# Storing vanilla: real or imitation



## magnolia2017 (Dec 5, 2005)

For me, vanilla is one of the must haves as I do alot of baking. I was raised on imitation vanilla as we didn't have much money and I'm sure the real stuff was a little too pricey when trying to stretch dollars.

Out of curiousity I bought a bottle and used in in a cookie recipe and I've been hooked since. The cheapest I can find pure vanilla is $1.99 for a 2 oz. bottle or $1 oz. The last bottle of imitation vanilla I bought cost .59 for 8 oz. a few months ago.

Ingredients of pure vanilla extract: Vanilla bean extractives in water, Alcohol (35%) and sugar

Ingredients of imitation vanilla extract: Water, sugar, caramel color, artificial flavor, citric acid, sodium benzoate (preservative)

I keep both and only use the pure extract when the flavor is important and imitation in things like cakes.

I'm sure with the alcohol content, I can store pure vanilla indefinitely, but what about the imitation? How long will it store? I can find no expiration dates on either. :shrug: 

Maggie


----------



## Guest (Oct 25, 2007)

Both will store indefinitely if keep in the dark in a cool place in tightly sealed bottles.

Buying vanilla in the grocery store is expensive. You can get much better quality and prices through mail order. There are a number of different suppliers to choose from. My personal favorite is www.penzeys.com

.....Alan.


----------



## WayneR (Mar 26, 2007)

Would it be possible to add alcohol to the imitation in order to help preserve it?

Of course the amount used would would need to be increased to compensate. The alcohol would dissapate during the cook-bake process :shrug:


----------



## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

I was hooked on it after my sister's exchange student brought us all some. At one time, Wal Mart even carried it. Lately, I bought it at a mexican grocery store - $7 for about a quart of it. It is the best stuff ever if you like vanilla and makes the other stuff smell/taste bland. But do try to find it at a Mexican grocery - it will be much cheaper.


----------



## QuiltingLady2 (Jan 3, 2007)

REal always real vanilla. JMO


----------



## magnolia2017 (Dec 5, 2005)

Mexican vanilla? Hmmm. . . I'll have to look for it next time I'm in a bigger town. At $7 a quart it sounds like a great deal.

I do have maybe 3 or 4 vanilla beans vac-sealed in the freezer that a friend gave to me. What liquor do you use in making vanilla extract and how many beans per ounce?

Maggie


----------



## Guest (Oct 25, 2007)

The important thing about Mexican vanilla is to be sure it really is pure vanilla and is certified coumarin free.

A Google search will reveal much.

.....Alan.


----------



## RichieC (Aug 29, 2007)

Buy a bottle of vodka, and a jar of (3-4) whole vanilla beans. Open vodka and place beans inside. Store forever. The longer it sits, the better it gets.


----------



## Fryegirl (Sep 16, 2006)

I get my vanilla at Costco and I think it's a pretty good deal.. I don't really remember the exact price but you get get 2 - 1 pt. bottles of pure extract (Tone's). I think it was around $11 - $12 dollars.


----------



## Stephen in SOKY (Jun 6, 2006)

I use RichieC's method using Cognac instead of vodka. Makes great vanilla!


----------



## MountAiry (May 30, 2007)

When I was younger (and had to stretch dollars more than I do now), I often bought the imitation. I can hardly stand the thought of using it now! lol I only use real vanilla now. But you are right, its expensive. 
I would be hesitant of buying Mexican vanilla without closely looking at the ingredients and doing a bit of research on it (where it is made, etc), but it may be worth looking into.
Funny, but I never thought about buying it online. Thanks for the tip Alan!


----------



## missysid (Feb 21, 2006)

We have always used watkins vanilla and I think the last time I bought a bottle it was $10 for 11 or 12 ou. It stores great for us. Hate to say it but a bottle last about 3 years at our house. But now that I have started baking more -- not just at holidays we are using more of it.


----------



## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

We make our vanilla out of Myer's rum. Mmmm mmmm. The rum adds a slight taste to the flavoring, but we enjoy it.

If there ever comes a crunch though, vanilla will be one of those things I love (like bananas) that I'll just need to learn to do without. It's like stockpiling Snickers bars. Why bother?


----------



## goatsareus (Jun 23, 2007)

I use a lot of vanilla. The last time, I bought one quart, paid about $40.00 for one quart from King Arthur flour company. I do not use imitation vanilla. Real vanilla will be more expensive than $7. a quart. I have been told to be wary of vanilla from Mexico. Here is some info...

