How to Make Homemade Vanilla Extract

• servings: 3 cups
• active time: 10 minutes
• total time: 3 hours 10 minutes

Ingredients

83g grade B vanilla beans (2.9 ounces; about 31 beans), halved lengthwise (see note)

One 750ml bottle of 80-proof vodka (25.4 fluid ounces; 3 cups plus 2 tablespoons), such as Tito’s

Directions

Set up an immersion circulator and preheat water bath to 146°F (63.5°C).

Place the halved vanilla beans in a 1-liter (33.8-ounce) glass jar. Add the vodka to the jar and use a fork or slotted spoon to push the vanilla beans down so that they are completely submerged in the vodka. Seal jar and gently lower into water bath; the water should reach just below the lid of the jar. Set a heavy mug, small bowl (filled with water, if necessary), or other weight on top of the jar to keep it from floating, and cover the top of the water bath with aluminum foil followed by a kitchen towel. Cook for 3 hours.

Using tongs, carefully remove jar from water bath (if you don’t want to deal with the hot water, you can also turn off the immersion circulator and let the water cool before removing the jar—this just takes a while). Allow vanilla extract to cool to room temperature (overnight is best). At this point, you can remove the beans from the extract and reserve them for other uses, or you can leave them in the liquid. (I recommend leaving them in the liquid; it’s the perfect place to park them until you need to fish them out for another use, and the flavor of the extract will only get better over time.) Either way, store the extract in a cool, dark place.