment for a minimum of 2 months, but the wait is actually worthwhile. By creating your own vanilla extract from Bourbon Madagascar vanilla beans you can certainly save some money. You could even give the extract as a present for a friend’s birthday or as a hostess gift around the holidays, or really at any time.

It’s true that the extract you can produce yourself is better than any store-bought vanilla extract. Most vanilla extract that is generally available at your local grocery store is produced with manmade ingredients that come from chemicals so it isn't a natural vanilla extract. Your very own extract will certainly change the flavor of any recipe, whether prepared cold or hot, and make your dishes mouth-watering beyond your expectations. The extract you can produce yourself can often be used to flavor stuff like cake, frosting, ice cream, cookies, coffee and even tobacco. The extract isn't just for vanilla flavored dishes, in fact it can often be used to boost the primary ingredients of other kinds of recipes including seafood. You could even add it to your vodka drink for a wonderfully different taste.

Simply follow these steps to create a vanilla extract that will absolutely make all your dishes delicious. You’ll need one liter of vodka and ten Bourbon Madagascar vanilla beans. Any type of vodka will work and you should buy your vanilla beans from a credible online specialty store. I've had great luck getting my vanilla beans from www.olivenation.com. When you get your beans remove the seeds from the pod by cutting each lengthwise and scraping out the seeds within. It's best to you use wax paper and place it over the table as you scrape the seeds from the vanilla pod. The wax paper will help you recover all the seeds.

Once you’ve gathered all the seeds, you want to put the seeds that you have scraped along with the pods within the bottle of vodka and let it sit for at least 2 months. Ensure that the bottle is firmly sealed to stop any air from entering. Store the bottle in a cool, dark area like your pantry or cabinet and ensure it is away from direct daylight.

Just shake the bottle once every week and you will be all set. After 2 months of ageing the vodka with vanilla seeds and pods, you want to filter it through a gold coffee filter so as to separate the seeds as well as the bean fibers from the vodka. This sort of coffee filter can be purchased at a place like WalMart for a very low price. But once these things are filtered out of the extract from Vanilla Beans, don’t discard them. You can actually continue to use them until they have exhausted all their flavor. Instead, put them in another bottle of vodka and make some more extract. Then you’ll have some for yourself and some to give as gifts in small 4oz or 8oz bottles.

Be sure to use a funnel when transferring your extract from the vodka bottle to the smaller, gift sized bottles. You can then add your own personal touch with a label and a ribbon or maybe a gift tag. What a beautiful and thoughtful gift for anyone on your list.