"Vanilla fragrans, as genuine vanilla is known, is native to Mexico, and well into the 19th century makers of high-quality Mexican vanilla had a lock on the business. But competitors elsewhere in the world began stealing market share, and in the 1880s the first synthetic vanilla was developed in Germany. During the Mexican Revolution of 1910-'20 fighting devastated the gulf coast, the center of Mexican vanilla cultivation, and production dropped sharply. Faced with a flood of cheap ersatz product and little of the genuine article to sell, Mexican producers began making synthetic vanilla themselves. But Mexico was still known as the home of the world's best vanilla, so the producers didn't admit what they were doing. They disguised the artificial taste by adding coumarin, an extract of the tonka bean, Dipteryx odorata. Coumarin tastes and smells just like vanilla, only more so. One whiff and your rube tourist from Utah is likely to say, "Whoa, that's good!" No, that's bad. Coumarin has been shown to cause liver damage in lab animals. The Food and Drug Administration restricted it starting in 1940 and banned it outright from all foods and food additives sold in the U.S. in 1954. Many other countries have done likewise. 

Most of the vanilla sold in Mexico is synthetic, though it doesn't all have coumarin in it. Telltale signs of the fake stuff: clear, or dark and murky (the real stuff is amber colored and translucent), low alcohol content (genuine vanilla extract contains at least 35% ethyl alcohol), laughably low price. Pure Mexican vanilla is available, but you're better off getting it in this country. Warning: it won't be cheap."


With vanilla, I believe you get what you pay for.


----------



## lorian (Sep 4, 2005)

I get organic vanilla (when they have it) at the Amish salvage grocery store for $1 a bottle! I buy almost the whole shelf!


----------



## magnolia2017 (Dec 5, 2005)

Thanks so much! At least I know I won't have to worry about my vanilla being outdated. Since I first asked about making vanilla extract, I've done a little searching and it seems that you can just about use any liquor. The one I'm curious about is bourbon. I'd think that bourbon and rum would add to the flavor and give the vanilla a stronger flavor.

Am I hurting the flavor of the vanilla beans by keeping them in the freezer? If so, how do you store them?

Maggie


----------



## Lisa in WA (Oct 11, 2004)

I've always used real vanilla so I was surprised when I read this in Cook's Illustrated (the America's Test kitchen folks)
:
*Vanilla is a critical flavoring element in both baked and custard-based desserts. Even if it is not the primary flavor, vanilla contributes depth, roundness, and balance to almost every cake and cookie we know. Naturally, then, the quality of the vanilla that goes into these cakes and cookies will have a noticeable impact on their flavor, right? For the best possible results, it stands to reason that you should reach for expensive, high-end, pure vanilla extract. Or should you?

Cook's addressed this question in a 1995 tasting of vanilla extracts, and the results left us perplexed. Most participants in that tasting, including pastry chefs and baking experts, couldn't tell the difference between imitation vanilla and the real thing: pure vanilla extract. Even though we have repeated that tasting and gotten the same results, we've never quite overcome our disbelief. So we're back again, this time tasting eight different vanillas in plain yellow butter cake and crÃ¨me anglaise, a simple vanilla-flavored custard sauce. The contestants ranged from inexpensive imitation flavors (bought at a drugstore) to supermarket and boutique pure vanilla extracts that cost eight times as much. Confidently, we gathered over piles of cake and plate after plate of custard sauce and challenged our taste buds to recognize the differences that we knew must be there.

How Can This Be?
Let's cut to the chase: It happened again. Despite the widespread hue and cry in the food world about the inferiority of imitation vanilla-experts agree that it lacks the flavor nuances and subtleties of pure vanilla extract-our tasters found it to be perfectly acceptable in cake and custard. The imitation vanillas earned high enough scores to be recommended alongside all of the pure vanillas. In fact, every extract we tasted scored its way into the "recommended" category of the chart on page 27. The numerical spread in the scores of all eight vanillas was an unusually small 1.25 points (more typical of Cook's tastings is a 3- to 4-point spread, based on a scale of 10), meaning that tasters struggled to detect differences in the samples. In the cake, differences were essentially indistinguishable, and they were just barely more apparent in the custard sauce. When we really pressed tasters to declare a preference, many chose the imitation vanilla, noting that its flavor was stronger and easier to detect.

