Vanilla

I've found out recently that not everything bad is coming out of this slow economy.  The vanilla market crashed and has resulted in ridiculously cheap vanilla beans.  I had been hearing stories on blogs of people getting vanilla beans cheap, so I thought I would check it out.  In about 15 minutes I found an online store called Vanilla Products USA that was selling 100 beans (~3/4 Lb) for 15 dollars!!  I thought it was worth a shot and bought them and we weren't disappointed.  We tripled bagged them in freezer bags and you could still smell the beans through 3 layers of heavy plastic (BTW: don't freeze the beans).  They were incredible and they gave us 10 Tahitian beans for free.  The ones we bought are known as Bourbon vanilla beans (it has nothing to do with bourbon alcohol).  These are the ones most people are familiar with.  They are the bases for most of the vanilla extracts because they contain high amounts of vanillin, the flavoring component of vanilla.  There is another bean variety called Tahitian vanilla, it is closely related to the Bourbon bean, but has significantly less vanillin and is not suitable for most recipes containing vanilla.  On the other hand, Tahitian vanilla is extremely aromatic, much more so than Bourbon.  Tahitian beans would be good for things that you want to give an aromatic vanilla punch such as a vanilla custard or ice-cream, but I still would use some Bourbon in there too.  Another idea is to make a 2X batch of vanilla extract and use 1 part Tahitian and 1 part Bourbon and you would have an intense vanilla concoction.

Pro Bono Baker has a recipe to make your own vanilla extract.  You initially start with 10 beans, but when you use vanilla beans in recipes, you wash it off and then add the used bean to the the extract.

Homemade Vanilla Extract (from Pro Bono Baker)

1 liter cheap vodka

10 vanilla beans (Bourbon variety)

Split the vanilla beans down the middle. Throw seeds, vanilla pods (these actually have the most vanilla flavor) and vodka in a glass container and store at room temperature in a dark place for 6 weeks are more.  You can strain it at that point or just leave the beans in the jar which will make the extract stronger over time.  Alternatively, you can make a 2x vanilla extract by using 20 beans.  You can even use 1/2 Bourbon and 1/2 Tahitian for that 1-2 vanilla flavor and aroma punch.  At 15 dollars a pound you could make literally gallons of extract.  Not that you would actually use that much in a lifetime, but it would make something great to give away to family and friends.  

These beans are so cheap, that we have been using it in everything and giving them away to friends and we still have over 80 beans left.  And since I bought them two weeks ago, the price has dropped even more.  You can buy 1 LB for 15 dollars now.  As a note, you should get the 'grade B' or also known as 'extract grade' beans.  There is no difference between the two except that grade A are longer (and more expensive).  If your thinking organic, 99% of the beans in the world are already organic.