- Hey, I'm John Kanell, and today on "Preppy Kitchen,"
we're making homemade vanilla extract,
and I'm including a hack so it can be ready
in less than a day.
So let's get started!
First off, to make a vanilla extract,
you need vanilla beans, and you need an alcohol
that's gonna be really high-proof
so that that flavor can diffuse into liquid.
But there's one more thing you need, and that's time.
Normally, vanilla extract takes at least a month
for it to start infusing so you really get
that wonderful vanilla flavor, but today,
I'm gonna show you a hack that lets you make vanilla
in an hour so it's ready to use, start to finish,
one hour, which is way less than a month.
So first, let's make it the traditional way,
and then go through that speed hack.
First off, you're gonna use a sharp knife
and cut this down the middle to expose the beans,
and the fresher they are, you'll see
they're kind of juicy on the inside,
and they just pour forth with the beans.
You gotta come here and take a look at this.
So you can see already,
my fingertips are covered in the vanilla beans.
That's what these guys are.
All those little black specks you see in some
of your favorite vanilla ice creams are the beans from here.
So you wanna expose those.
Some people like to split them in half completely.
Some people just like to open them up
so those beans are exposed.
So there's two types of vanilla.
There's double-fold and single-fold.
Most of the time, you're buying single-fold vanilla,
which is just a little bit less vanilla-y.
If you make yours at home,
it's definitely gonna be a double-fold,
and you can buy double-fold vanilla as well.
It has a lot more vanilla flavor.
You're gonna pop these into a glass bottle. Blip!
The rule is, for each cup of alcohol you use,
you want 2 1/2 beans, but you can always use more.
And while I cut, I wanna talk about the alcohol.
The alcohol is a solution
that the vanilla flavor can disperse into
to create that wonderful extract.
You just need to have a high-proof alcohol.
So vodka is a go-to.
Sometimes I like to use
a bourbon or a nice rum.
If you use bourbon or rum,
you're just adding more flavor into your vanilla,
and that's more of a good thing.
You could use a combination of vodka
and something else if you want as well.
Vanilla beans are really time-intensive
to cultivate, to harvest.
They have to cure for a long time.
It's a whole deal.
So if you're making vanilla extract,
you can buy beans in bulk online, and you'll save a lot.
And one thing is, if you have friends who are bakers
like a lot of us do, you can go in and buy them together,
split the beans up, and everyone can make vanilla extract
or have presents to give,
and it becomes much more economical.
Now all you have to do is top this off
with your high-proof alcohol.
After you open the bottle, of course.
Grab a funnel, and we're gonna fill that up.
The important thing is to cover the beans completely
so that bacteria can't start growing in here.
The vodka, or bourbon or whatever you're using,
is gonna preserve the beans
as well as giving them the means to diffuse through.
So this is my vanilla.
It's in this bottle.
It looks like a science fair project,
and it's totally clear.
Like, what's happening here?
It needs time.
This is one I made just three weeks ago.
So every couple of days, I just give it,
like, a little turn like this to move things around.
And you can see, it looks way more like vanilla,
and it's almost ready to use.
Like, in another week, it's basically a nice vanilla.
But it takes up to a year for that full flavor to come out,
so just be warned, if you wanna make vanilla,
make it ahead of time, because it needs some time to brew
unless you wanna do things the fast way.
So we're gonna use a pressure cooker,
today it's an Instant Pot, and try this hack out.
I have my one-cup Mason jar,
so I'm gonna use, like, 3 1/2 beans.
These are really large and super juicy.
And in case you're wondering, today I used a combination
of Madagascar and Mexican vanilla beans.
There's three main areas your beans can come from:
Madagascar, Tahiti, and Mexico,
and since my mom is from Mexico,
I always love using Mexican vanilla beans.
But they're each different.
So Tahitian vanilla beans tend
to be a little bit more floral.
Sometimes I think Mexican vanilla beans are floral, too.
And then a Madagascar vanilla bean is, like,
really creamy and has, like, a full-bodied flavor.
All right, my hands look filthy,
but they're covered in vanilla beans,
and I will not be wasting that.
That's like wasting... Like, no.
Not gonna happen.
So I'm adding one cup of vodka right into my Mason jar.
Fill that up to the top so the beans are fully submerged.
Now I'm gonna just dip my clean vanilla-covered fingers
in the vodka so that all of it gets cleaned off.
I do not wanna waste it.
That would be crazy talk.
It feels wrong, but it's actually right.
So now, everything is submerged.
I cannot wait to try this, by the way.
Gonna seal it up.
That's very important.
And if you don't have a pressure cooker at home,
technically, you could, like, heat the vanilla up
on your stovetop with the vodka or whatever alcohol,
but do not do that.
(something beeping) That's a horrible idea.
What was that sound?
- [Crew] The Instant Pot.
- See, even the Instant Pot says don't do that.
That's a bad idea.
It's much safer in your pressure cooker,
and we'll talk about some of the safety things
you need to do after this goes in.
Why are you beeping at me?
I'm adding about one cup of water,
just so the water covers the trivet.
We're not gonna add that much to cover the actual jar.
Mmm. That's a lot of water.
I'm adding about 2 1/2 cups of water,
just so it covers the trivet.
And by the way, you could totally fill this up
with Mason jars for vanilla if you're making a giant batch,
but you know, that's a good amount for today.
Seal your Instant Pot up. (whimsical music)
So I have an Instant Pot.
Sometimes I'm using it a lot,
sometimes it's in a storage compartment for a few months,
and it can be a little rusty.
Okay, we need to cook this high-pressure
for 30 to 45 minutes.
I wouldn't do more than that
because the vanilla beans can start to degrade
and you're gonna end up with a really cloudy extract,
which will taste fine, but it'll look kind of off.
So less time.
40 minutes today. Oh.
35 minutes.
This is gonna be on.
One super important thing is,
do not set it to venting and try and vent it on its own.
It's like a hot bottle filled with vodka that's, like,
super hot under pressure, so let this vent out naturally.
It'll take, like, an hour to vent.
So we'lL be back with this,
and I'll show you what my brewed vanilla
that's over a year old looks like.
The moment of truth.
My Instant Pot vented, so let's take a look.
Ooh, it's still steamy.
That's very hot, so I'm gonna use this.
Look at that! That's crazy.
This is my year-old vanilla.
It's been brewing for a year.
And this is just as dark, if not darker.
We're gonna open this up and see, like, if it's actually...
Oh, hot.
I'm gonna do a little taste test to compare.
(easygoing music)
Okay, so this is like mana from heaven.
It's amazing.
This looks like vanilla.
From what I've been reading, it'll take,
like, a day for the alcohol, like,
for the vodka smell to mellow out of it.
Made this at the start of the video.
It's just taking on some color at the bottom now.
Three weeks old.
It looks pretty good, and it smells like vanilla.
One year old. Pure gold.
And our 30-minute Instant Pot one.
And this vanilla is usable,
but I will say that the slow-processed one
is so much more delicate in flavor.
So I hope you learned a lot about vanilla today.
I hope you make your own, and if you like this video,
check out my vanilla playlist!