We can offer several theories to explain the success of imitation vanilla. First is the nature of vanilla flavor itself, which can be likened to that of salt. In most dishes, it's a supporting cast member, not the star. Vanilla provides ballast--smoothing, enhancing, and unifying other flavors in the dish. Against the backdrop of even mild ingredients such as the butter, sugar, eggs, and cream in our cake and custard samples, it's difficult to discern the subtleties of the vanilla. That makes it harder to distinguish imitation from pure.

Second is the miniscule quantity in which vanilla is typically used, often amounting to no more than 1 percent of the mixture by volume. When the flavor is that diluted, nuances dissipate. In fact, we used unusually generous quantities of vanilla in both the cake and the custard sauce to give our tasters a fighting chance to identify and describe the vanilla flavor.

The third theory relates to the alcohol content of pure and imitation vanillas. Alcohol is necessary to extract the hundreds of flavor and aroma compounds from vanilla beans, and, according to standards of identity set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, pure vanilla must contain no less than 35 percent ethyl alcohol by volume. No such standards of identity exist for imitation vanilla, which contains far fewer flavor and aroma compounds. Imitation vanillas, then, don't need as much alcohol as pure and, in fact, usually contain less. This was the case with the two imitation samples in our lineup, CVS and McCormick. According to Richard Bobula, a flavorist at International Flavors & Fragrances, alcohol enhances, or "lifts," the delicate flavor bouquet and aroma of pure vanilla extract. Yet alcohol, whose boiling point is 173 degrees, evaporates at common baking temperatures. So when baked goods--including our butter cake--emerge from the oven, little alcohol remains to boost the flavor subtleties of pure vanilla.

Star of the Show: Vanillin
The economics of making vanilla extract also come into play. Pure vanilla extract starts with real vanilla beans, which are notoriously expensive because of the intense manual labor necessary to grow and process them. (Vanilla beans are even more expensive now than they were a couple of years ago owing to crop damage by recent cyclones in the tropical areas where the beans grow.) Although more than 400 chemical compounds contribute to the overall profile of vanilla flavor, the dominant, most recognizable compound is vanillin, which is largely responsible for vanilla's trademark sweet, creamy, fruity, and floral aroma and flavor. Vanillin occurs in the seed pods of the tropical climbing vine Vanilla planifolia, a member of the orchid family, when the pods are cured. Curing involves repeated sweating and drying of the beans, during which time they ferment and develop vanillin.

But cured beans are not the only source of vanillin. The compound can also be synthesized from eugenol (an essential oil in cloves) or, less typically, from lignin (a wood pulp byproduct of the paper-manufacturing process). On the molecular level, this synthetic vanillin is indistinguishable from natural vanillin: "Vanillin is vanillin is vanillin," said Bobula. And compared with natural vanillin, synthetic vanillin is cheap to manufacture.

The facts that synthetic vanillin is plentiful and cheap and that the FDA has not imposed standards of identity for the imitation vanilla extracts made from it set us to wondering: Could manufacturers of imitation vanilla use more synthetic vanillin in their product to boost flavor? All of the manufacturers' representatives we contacted declined to comment, saying that their formulas are proprietary. To answer our question, we sent imitation and pure vanilla samples to our lab to be analyzed for vanillin content. Sure enough, the vanillin content of the imitation sample was 3,290 mg/l (milligrams per liter), about 50 percent higher than the 2,110 mg/l in the pure extract. Finally, we had found at least one straightforward explanation for the success of imitation vanilla: It has more of the key ingredient, vanillin.

Recommendations
Simply put, there were no losers in this tasting. For use in any type of custard, our tasters' absolute favorite was the perfumey, complex flavor of real vanilla bean (see A Hill of [Vanilla] Beans). But when lack of time or availability eliminates beans as an option, or when you're baking, imitation vanilla extract delivers plenty of punch, often at a fraction of the cost of the pure stuff.*


----------



## RichieC (Aug 29, 2007)

Christopher Kimball (the founding editor of Cook's Illustrated and author of The Cook's Bible) found something very different in his tests. Namely, that while there is very little difference between artificial vanilla and cheap vanilla extract (like the McCormacks or other supermarket brands), there is a real difference between either of those and a truely high-quality vanilla extract.

