I never really thought much about making my own vanilla extract until a friend mentioned that she made it in her Instant Pot. Well, I love my instant pot! It makes everything else easier, so why not try vanilla? And – have you seen the price for vanilla extract lately? The real stuff – not the imitation. I mean, $25 for a 16 oz. bottle??!! And that is a deal!
So why is it suddenly so expensive? Over 80% of the world’s vanilla comes from the island of Madagascar. Shortages due to weather over the past 2 years have dramatically increased the price up to $600 per kilo! While those prices are starting to come down, they are still pretty pricey!
So I decided to order some vanilla beans and give it a try. I scoured Pinterest for recipes and (not surprisingly) found a ton of them. The advantage of using the Instant Pot is the speed of infusing the flavor into the alcohol. Traditional recipes involve allowing the vanilla bean to soak in the vodka for months – even a year to get the maximum flavor. Well – I don’t have that kind of patience, or room to store it.
The recommendation is to use Grade B vanilla beans. I bought these. I got 10 beans in the package and used 5 of them to make about 30 oz. of extract. I haven’t calculated out the savings, but even with the vodka (I used Tito’s because it is what I had) it is MUCH cheaper, and MUCH better than store-bought vanilla extract.
Homemade Vanilla Extract
Equipment
- Instant Pot
- 3 Pint-sized canning jars with lids and rings
Ingredients
- 4 vanilla beans
- 6 cups vodka or any other quality spirits (Bourbon or Rum)
Instructions
- Make a slice longwise down the vanilla beans to split them open and release the flavor. Then cut them in half so you have 6 pieces.
- Place 2 pieces in each canning jar and add 2 cups of vodka to each jar.
- Add 1 cup of water to the bottom of the Instant Pot and place the rack/trivet in the bottom.
- Place lids on the jars so they are "finger-tight." and place the jars in the Instant Pot.
- Cook on high pressure for 1 hour. Allow the pressure to release naturally. They will continue to boil for a LONG time and will be very hot! Allow them to cool completely before storing in a cool dark place. They do not need to be refrigerated.
Notes
- You can use any alcohol for this. You can even experiment with using 3 different alcohols in the one batch to compare flavors.
- Use good quality canning jars with the lids intended for canning. These will be under high pressure and there is always a risk for breaking.
- do NOT use a stovetop pressure cooker for this!! Use caution – do not leave unattended! Allow to cool naturally to lessen risk of breakage.
- These will be HOT!!! Best to just let the pot cool overnight before handling.
- This makes a great gift! Just tie on a bow and add a favorite recipe card.
