[Sca-cooks] OT OOP Vanilla Extract

[Holly Stockley]

A two ounce bottle seems like such a waste of time for me.  ;-)  I burn 
through enough that I generally buy a couple 8 oz bottles at a time.  I'd 
get the 16 oz, but I generally keep Mexican, Madacasgar, and Tahitian on 
hand for variety.

There have been some price issues.  One of last years hurricanes had 
potential to do a lot of damage to a crop that takes a LOONNNGGG time to 
bring to market.  This was followed by Coca-cola buying up futures and a 
resulting price spike.  Some of the companies have since come back down, 
others not.

I've bought vanilla from all three of these suppliers:

This one is the most artisanal of the bunch, BUT the last time I bought this 
extract it was about 1/2 this price - I don't think it will drop again at 
this point.  Good stuff, though.

http://www.baldwinextracts.com/index.html

This is my economy source.  If you want sugarless extract, you'll get an 
opportunity to specifiy at the end.  I've had both, and don't find the 
sugarless to be particularly harsh.

http://www.saffron.com/

And this is my favorite source for Tahitian extract.  Again, options are 
available for sugarless extracts, which I've usually had and don't find to 
be any more harsh than their sugar versions.  I don't usually buy the 
concentrated forms - because I'm more inclined to dump than to measure.

http://www.icdc.com/~vanilla/product2.htm

I recommend finding a baking friend and putting in an order together to save 
on shipping.

Femke
>
>Hello I've never posted to the list but I've got a question. When did they 
>start putting corn syrup in vanilla extract?  I have found such in the 
>Publix store brand, in the McCormick brand, and in the Nielsen-Massey brand 
>at the gourmet shop. The only kind that didn't have corn syrup was the 
>Spice Islands brand but, at $11.99 for two ounces, it's three or four times 
>more expensive. Was there a problem with the vanilla crop? Is home-made 
>vanilla extract just as good?
>Cheers,
>Isabella
>(Daniel's better half...)
>_______________________________________________
>Sca-cooks mailing list
>Sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
>http://www.ansteorra.org/mailman/listinfo/sca-cooks