I use my concoction described above when baking something where the vanilla is just complementary (like in chocolate-chip cookies), and Nielsen-Massey when it is the central flavor (like in ice cream)


----------



## Lisa in WA (Oct 11, 2004)

RichieC said:


> Christopher Kimball (the founding editor of Cook's Illustrated and author of The Cook's Bible) found something very different in his tests. Namely, that while there is very little difference between artificial vanilla and cheap vanilla extract (like the McCormacks or other supermarket brands), there is a real difference between either of those and a truely high-quality vanilla extract.
> 
> I use my concoction described above when baking something where the vanilla is just complementary (like in chocolate-chip cookies), and Nielsen-Massey when it is the central flavor (like in ice cream)


This is from Christopher Kimball's organization. That's just a different article. Actually, homemade vanilla and vanilla beans scored highest.


"Along the way, Kimball said that he and his staff have encountered countless surprises as they've tested different recipes. For instance, using melted instead of creamed butter often makes a better product. *Another surprising find is that there seems to be no difference between pure gourmet-type vanilla extracts and the cheap imitation kind in terms of the final end product -- in fact, the cheap stuff beat out the good stuff in taste tests.* "The other big thing is the fact that ovens are all so inaccurate," he said. "Your oven and mine could be 90 degrees off, so, in that sense â¦ you have to think of it as an imprecise tool."


----------



## goatsareus (Jun 23, 2007)

I have seen this article several times over the years, and it still baffles me.

" Most participants in that tasting, including pastry chefs and baking experts, couldn't tell the difference between imitation vanilla and the real thing: pure vanilla extract. "

I'm no pastry chef, but I have no doubt that I can tell the difference between artificial and real vanilla. Any one else think/know they can? Am I being duped?
I think I can especially taste the difference in cookies and custards. I do use a Madagascar vanilla, and I love it. Recently I have been adding a few drops to my coffee cream/milk. I was raised with artificial vanilla. Maybe those testers were not raised with the artificial stuff and can not easily detect the difference?


----------



## RichieC (Aug 29, 2007)

LisaInN.Idaho said:


> This is from Christopher Kimball's organization. That's just a different article. Actually, homemade vanilla and vanilla beans scored highest.


I know, that's what I was pointing out. That there is disagreement on this point even within one organization.

I can tell the difference in something actually vanilla-flavored, like ice cream, or caramels.

In cakes or cookies, no. So I don't disagree if they were testing by comparing results in baked goods.


----------



## lgslgs (May 30, 2005)

Lisa, I'm glad you posted that so I didn't have to look it up. 

Since I read that I started using imitation vanilla and buy it at Sam's Culb. 64 oz for $3.88 http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?dest=5&item=186811&pCatg=2549

I like sloshing it into recipes by the quarter cup and not feeling like I need to ration it out.


Lynda


----------



## Lisa in WA (Oct 11, 2004)

RichieC said:


> I know, that's what I was pointing out. That there is disagreement on this point even within one organization.
> 
> I can tell the difference in something actually vanilla-flavored, like ice cream, or caramels.
> 
> In cakes or cookies, no. So I don't disagree if they were testing by comparing results in baked goods.


well, no there really wasn't much disagreement that imitation vanilla scores as high as real vanilla. Even with high end brands. Vanilla beans and their extracts were a different article

