Vanilla extract is the Vanilla smelling compound Vanilla isolated in a solvent liquid. Industrial alcohol is frequently the solvent employed in the extraction process. The extract is composed of vanillin that is certainly is the Vanilla flavour concentrated. In essence the Vanilla bean has been discarded and its flavour transferred to a neutral carrier medium. This makes it much more useful. Today Vanilla extract is the most popular way Vanilla flavouring is used. If you are price sensitive and need speed and convenience using Vanilla essence is the way to go. You can also get different concentrations such as single fold or double fold.
Madagascar Vanilla Beans are one of the most costly spices to purchase. They’re able to list from $2-3(£1.5) each up to $10(£7) each in specialty shops. Pure Vanilla extract is also an item that is not cheap. The final quality of the extract and the origin of the Bourbon Vanilla Beans will determine its price. These days people prefer the extract of using Vanilla Beans directly. It is much faster and easier to just add a dollop of flavouring using Vanilla essence rather than having to cut open a entire Vanilla bean remove the pods or caviar from within and then flavour the dish with them and the leftovers of the bean.
Vanilla Beans result from 2 varities of orchid, Vanilla planifolia and Vanilla tahitensis,present in the tropics. Vanilla Beans from Madagascar are by far the most popular choice for gourmet applications. Madagascar is still the number 1 supplier of Vanilla Pods in the world today. Despite competition from other nations The product that is exported is ripened Madagascar Vanilla Beans. A few other islands nearby also produce Vanilla. Collectively all these islands are referred to as the Bourbon islands. It is possible that the words Bourbon islands are familiar to you. Bourbon Vanilla Beans which have been labelled as Bourbon Bourbon Vanilla Beans come from one of the islands that define the chain
Bourbon Vanilla extract comes from Bourbon Vanilla Beans. You cannot confuse Bourbon Vanilla Pods with Bourbon Whiskey. The two are completely different and just share a common name. As said before Bourbon refers to the collective name of the Madagascar Vanilla Beans producing islands. The name Bourbon is derived from the French ruling family of the islands during the 1800s.
Alcohol extraction is commonly employed to produce in conjunction with chopped Madagascar Vanilla Beans the raw Vanilla extract, this is followed by the elimination of the alcoholic solvent by a chemical distillation process. After the process has completed the outcome is a dark treacle like liquid. The Vanilla Pods are soaked in an alcoholic solution continuously under vacuum conditions. The method results in a base extract. It is possible to still further refine the extract by soaking ground Bourbon Vanilla Beans in Ethanol solution. The final step is the total evaporation of the alcohol done under a given temperature using through vacuum concentration.
Vanilla maintains it predominant position as the number one flavouring choice because it is so versatile. Through history and even today Madagascar Vanilla Beans are expensive. Vanilla is the second most pricey spice you can obtain. Until recent times the Vanilla industry used Vanilla Beans to extract the holistic vanillin flavouring. The advent of modern technology to deliver synthetic vanillin and ethyl vanillin provides replacements that are used widely but cannot replace the real flavour of natural Vanilla extract and the Vanilla Beans.