Homemade Vanilla Extract

Pictures really are worth a thousand words.

Did you know you can make your own vanilla extract at home?  Yea, and for the amount you can make, it's actually a lot cheaper by volume to just do it yourself!  Plus, you'll practically never run out, and it's fun!

According to DIY Natural, homemade vanilla extract is way more cost effective, and they break it down this way:

She made 76 ounces of vanilla extract using 3 – 750ml bottles of vodka and 1/4lb of vanilla beans, which provided the following savings:


Store bought cost
One 2 ounce bottle of store brand pure vanilla extract cost $4.99.  Total cost = $2.50/ounce.

Homemade cost
3 bottles of vodka (750ml) cost $10 each for a total of $30.  750ml x 3 = 2250ml which is equivalent to 76 ounces.  1/4lb of vanilla beans (approximately 36 beans) is equivalent to 4 ounces and cost $10.    Based on these calculations, 76 ounces of pure vanilla extract cost $40.  Total cost = $0.50/ounce.  Imitation vanilla cost approximately $1.00/ounce.  This reveals that homemade vanilla extract is 5 times cheaper than store bought pure vanilla and twice as cheap as imitation vanilla.


Now, those numbers all come from the article I linked to above.  I bought my vanilla beans at Fresh Market for $7.99 for 3 beans (yea, vanilla beans are expensive!) and I bought 6 beans for a total of $15.98 before tax.  I've bookmarked an eBay store that has better prices on vanilla beans.

I already had the vodka at home.  I used Smirnoff Vanilla Vodka (like I said, it's what I had at home), but all the recipes I've seen have said to use plain vodka, or anything that is at least 80 proof (or 40% alcohol) like rum or bourbon.  Rum has been said to make gluten free vanilla extract.

750ml of ABSOLUT vodka at Publix is $19.99, and a less expensive vodka is SVEDKA vodka for $13.99 for the same amount.
750ml = about 25.36 US oz making the ABSOLUT $0.79/oz and the SVEDKA $0.55/oz

Since I used vodka I already had, I'm going to calculate based off of the more expensive vodka I priced at the store.  Having said that, my total cost for making my vanilla extract would be $35.97 before tax, making my finished vanilla extract $1.42/oz.  If I'd used the cheaper vodka, it would've come out to $1.18/oz.

The cheapest pure vanilla extract I could find was the store brand at $2.50/oz before tax.



So, a list of what you'll need:

• A bottle (750ml) of vodka or other 80 proof alcohol

• Vanilla beans (how many is up to you; from my research it appears that people who used less beans were just as successful as people who used more per volume of alcohol.  I used 6 beans.)

• You can use the bottle your alcohol came in or you can buy your own bottles to make smaller portions for gifts and whatnot.  I first saw dark bottles suggested, but many people have used clear bottles and have found just as successful results.

• Patience.  The initial process only takes about 20-40 minutes, but then you have to wait.  Vanilla extract takes 4-6 months to mature.  You can begin using it after 4-6 weeks, replacing the amount you use with more alcohol so your extract goes farther, but after 4-6 months you can strain the vanilla beans from the extract and use it for a very long time after that.  Vanilla extract also ages like a fine wine: the older it gets the better it is.  You can have the same 750ml bottle of vanilla extract for over a decade and it just keeps getting better!

When you take your vanilla beans out, you'll want to split them long-ways with a knife.  They should look something like this:

You can either cover them with vodka in a bottle like that, or you can do an extra step.  Some recipes suggest scraping the black stuff out of the bean, like so:

You can then chop up the husk of the bean and put both the scraped out bits and the chopped up bits in the vodka.  I'm hypothesizing that this just makes it so the vodka doesn't have to work as hard to extract the vanilla essence from the beans.  I didn't do it this way, but I plan to try it when I do it again.

Once you've covered your beans with alcohol, tightly seal your bottle and shake the whole concoction.  Then, whip out your patience because you've got a whole lot of waiting to do!  You can shake your bottle daily if you can remember to (I forget!).



Once you've reached the 4-6 month mark and you've strained your extract from the beans, don't throw those beans away!  You can make vanilla sugar by burying those used beans in your sugar jar and shaking a bit.  How cool is that?


Tomorrow I'm planning on trying out homemade laundry soap.  I will post photos and the results!


Any input, comments, questions, or suggestions are always appreciated.  So let me know how your's turns out!