[Sca-cooks] OT OOP Vanilla Extract

[Terry Decker]

Let me point out that glycerin and propylene glycol are sweetners and 
stabilizers.  Propylene glycol is also the solvent used in a number of dyes, 
so it might be worth checking to see what the FDA permits under the label of 
propylene glycol.  Sugar covers a multitude of sins, although in this case 
it is probably primarily glucose, sucrose and fructose, which can be used 
both as sweetners and coloring agents, depending on the degree of refining. 
Invert sugar is a mixture of equal parts of sucrose and fructose hydrolized 
from glucose.  If you slowly heat the sucrose during hydrolization you 
caramelize the sugar producing the caramel to which I was referring. 
Chemically, it is still a form of invert sugar.  Dextrose is glucose bonded 
with water.  Corn syrup is a dextrose syrup made from corn starch, which 
comes in a range of brownish shades although I don't know off the top of my 
head whether or not they use dyes in the product and whether or not they 
would be permitted under the FDA definitions.

Bear


Permitted additives, per CFR 21.169.175, are, and I quote:

(1) Glycerin.
(2)  Propylene glycol.
(3) Sugar (including invert sugar).
(4) Dextrose.
(5) Corn sirup. [sic]

These are the ONLY additions permitted for Pure Vanilla Extract.  Anything 
else should be called "flavor", "with color", or have some other modifier to 
indicate that it is not strictly pure vanilla extract.  There's a whole 
story on the importance of bean moisture, too, that goes along with this 
ruling.

Regards,
Brekke
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Terry Decker<mailto:t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net>
  To: Cooks within the SCA<mailto:sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
  Sent: Tuesday, December 20, 2005 10:43 PM
  Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] OT OOP Vanilla Extract


  Vanilla extract is produced by alcohol extraction from aged vanilla beans.
  The FDA requires that pure vanilla extract be 35 per cent alcohol (with
  13.35 ounces of vanilla beans per gallon of 35 per cent solution).  The 
FDA
  also permits sugar, corn syrup, caramel, colors and stabilizers to be 
added
  to the extract.  When these additional items appear on the label, the
  extract is most likely unaged.  Fresh vanilla extract tends to be harsh
  tasting and adding 20 per cent or more sugar smooths the taste while
  caramels, colors and stabilizers give the product an aged appearance.  Top
  quality vanilla extract has only vanilla, alcohol and water for 
ingredients
  and its smooth flavor and dark rich color are the result of aging the
  product between one and two years.  Aging costs money.

  Bear


  ----- Original Message ----- 

  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<mailto:Sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
  http://www.ansteorra.org/mailman/listinfo/sca-cooks<http://www.ansteorra.org/mailman/listinfo/sca-cooks>
_______________________________________________
Sca-cooks mailing list
Sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
http://www.ansteorra.org/mailman/listinfo/sca-cooks