Make it? or Buy it?
At a time when everyone is looking at ways to stay within their budget, we at Classic, have found a great resource to help do that in the kitchen. A new book by Jennifer Reese, Make The Bread, Buy The Butter looks to answer the age old questions of: When is homemade better? When is it cheaper? Through her own trials and with a touch of humor, Reese presents 120 make it or buy it recommendations.
Here is an excerpt that I can’t wait to try myself - Vanilla Extract
Make it? or Buy it? - Make it!
To make 12 ounces of vanilla extract costs about $7.
To buy an equivalent amount of McCormick vanilla costs $53.
According to Reese, there are two factors that you need to consider when making your own extract.
- First, to get a good price on vanilla beans, you will need to buy in bulk. Buying in bulk gives you two options, you can make vanilla extract in bulk (vanilla extract keeps indefinitely, tightly capped in a dark, cool place) or you can use the excess beans for vanilla ice cream or creme brulee.
- Secondly, What kind of liquor should you use? Reese experimented with dark rum, golden rum and vodka. Her results yielded that a vodka based extract will produce a plain-vanilla vanilla that is subtle and most similar to store bought. Golden rum produces an extract that is assertive and slightly rummy. And dark rum is extremely rummy.
Recipe for Homemade Vanilla Extract
makes 1.5 cups
9 plump vanilla beans
1.5 cups of vodka, golden or dark rum
- Slit the vanilla beans lengthwise and scrape out the seeds.
- Put the seeds and the pods in a jar with a tight fitting lid. Pour the alcohol over the beans. Cover and shake.
- Put the jar in the cupboard and let macerate for 3 months, agitating the jar occasionally.
Tagged as: budget. homemade. jennifer reese. kitchen. resource. vanilla. vanilla extract.
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