TASTING VANILLA EXTRACTS
Twenty tasters, including two local pastry chefs, sampled
eight different vanilla extracts added to crÃ¨me anglaise
(at the very end of sauce making, so that the extract
was not exposed to heat) and baked into a yellow butter
cake. Six productsâincluding supermarket staples
and expensive mail-order brandsâwere pure (made
from Madagascar vanilla bean extracts), and two were
âpremiumâ imitation vanillas that included some natural
flavors among their ingredients. Samples were tried in
different orders to eliminate palate fatigue, with one
sample repeated twice as a control. The tasters rated
each sample from 1 to 10, placing them in categories
of highly recommended, recommended, or not recommended.
They also scored each sample on perceived
sweetness, floral nuances, and artificial flavor. The
samples are listed in order based on the combined
scores from the two tests, but the overall differences
were slight. Consequently, all are ârecommended.â
SHAWâS Pure Vanilla Extract
( $3.29 for 2 ounces
The generic brand from a local store in a supermarket chain held
its own in our tasting. Its âstrong,â âprominent vanilla tasteâ came
through in the crÃ¨me anglaise tasting. Overall, tasters judged it most
floral and least artificial tasting.
CVS Premium Imitation Vanilla
( $0.99 for 8 ounces
Several tasters noted the sweetness of this drugstore brand and
appreciated its âforward,â âpotent,â âstrongâ flavor. âProminentâ
aroma and âsmooth,â âboldâ flavor led to strong ratings.
MCCORMICK Imitation Vanilla Extract
( $2.49 for 2 ounces
Some tasters picked up on a âvery smoothâ and ârich, round flavor,â
while others complained that the flavor was âoff,â âbland,â
and âlacked depth.â Its supporters were more numerous, though,
as evidenced by a strong rating.
DURKEE Pure Vanilla Extract
( $6.00 for 2 ounces
Owned and distributed by the same company as Spice Islands,
Durkee is available in supermarkets in the South (we ordered it
by mail). Tasters commented on the âclean,â âbutteryâ flavor,
with a âhint of vanilla and sweetness,â as well as the âalcoholicâ
undertones.
SPICE ISLANDS Pure Vanilla Extract
( $8.00 for 2 ounces
As the most expensive vanilla per ounce (available in supermarkets
in the West and by mail order elsewhere), this brandâs âsubtleâ flavor
with âalmond notesâ made us wonder if it was worth the high price,
especially in baking, where it was deemed âbland.â
MCCORMICK Pure Vanilla Extract
( $2.99 for 2 ounces
This familiar staple of home cupboards was characterized by many
as âdelicate,â âmild,â and ânicely perfumed.â Detractors, however,
found the flavor to be âvaguely medicinal,â with an âodd finishâ and
âa hint of booziness.â
PENZEYS Pure Vanilla Extract, Single-Strength
( $10.00 for 4 ounces
Some tasters found this high-end mail-order extract to be âmild,â
âlight,â and âwithout much flavor,â while others zeroed in on more
positive attributes, such as subtle âhoney-likeâ and âalmondyâ qualities.
It also earned comments such as âcleanâ and ânaturalâ tasting.
NIELSEN-MASSEY
Pure Vanilla Extract Pure Vanilla Extract ( $6.99 for 4 ounces
Here again we ran into the problem of a very perfumed yet delicately
flavored vanilla extract. It was âcompletely inoffensiveâ to some, and
âplain,â with ânot much nuance,â to others. Any subtle characteristics
it might have displayed were completely lost in the yellow cake.


----------



## RichieC (Aug 29, 2007)

There is some interesting stuff in that article. Durkee and Spice Island are both available in my local supermarket, and last I checked New Hamphire is not in the West or the South.

Anyway, check the latest Desert Bible for what Kimball is saying these days. As I said, I don't disagree that there is no advantage to using Neilsen-Massey in baked goods. There isn't. But in a caramel there is a noticable difference.


----------



## Lisa in WA (Oct 11, 2004)

RichieC said:


> There is some interesting stuff in that article. Durkee and Spice Island are both available in my local supermarket, and last I checked New Hamphire is not in the West or the South.
> 
> Anyway, check the latest Desert Bible for what Kimball is saying these days. As I said, I don't disagree that there is no advantage to using Neilsen-Massey in baked goods. There isn't. But in a caramel there is a noticable difference.


The Dessert Bible was printed in 2000. Kimball's crew retested vanillas in 2003 and again in May 2007 which is when the above ratings were printed.


----------



## shellycoley (Mar 6, 2003)

I make my own vanilla. I bought one vanilla bean earlier this year. I split it and gutted it and put it all in a jar and poured rum on it. ( I love rum, your supposed to use vodka). So far I have refilled the jar with rum about 4 times. the vanilla bean and seeds keep turning it into vanilla. I use it in all my cooking. I think I'll just buy a large bottle of rum and add two vanilla beans next time. 
I try not to buy anything with artificiall flavorings in it so there is no way I would ever buy immitation vanilla.

Shelly


----------



## Spinner (Jul 19, 2003)

I'm glad to hear that it will last for a long time. I brought back a bottle from Mexico a few years ago. It's strong stuff, I think 1/8 tsp is equal to 1 tsp of imitation vanilla.

My Aunt who lives in Brownsville told me to only buy the bottles that have a pic of a rooster and 5 coins on the label. That's what I bought and it's very good vanilla.

