How to Make Vanilla Extract 3 Ways

long ago and in a land far far away from most of us one day there was a little boy who was born he wasn't born like anyone else it was in a stable but he was the king of kings who had come to save the whole world for anyone who will believe in him and to celebrate his birthday every year all over the world there's a huge celebration now we know that it's not on the exact day but to celebrate his birth we give gifts to one another and to prepare for that day that's coming up at the end of december we have to prepare a little in advance so today i'm going to share you a wonderful homemade gift that you can make when you get together over the thanksgiving holiday and this i promise you will impress even the most gourmet of connoisseurs the richest folks with the the most exquisite palette you're going to make them homemade vanilla and i promise it will be the best you've ever had so stick around in the next few minutes as we talk about a couple of different ways to make this wonderful treat to give as gifts or to keep for ourselves this christmas season coming up don't go [Music] away [Music] this is a super simple recipe some of you have made it before but it takes a couple of weeks for it to really fill with flavor and so that's why we need to start about four weeks before christmas to make this just right in time to give as gifts what you're going to need are a couple of different things but it's very simple the first and most important is real vanilla beans if you've never had these before you'll want to order some right now either through amazon or you can get them at a local health food store there are lots of gourmet type shops that carry these but usually when it's concerning vanilla beans the more that you pay for them the better the quality so keep that in mind if you find the very very very cheapest it's probably because they're dry or from a location that just doesn't produce fantastic vanilla beans the things you want to pay attention to on that packaging is of course the country of origin and then you're going to want to go over and see what grade it is and for this purpose it's actually best to get grade b vanilla beans and thirdly the last thing you want to notice on here would be the moisture content just keep this in mind the higher the moisture content they're going to be richer flavored but with a shorter shelf life versus you don't want them too dry where they don't have a lot of flavor but they're going to keep for a long time so go ahead and invest in high quality beans they do cost a lot i'll tell you that but this is the good news you can use them over and over until they finally lose all their flavor it's not just a one-shot thing that you'll use them for next you're going to want a good knife and i'm going to recommend a short knife something like a small very sharp paring knife is going to be perfect for slitting these beans open we're going to we're going to slit them on a cutting board long-wise all the way down and then if they're extra long you can go ahead and even cut them into shorter pieces but that's not you don't want to chunk them up you just want to go ahead and slice right down the middle so that it exposes that wonderful vanilla innards that's inside those beans and it's going to be a little bit softer all those seeds are in there go ahead and just scrape them just a smidgen with your knife to get them loosened and ruffled up so that they infuse into what comes next once you've got those vanilla beans all split up you're ready to put them in what you're going to infuse with that flavor and this is where i want to give you a couple of options yes you could make it with water you would make it with distilled water with maybe just a drop or two of hydrogen peroxide in there i would use three percent hydrogen peroxide just a few drops in there to keep the bacteria from growing the reason why we don't generally make vanilla using only water is because it does have a very short shelf life you need to keep it in the refrigerator and use it pretty quickly it also does not quite infuse fully with that taste but for those of you who prefer to use that i want to make sure you know that option first the second way that's a little bit more effective but still not the very best i suppose would be to use glycerin if you have glycerin this is fantastic for that and you're going to just find a small bottle it can be any number of versions you see i have several here and whichever one works for you go ahead and fill that small bottle full of uh glycerin and then we're going to be putting these beans into that now your third option would be something like vodka or bourbon that's what i like to use because the bourbon if you've ever bought madagascar vanilla that's that's made with bourbon somehow it has a very rich complex flavor to it that's a lot deeper and richer than than other vanillas that you might get but if you have someone who you might be giving it to that has any propensity for alcoholism you don't want to in any way um make that an issue so keep it in mind and if you need to go with glycerin to be safe you just do that it's all right but if you can if you can make it with the alcohol vodka has almost no flavor to it at all it just literally soaks up that vanilla extract and makes a fantastic dark it it starts clear but by the time it's done it is just absolutely dark brown vanilla so keep in mind that vodka is going to be an excellent choice but if you want just a little more complex flavor the bourbon is also fantastic i've made it both ways i think i prefer the bourbon and i'll tell you no matter which one of these ways that you make it the longer you let it steep the better of course if you make this with water from day one of course you'll have it in the refrigerator but if you make it with glycerin or the vodka or bourbon once you have the cap on and the beans in it go ahead and tuck it away in a dark cabinet out of direct sunlight but every day or two when you pass by it's going to help it steep quicker if you'll take it out and give it just a little nudge shake it up and down up and down once or twice so that they get agitated inside so you literally find a small bottle i'm gonna recommend the smaller the better but you could make this in a large batch a lot of folks make it even in a quart sized jar but if you'd like to you can just make it right in the jars you're going to give as gifts so here i have some little vodka bottles that are i think half pint these are perfect for making a wonderful amount of vanilla that might take up to a year to use up you can also use this little dropper bottle these are fantastic for dispensing just about one teaspoon or a little less than a teaspoon of the vanilla when you're when you're using it that's all you need so you're going to put vanilla beans the more you put in the quicker it's going to steep and set up but really you only need in a half pint jar like this about two full beans of vanilla and once it's steeped for about four weeks it's ready for you to take those beans out and start a new batch with them and that vanilla is ready to use it's that simple can you believe it now here's the beautiful thing about these this simple recipe you can use to make all kinds of different extracts or tinctures so keep in mind what i've shared with you today and get creative and i want to hear what you have used to make your own special extracts to use in your cooking and such last but not least my very favorite tip and that is just in case you are a proper lady that is caught in the kitchen feeling just a little less than perfect you can always take out that beautiful vanilla and just dab a little behind your ears and on your pulse points you'll feel like a lady again and you'll smell delicious all right also wrap them up however you want and then i would love it if you came back here and posted a link to pictures that you have taken of the gifts you have made as you see i've wrapped these up in just literally little cotton gingham cotton bags that i got at the dollar store with a satin ribbon around the neck of them and you can do something like that or you can just put a little beautiful colorful bow around the neck of it and call it good whatever you want to do is great but i hope that you take the time to make some so that four weeks from now you can report back about the wonderful little gifts you were able to make for folks also i hope that between now and then you have the most wonderful thanksgiving i hope that you are filled with gratefulness for where you find yourself right now no matter what is going on around you there is so much to be thankful for and so much to celebrate each and every day that we are given to live until i see you again will you take the time to go out and find someone who needs you to be their blessing and will you make it your priority to bless them this week i hope you will god bless you bye bye before you go i would love to share a quick word of scripture this is encouragement from the 103rd psalm and it's verses 15 through 18. it says this as for man his days are like grass he flourishes like a flower of the field for the wind passes over it and it's gone and its place knows it no more but the steadfast love of the lord never ceases it is from everlasting to everlasting upon those who fear him and his righteousness to children's children to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commands now go spread the word [Music] you

Channel: PREPSTEADERS

Views: 19,930

Keywords: Survival, Homesteading, Prepping, Preppers, prepsteaders, wisdom creek, Vanilla Extract, Recipe, Homemade Gourmet

Id: TSfVF5Scumg

Length: 11min 36sec (696 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 25 2020