Vanilla is a staple in the kitchen. Learn all about vanilla beans and how to get the most out of the unique flavor.
This is one of my favorite ingredients and essential in the pastry kitchen. Vanilla beans come from the fruit of an orchid and are not cheap, second only to saffron in costly spices. So, you want to pick a good one and use the whole thing, pod, and seeds. The beans should be soft, oily, and have an intense vanilla aroma. Avoid a bean that has no luster, is dry and brittle.
Don’t forget to use your beans for my simple and delicious homemade vanilla extract.
Types of Vanilla Beans
Mexican beans are the original and most highly prized beans. They have a mellow, smooth, quality and a spicy, woody fragrance.
Madagascar Bourbon beans are long and slender, with a very rich taste and smell, have thick, oily skin, contain an abundance of tiny seeds, and have a strong vanilla aroma. They are also considered high-quality beans and reflect this in the cost. This is where most of the world’s vanilla comes from. The name refers to the region they are grown and is not at all related to the booze.
Tahitian beans are usually shorter, plumper, and contain a higher oil and water content than Bourbon beans. The skin is thinner, they contain fewer seeds, and the aroma is fruity and floral. They are often described as smelling like licorice, cherry, prunes, or wine.
You will have to get your hands on them all and decide for yourself which is your favorite. There are others, but they are hard to come by, if this changes I will update the post.
You want to store your vanilla beans in an airtight container, in a cool, dark spot. If you buy them in bulk and won’t be using them all at once you can throw them in the freezer to prevent them from drying out.
How to Cut a Vanilla Bean
To maximize the vanilla bean you want to cut the pod in half, lengthwise with a paring knife.
Scrape out all of the oily seeds from the inside to use in your recipe. You will have flecks of vanilla throughout, which will infuse the dish with vanilla.
You can either throw the whole vanilla bean, once it is cut, into the recipe or you can just use the scraped seeds and save the pod for another use later. The most efficient way to get the flavor from the vanilla is to add it to something warm, which helps to disperse the seeds and the oils. If you are using vanilla bean in a pound cake or other recipe that does not call for you to cook the bean in a hot liquid, then just scrape out and use the seeds. You will want to add them when you are creaming the butter so they incorporate well. (I submerge the unused pods in sugar to make vanilla-scented sugar.)
Once a pod has been used I wash them off and then dry them out in a bowl that sits above my stove. I blend them with sugar in a food processor and then put it through a sieve. It is a wonderful way to scent the sugar and use every part of the vanilla bean.
This sugar can be used in any recipe you want a vanilla flavor and it is wonderful in coffee and tea.
Don’t forget my post on homemade vanilla extract.
Hi,
Thank you very much for this post! I have always wanted to bake with vanilla beans, and have just used three in a homemade cheesecake!
Hi Zoe,can you tell me how to stop vanilla seeds from settling to the bottom of the dish?Just made a lovely vanilla panna cotta and all the seeds are on the bottom of the glasses.Any tips on that?Thank you.Katya.
Hi Katya,
There is nothing you can do to prevent this, just what the little seeds want to do. The flavor is still dispersed in the custard.
Thanks, Zoë
Great article. I love seeing fellow bloggers talk about vanilla beans. Did you know you can even use the vanilla bean packaging to flavor sugar?!
Hi 🙂 I made my own vanilla sugar and am about to bake chocolate chip cookies using that sugar. My question is: Do I omit the vanilla extract if I’m using vanilla sugar?
Thank you so much for your helpful advice!
Yvette
Hi Yvette,
You can omit the extract, unless you want a more intense vanilla flavor.
Thanks! Zoë
Hi Zoe
I have seen raw organic vanilla beans advertised for sale. I thought vanilla beans had to be fermented before use. Can you please enlighten me?
Hi Del,
The vanilla beans are set out to dry in the sun, which is in a sense baking them, but not sure this counts when you define a raw ingredient? This may be a question for Susan Powers at Rawmazing.com.
Thanks, Zoë
Putting the seeds in the sun is not baking them. When you go over 110 – 115 degrees you kill the enzymes and up to 90 percent of the nutritional value in any food. In most areas, it doesn’t get to 110 or 115 degrees so this is still considered as ‘raw’. The sun is dehydrating them, not baking them. I hope this helps!
Do you have a recipe for English breakfast vanilla tea? Love your website as much as I love vanilla ANYTHING! thanks
I make a lot of veggie/fruit smoothies and am wondering if I can use a portion of the pod and seeds in the smoothie. I use a VitaMix blender.
Thanks so much for your help.
Hi Connie,
The pod of the vanilla bean is very fibrous and will not break down well. But, if your VitaMix will pulverize it completely, you may be ok.
Thanks, Zoë
I made vanilla sugar 2 weeks ago by scraping the seed and then chopping the remaining bean and adding to sugar. I’m giving them as hostess gifts and wonder do I need to removed the remaining bean(pod) from the sugar before giving. Thanks for your help.