Back then it was only $1.99 a bottle (big bottle, the size of a 5th of whiskey). I should have brought back cases of the stuff!


----------



## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

said they were coumarin free. Whether is it or not....? My DIL went to Mexico and when she asked what she could bring me - I said the vanilla. She couldn't find it because, they sell it in the liquor stores. I guess I won't ask how much alcohol is in it?



A.T. Hagan said:


> The important thing about Mexican vanilla is to be sure it really is pure vanilla and is certified coumarin free.
> 
> A Google search will reveal much.
> 
> .....Alan.


----------



## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

I like to take a vanilla bean and put it with 2-3 cups of sugar in a blender/food processor and let it whirl until there are only black specks. keep the sugar in a jar for a while (mine got shoved to the back of the cupboard and was there at least a year.) It makes the best sugar cookies and sugar for cinnamon rolls!


----------



## bee (May 12, 2002)

for deals on vanilla check out stores that put in seasonal merchandise they don't normally have after the holiday...several years ago I went to a smaller walmart, one without a grocery side, and after the holidays they were selling out the baking supplies I got a case(12 bottles) of real vanilla one ounce bottles for 50 cents each


----------



## ro2935 (Aug 23, 2007)

RichieC said:


> Buy a bottle of vodka, and a jar of (3-4) whole vanilla beans. Open vodka and place beans inside. Store forever. The longer it sits, the better it gets.


do you add any sugar to this?


----------



## backwoods (Sep 12, 2004)

RichieC said:


> Buy a bottle of vodka, and a jar of (3-4) whole vanilla beans. Open vodka and place beans inside. Store forever. The longer it sits, the better it gets.


I have some in the cabinet that's around 8 months old and can't wait to use it for the Christmas baking and candy. This is by far the best vanilla I've ever tried!


----------



## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

I keep and use both. I tend to buy larger quantities of the imitation, for the longer term rotation. In a crunch time use, after several years of no store bought luxuries such as cakes, cookies, or pastries, any vanilla flavor at all would be nice. Doubtful if any 'white flour' will even exist at that point in time... so a little vanilla flavor in my corn or acorn cakes will be nice... doubt whether real vanilla would make much difference.

Gourmet now, and anything goes later....


----------



## stanb999 (Jan 30, 2005)

texican said:


> I keep and use both. I tend to buy larger quantities of the imitation, for the longer term rotation. In a crunch time use, after several years of no store bought luxuries such as cakes, cookies, or pastries, any vanilla flavor at all would be nice. Doubtful if any 'white flour' will even exist at that point in time... so a little vanilla flavor in my corn or acorn cakes will be nice... doubt whether real vanilla would make much difference.
> 
> Gourmet now, and anything goes later....


I totally agree. If the SHTF..........You would be happy to have cookies. Having real vanilla bean. I don't think it would even come into your mind.


----------



## lorian (Sep 4, 2005)

I don't think I'd want to add anything to my food that was synthesized from "wood pulp". Real food is best, imho, and better for you.


----------



## Ann-NWIowa (Sep 28, 2002)

The worst imitation vanilla that I've ever come across was from Walmart last year. Yuck. I'd mostly used vanilla from Aldis until my s-i-l bought me a bottle of Mexican vanilla that is really good. Its labeled "coumarin free". He didn't tell me how much it cost but it was 3 times the size of the Aldis bottle which I think was $1.99 a couple years ago. I can tell the difference in real, imitation, Mexican and Walmart. I had to use twice as much Walmart to get any vanilla flavor. Real imparts a much richer vanilla flavor especially is something delicate like custard. The Mexican vanilla also seems to be a much richer flavor. Aldis real vanilla is quite good. I wish I could find some "real" vanilla for 50Â¢ a bottle, what a lucky find!


----------



## OK Yankee (Oct 30, 2005)

I have a bottle my s-i-l gave me. The brand is Danncy. It says pure vanilla and in big red letters it says VAINILLA which I guess is vanilla in Spanish. It has the address and phone number on it. The ingredients are saborizantes naturales. I take it that is natural something. There are no coins on my bottle unless they were on the cap which is missing and just has a cork in it (mine from a bottle of Asti).

So, is it good or bad?

