I recently bought 4 oz of vanilla beans for $17. I didn’t know how many there would be, but it turned out to be 40, and I was trying to think of how to store them. I’ve had vanilla beans dry-out on me before, and I have since frozen them according to Rose’s instructions, but I wasn’t sure how to freeze LOTS of them to keep them really accessible, yet remain well-wrapped, and then I thought of this.
1. Put them about 3” apart between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and fold up the long sides to seal them in.
2. Put this between two sheets of aluminum foil and seal it really well—I fold the long sides in once to butt the bottom of the beans, and then I roll/fold from there at 1/2” increments.
3. Roll the whole thing tightly.
Then, when I want a bean, I simply cut it off. I cut it as close as possible to the bean I want to use so that I have about 3” to roll/crimp and seal the whole package again.
The 40 beans packaged this way was no bigger than the bag they came in, yet I feel fairly confident they will freeze for the long term very well. My counter length of plastic wrap allowed me to pack about 13 beans to a roll.
Just an idea I thought I’d share in case it’s of use to anyone!
I recently bought 4 oz of vanilla beans for $17. I didn’t know how many there would be, but it turned out to be 40, and I was trying to think of how to store them. I’ve had vanilla beans dry-out on me before, and I have since frozen them according to Rose’s instructions, but I wasn’t sure how to freeze LOTS of them to keep them really accessible, yet remain well-wrapped, and then I thought of this.
1. Put them about 3” apart between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and fold up the long sides to seal them in.
2. Put this between two sheets of aluminum foil and seal it really well—I fold the long sides in once to butt the bottom of the beans, and then I roll/fold from there at 1/2” increments.
3. Roll the whole thing tightly.
Then, when I want a bean, I simply cut it off. I cut it as close as possible to the bean I want to use so that I have about 3” to roll/crimp and seal the whole package again.
The 40 beans packaged this way was no bigger than the bag they came in, yet I feel fairly confident they will freeze for the long term very well. My counter length of plastic wrap allowed me to pack about 13 beans to a roll.
Just an idea I thought I’d share in case it’s of use to anyone!
40! You got a good buy. I saw a jar of 7 in the store for $30.
Looks like a great way to store them. I had been wrapping the whole bunch together in plastic, then foil, then a freezer weight ziploc. But your way looks like it would be easier to extract just one when needed.
Please do tell me if these beans are any good! The cheapest vanilla beans I’ve found are 5 for $10, so I’m really interested in yours!
Hi, Michael!
Well, I’ve finally used the vanilla beans in two cakes, and they’re ‘okay.’ They’re mellow and they don’t have a lot of seeds in them, so I’ll use about 2x what I would normally need, so I’ll use a bean for every tsp. of vanilla. Still, at 3/$1, I’ll likely buy them again. If I’m doing chocolate where you boil the water, I steep the whole bean in it. I recently made a choco cake that needed 2tsp. vanilla, and I just steeped went ahead and steeped 3 beans and then used their seeds.
So, not great, but cheap enough to use lots of them indiscriminately!
—ak
p.s. The method worked out great, though—cutting off the quantity needed and crimping the end for the ones to stay in the freezer.
I am not responsible for anything I say re geography!!!!
It’s odd—the description of the beans says they’re from New Guinea. Then a review comment said they’d confirmed they were from Madagascar, so that’s what made me google. I was rather shocked to see they could have been from Madagascar, as, like I said, they’re just ‘okay,’ but inexpensive enough to use lots of them. So my guess, then, is they’re from New Guinea, as stated, rather than from Madagascar, as the reviewer confirmed.
CT—thanks again! Should I be paying you for these various tutorings today?