Thank you so much!!It turned out great!!!
You know how you said it works better to mix the seeds with something warm? Well, will it still work if I’m trying to put them in a vanilla icing recipe that requires no heat?
Hi Olivia,
Yes, the vanilla will still disperse in the icing, but you will need to let it mix for a minute or so to get them evenly distributed.
Cheers, Zoë
Hi there,
I would like to know about where do you get the vanilla pods from Bali ?
I’m very tempted to get it.
Thanks
Hi Elrica,
The price she paid for the beans in Bali had to also include the price of the airline ticket! 😉 I’ve never heard of such an amazing price.
Let me know if you find a source.
Thanks, Zoë
I was taught to only add the vanilla after the cooking process is done, eg custard etc. Is this for all vanilla’s or is an old wives tail? Surely then the vanilla is still cooked when baking a vanilla cake etc. what about Creme brulee?
Hi Catherine,
This is only for vanilla extract, which can be quite delicate. But, I tend to add it earlier with little difference in flavor. If you are using the bean, then you want to put them in with the hot mixture, so the oils can distribute the flavor.
Hope this helps! Zoë
Hi there. I am in Bali and have bought about 250 vanilla beans for less than $10. Clearly, they will take a long time to use. Most websites say that storing them in the fridge dries them out and produces mould. Indeed, that’s my past experience. Do they keep better in a cupboard? I’m returning to Australia with my haul.
Hi Vicki,
Sorry to have missed your question. If you have that many beans you should make vanilla extract with them. I will try to do a post about making it one of these days. With a portion you will want to freeze them and then store some to use right away.
Thanks, Zoë
Hi,
I am interested in making vanilla extract. I know that I need to slice the bean before putting it in the vodka, but I was wondering if the vanilla bean should be washed before using. Thanks
Hi Karen,
Hmmm, I have never washed a vanilla bean. If you want to, just rinse the outside with warm water. You just don’t want to lose any of the precious oils.
Enjoy, Zoë
as is mine 🙂
Thanks for a superb tips Zoe.
Én is imádom a vaniliát.
I also love the vanilla.
Zsóka
Thanks for this very helpful info on using a vanilla bean! I wanted to make some vanilla yogurt and didn’t have any idea how to use a vanilla bean. The advice you gave on working with a dried out bean really helped! I also appreciated the pictures of how to slice the pod. I posted a link in my blog to your helpful blog! Thanks again for your help! My yogurt is fermenting now and will be ready later today. Can’t wait!
I bought a bunch of vanilla beans back from Tahiti, and are giving as gifts to friends. I would like to include directions on how to store and how to use in lieu of extract, especially for baking cookies. could you please help? For example chocolate chip cookies, do you use the seeds or cut the pod and use half while blending batter and then remove, wash and reuse? Will you get too much vanilla flavor from that?
Hi Pamela,
What a wonderful gift, you have lucky friends!
For cookies I would recommend they cut the vanilla bean in half, then cut one of the pieces in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. They can use the seeds in the recipe and submerge the open pod in a bowl of sugar to scent the sugar. Have them wrap the uncut half and use it another time!
Happy holidays, Zoë
hi,
yes how much vanilla bean do you use per year.Please write back soon.
Elana
I have put my vanilla beans into vanilla extract to make it stronger. How many times can I use the same bean?
Hi, Zoe! I recently bought some vanilla beans and tried to make vanilla extract out of them. However, I did the recipe conversion wrong and ended putting 14 beans into 750 ml of vodka. I’m wondering if I will end up with vanilla extract that is extremely condensed or will it be okay? (It’s too late for me to fish out the extra beans.) I noticed there are a lot of recipes with different vodka to bean ratios out there but I clearly used way more beans than any of the recipes called for.
Hi Tracie,
I think your vanilla extract is going to be amazing. When I make it I cram as many beans in as I can fit. It should be way more than most recipes are willing to suggest, due to the cost of the beans. You extract is going to be lovely!
Enjoy, Zoë
Hi, Zoe. I love all of the vanilla wisdom! My son just returned from Madagascar with a wealth of fresh vanilla beans. How should they be stored? Should they be air dried or kept moist in the plastic bags he brought them in? I see that you recommend freezing–how long can the beans be kept that way?
Hi Zoe,
Quick question. After I use my vanilla beans once how many more times will I be able to use them? Do I still wash in cold water and store in an airtight container and then soak them in warm water before my next use?
THanks,
Colby
Hi Kate,
What a fantastic idea! It would need at least a few days in the oats to impart any flavor.
Let me know how it turns out! Zoë
hi — i’ve heard of adding a bean to sugar, but what about adding a vanilla bean to a canister of steel-cut oatmeal? Do you think that would infuse the oatmeal with a vanilla flavor?? If yes, would you guess at how long the bean would need to be in the oatmeal for it to have any effect? Curious, since we just started buying and using vanilla beans (for a totally out of this world tomato sauce!)…can’t wait to try your recipe for devil’s food cupcakes! thanks…