Yankee


----------



## Spinner (Jul 19, 2003)

OK Yankee said:


> I have a bottle my s-i-l gave me. The brand is Danncy. It says pure vanilla and in big red letters it says VAINILLA which I guess is vanilla in Spanish. It has the address and phone number on it. The ingredients are saborizantes naturales. I take it that is natural something. There are no coins on my bottle unless they were on the cap which is missing and just has a cork in it (mine from a bottle of Asti).
> 
> So, is it good or bad?
> 
> Yankee


I just went and looked at mine and I have 2 brands, one of them is Danncy VAINILLA and it has a circle on the neck with the red rooster. The rooster is on a little round piece of paper. Yours probably had that and it has come off. The label says: HECHO EN MEXICO ELABORADO POR JUAN MIGUEL ANZALDUA GUTIERREZ JUAREZ NO. 1101-A NUEVO LAREDO, TAMPS.

Mine has a cork too. It looks like a cap, but when I look closely I can see the cork inside.


----------



## magnolia2017 (Dec 5, 2005)

ro2935 said:


> do you add any sugar to this?


I'm wondering this too. The recipes I'm finding do not say anything about adding sugar, but what I buy in the store has sugar added.

Maggie


----------



## AbbeyLehman (Jan 2, 2006)

I bought a bottle of Skyy vodka and put probably 8-10 vanilla beans in it. I didn't use any sugar--I figure the alcohol is enough of a preserving agent. I plan to just keep adding vodka as I use it up. Wonderful stuff--I really have to be careful not to use too much, though! I bought some cobalt blue glass bottles with dropper caps from http://www.specialtybottle.com (NAYY) and poured a good bit of it into those for gifts last year. The rest is mine! 

Abbey


----------



## susieM (Apr 23, 2006)

I bury vanilla pods in a jar of sugar. As the jar empties, I add more sugar. When I want t flavour a milk pudding with vanill, I take a pod out of the jarand simmer it in the milk, then I wipe it off, dry it out, and stick it back into the sugar. Lasts for years.


----------



## turtlehead (Jul 22, 2005)

OK Yankee said:


> The ingredients are saborizantes naturales. I take it that is natural something.


Natural flavors.

Not much help, is it?


----------



## Shirley (May 27, 2007)

Callieslamb said:


> I was hooked on it after my sister's exchange student brought us all some. At one time, Wal Mart even carried it. Lately, I bought it at a mexican grocery store - $7 for about a quart of it. It is the best stuff ever if you like vanilla and makes the other stuff smell/taste bland. But do try to find it at a Mexican grocery - it will be much cheaper.


Me too. But I wasn't smart enough to look for it at a Mexican store, I went to Mexico to get it! LOL


----------



## jnap31 (Sep 16, 2005)

Spinner said:


> I'm glad to hear that it will last for a long time. I brought back a bottle from Mexico a few years ago. It's strong stuff, I think 1/8 tsp is equal to 1 tsp of imitation vanilla.
> 
> My Aunt who lives in Brownsville told me to only buy the bottles that have a pic of a rooster and 5 coins on the label. That's what I bought and it's very good vanilla.
> 
> Back then it was only $1.99 a bottle (big bottle, the size of a 5th of whiskey). I should have brought back cases of the stuff!


I have a big bottle from mexico also figured it would last as it has alcohol in it. I use some in a banana goat shake everyday but I have hardly made a dent in it.


----------



## Bonnie L (May 11, 2002)

> I use RichieC's method using Cognac instead of vodka. Makes great vanilla!


I'd like to try this but since I don't drink much I don't know the difference between Cognac & vodka. Also, does price matter? That is, would a cheap brand of vodka be just as good as a pricey one?

Even tho I can't tell the difference between artificial & real vanilla, I prefer to use real. I knew a bakery judge who claimed he could tell the difference, but I had proof he couldn't. He gave my dd a red ribbon for her brownies & told her to use real vanilla next time if she wanted a blue. I complained about that (before I knew who he was & to whom he was related - the fair board treasurer) because at that time we were using only organic real vanilla!


----------



## Spinner (Jul 19, 2003)

jnap31 said:


> I have a big bottle from mexico also figured it would last as it has alcohol in it. I use some in a banana goat shake everyday but I have hardly made a dent in it.


woohoo! I was cleaning out my storage room and I found a full case of it! Now that I found it, I remember bringing it back. LOL I think I have a lifetime supply now. I wish I would have brought back some white vanilla too, mine is all the dark kind.


----------



## Wildwood (Jul 2, 2007)

Bump :cowboy:.


----------

