The Low down on Bourbon
Vanilla extract is pure Vanilla extracted from the Bourbon Vanilla Beans into liquid form. The solvent used is quite often pure alcohol. It is considered to be Vanilla flavouring in a concentrated liquid form. The Vanilla been has been replaced but its flavour which is carried by a neutral solvent. Thus making it extremely flexible. Vanilla extract is the most common form of Vanilla used today. Vanilla extract is used as an alternative to Vanilla Beans in applications where the customer is price conscious and expediency is valued. You can also get different concentrations most notably single fold or double fold.
Bourbon Vanilla Beans are expensive to purchase. It is not uncommon to find them retailing for at least $7 in most stores and supermarkets. Even the price of Vanilla extract is high. The price you will pay depends on the quality of the Vanilla Beans and where they are available from. These days people prefer the extract of using Vanilla Pods directly. It is much quicker and quite a bit easier to just add a dollop of flavouring using Vanilla essence rather than having to cut open a full Vanilla bean remove the pods or caviar from within and then flavour the dish with them and the leftovers of the bean.
Vanilla Pods come from 2 varities of orchid, Vanilla planifolia and Vanilla tahitensis,present in the tropics. The nation of Madagascar has become the number one brand name of Madagascar Vanilla Beans in the world. The majority of the world supply of Bourbon Vanilla Beans come from the island of Madagascar It is all in the form of ripened Madagascar Vanilla Beans. Vanilla Beans are an essential export crop for other islands in the Indian Ocean. Together they are all called the Bourbon islands. Bourbon islands is a term that has been around for a time. You may have heard it before. Bourbon Vanilla Beans that are labelled as Bourbon Vanilla Pods come from one of the islands that make up the chain
Many of us have heard of Bourbon Whiskey and some of them think that Bourbon Vanilla extract is manufactured out of the same stuff. Despite the fact that Bourbon Vanilla extract is made from Bourbon Bourbon Vanilla Beans there’s no alcohol present. As said before Bourbon refers to the collective name of the Bourbon Vanilla Beans producing islands. During the 1800s the Bourbon family of France ruled these islands.
the method to product Vanilla extract has 2 parts. Part 1 alcohol extraction of Vanillin from chopped Vanilla Pods. Part 2 the removal of the alcohol solvent by a vacuum distillation process. The residue remaining following the process is a dark brown viscous liquid. In specific terms, the extract is created by constantly soaking the Bourbon Vanilla Beans in a solution of Ethanol alcohol in a sealed vessel. The procedure results in a base extract. Vanilla base extract is further refined by soaking dried and ground Vanilla Beans in alcohol. The end step is the total evaporation of the alcohol done under a given temperature using through vacuum concentration.
Out of all the flavours available Vanilla is the number one choice. Through history and even today Vanilla Pods are highly-priced. Vanilla is the second most pricey spice you can select. Until recent years the Vanilla industry used Bourbon Vanilla Beans to extract the organic vanillin flavouring. Today most of the vanillin used in flavouring derives from artificial sources and industrial processes. However it can’t beat real Vanilla extract made from actual Bourbon Vanilla Beans. It is a poor substitute indeed.
