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I see them in the grocery store as well in the spice section. The brand I have seen them in is called Badia. I buy a lot of my spices from them and the are just as good as the more expensive brands like McCormick. I haven't priced out the vanilla beans because I have never needed the actual beans,I do use their pure vanilla extract.
I buy them from a local spice store, and, yes, they are very expensive right now. Started three bottles of vanilla extract this past fall. When the extract is ready I'll pull out the beans and toss them in a canister of sugar.
I buy them from a local spice store, and, yes, they are very expensive right now. Started three bottles of vanilla extract this past fall. When the extract is ready I'll pull out the beans and toss them in a canister of sugar.
Shortly after Thanksgiving I visited one of my favorite local spice stores to price vanilla beans. I like to make homemade vanilla extract.
A couple of years ago this same store was selling vanilla beans for about $2 each. Today, the price for Madagascar bourbon vanilla beans has now jumped to $4.95 each. (A one-ounce bag is now $40!!)
Good luck with that. It doesn't produce until it's twenty feet long, it's very light/temperature/humidity sensitive, and you have to hand-pollinate the flowers. Then comes the long and complicated curing process.
Oh, and you should wear gloves when handling the vanilla orchid because the sap is a skin irritant.
The vanilla bean vine can get over 30+ feet high and it’s advised to bend them so they grow downward. It’s tough to pollinate at the top of a tree. The sap on my mango tree can also have the same effect as poison ivy for some, many plant saps/parts can be irritants.
For the current price of one vanilla bean, it’s an interesting plant to have in my garden as a flowering vine and experiment.
Shortly after Thanksgiving I visited one of my favorite local spice stores to price vanilla beans. I like to make homemade vanilla extract.
A couple of years ago this same store was selling vanilla beans for about $2 each. Today, the price for Madagascar bourbon vanilla beans has now jumped to $4.95 each. (A one-ounce bag is now $40!!)
I cringed as I paid $10 for a couple of beans.
Yeah, I remember buying something like 20 Grade B beans for $7.99 a few years ago. Sadly those days are over.
Elnina, thank you for this informative article. I haven't bought vanilla beans in many years. I love the smell of vanilla so much that I could use it as perfume!
One possible takeaway from the article is --go to Tahiti and start a vanilla farm, lol.
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
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Quote:
Originally Posted by in_newengland
I love the smell of vanilla so much that I could use it as perfume!
I used to use vanilla extract as perfume.
One day my aunt and I were in a line at the grocery checkout. There was a pair of women behind us and one said to the other "Where are the cookies??? I smell cookies!!!"
My aunt turned to them, pointed to me, and said "She's the cookies."
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