Vanilla Beans

I was cleaning some cabinets the other day and ran across vanilla beans that I purchased in Mexico last Summer. They are hard as a rock now. Can they somehow be softened and still used?

Thank you!
Lori

[Robin Garr]

I was cleaning some cabinets the other day and ran across vanilla beans that I purchased in Mexico last Summer. They are hard as a rock now. Can they somehow be softened and still used?

Lori, you might try soaking them in vodka to make a sort of home-brewed vanilla extract. Basically, though, drying out means that they've lost a lot of their aromatic oils that give them aroma. Probably best to buy some fresh.

You can put some in a canister of sugar- even dry they will infuse the sugar, and vanilla sugar is a very nice thing indeed.

I have a jar of "corn liquor" that could use an infusion of spent vanilla beans......

Thank you for the suggestions! One of the vanilla bean cheesecake recipes I would like to make has a step to put the beans in sugar overnight. I will give it a try and see if they provide enough aroma and flavor to the sugar.
Thanks !
Lori

The latest edition of Cook's Illustrated magazine (May/June) addresses the question of how to best store vanilla beans, especially for those who buy them in bulk. Here's the synopsis:

1. Buried in sugar: Beans flavored the sugar but dried out and were tough to handle.
2. In alcohol (vodka): The vanilla flavor leached into the vodka, leaving a less-flavorful bean.
3. Individually wrapped in plastic wrap, zip-locked, and frozen: The winner! Beans retained moisture, flavor and ease of use.

I have a jar of "corn liquor" that could use an infusion of spent vanilla beans......

Nice!

I can provide you one as well Ethan!!!

I hate to quote songs but James McMurtry said that "Uncle Slaton still makes that whiskey cause he still knows how!"

I can provide you one as well Ethan!!!

sounds good to me...