The Instant Pot(AKA Instapot) is pretty amazing! This lovely little kitchen appliance is always blowing my mind. I’ve thought about making vanilla extract a handful of times. The normal process for making vanilla extract is incredibly simple. You fill a jar with vodka, throw in some vanilla beans, and screw on the lid. Then let it sit for forever while you forget you even made it! Luckily, when you make vanilla in the Instant Pot you have ready to use vanilla extract in under an hour! Plus, your house smells amazing! That makes it a pretty perfect recipe in my book! If you have an Instant Pot, youhave to try this recipe for Homemade Vanilla Extract Made in the Instant Pot!
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When you’re finished making your homemade vanilla extract, you’ll want to find some ways to put it to use! You could always bake with it, like in this yummy cherry vanilla bread. Or you could use it in homemade beauty products, like my homemade vanilla whipped body butter!
3. Put the trivet on the bottom of the Instant Pot and pour in 1 cup of water. Next, position the canning jar on the trivet.
4. Lock the Instant Pot’s lid into place and turn the pressure valve to sealing. Cook the vanilla extract using the manual button on high pressure for 40 minutes. To release the pressure, use a long utensil to turn the pressure valve to the open position. Be careful, steam will shoot out.
5. Use oven mitts to remove the jar of vanilla from the Instant Pot. Let the extract cool completely before screwing the lid on the jar. Putting the lid on the jar while it is still warm will cause it to vacuum seal. Your homemade vanilla extract is now ready to use right away! Leave the beans in the jar to allow the flavor to strengthen over time.
Store in a cool dry place. The alcohol smell will lessen over the next week.
As mentioned in the recipe, I left the vanilla beans in the jar so that the flavor can continue to strengthen as it sits. When the vanilla is gone, I’ll use the beans to make something else. I see some homemade vanilla bean paste in my future!
I didn’t test this vanilla for shelf life, alcohol level, or anything else. Normally vanilla extract has a shelf life of a couple years. This homemade vanilla extract may or may not keep that long. From what I have read it seems it will last at least a year, but I won’t have it long enough to find out! This recipe made 1 quart of vanilla extract, but I do so much baking that it will only last me about 2 months.
Have you ever made homemade vanilla extract using the traditional method?
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Homemade Vanilla Extract Made in the Instant Pot
Author:A Cultivated Nest
Print Recipe
Description
Easily (and quickly!) make your own delicious homemade vanilla extract in your Instant Pot!
Ingredients
Scale
Vodka – 40% alcohol
4 Madagascar vanilla beans
1 cup water
Quart canning jar
Scissors
Instructions
Toughly wash and dry your canning jar and scissors. Cut the vanilla beans in half and place them in the jar.
Fill the jar with vodka to the thread lines. Leave the lid off.
Put the trivet on the bottom of the Instant Pot and pour in 1 cup of water. Next, position the canning jar on the trivet.
Lock the Instant Pot’s lid into place and turn the pressure valve to sealing. Cook the vanilla extract using the manual button on high pressure for 40 minutes. To release the pressure, use a long utensil to turn the pressure valve to the open position. Be careful, steam will shoot out.
Use oven mitts to remove the jar of vanilla from the Instant Pot. Let the extract cool completely before screwing the lid on the jar. Putting the lid on the jar while it is still warm will cause it to vacuum seal. Your homemade vanilla extract is now ready to use right away! Leave the beans in the jar to allow the flavor to strengthen over time. Store in a cool dry place. The alcohol smell will lessen over the next week.
This post contains affiliate links to Amazon. Please see our Disclosure Page for more information.
About Rachel:Rachel is a big believer in living life as your best self. She likes her coffee black and loves to curl up with a good book. At HyperHypoMama.com she writes about creating a healthy life with Thyroid Disease through food, yoga, and love.
You might also be interested in: 10 Yummy Instant Pot Recipes You Have To Try!
Yes, one hour! If your mind isn't blown yet, consider this: The Instant Pot will also give your homemade vanilla extract the intensity of aged homemade extract or high-quality store-bought vanilla. This vanilla extract is sweet and heady with a rich perfume and is only a few jars and an electric pressure away.
How to Make Homemade Vanilla Extract. Split the beans partway down the middle. Use kitchen scissors or a sharp knife to cut the vanilla beans in half most of the way up its length. Add 5 or 6 of them to each 8-ounce jar, or 20-24 vanilla beans if you are doing a larger batch in a quart-size jar for personal use.
You only need 2 ingredients for homemade vanilla extract: vanilla beans and vodka. Let the vanilla beans infuse the vodka for as little as 8 weeks, but for optimal flavor, wait at least 6-12 months before using. Homemade vanilla is more cost efficient than store-bought options.
You can make extracts out of anything (toasted hazelnuts, lemon peels, blackberries, vanilla pods) all you need to do is add vodka to a jar and add your solute in - that's it. There's no real recipe or standardization - just jar, solute, vodka. Leave it be for a couple weeks then give it a smell.
You can do everything in it — As the Instant Pot is an all-in-one appliance, you can pretty much do all your cooking in one pot. While most cookers require you to sauté or brown in a separate pan, the Instant Pot gives you the option to sauté your onions or brown your meat in the pot to save you time.
In my testing, I found that the homemade vanilla extract imparted a markedly different flavor than the bottled stuff—great in some applications, less so in others.
What is the shelf life of my vanilla extract? When stored properly, vanilla extract will keep indefinitely, but using it within five years will allow for best flavor and aroma.
With Vodka, you get the taste of the pure vanilla bean, as the alcohol is completely tasteless.With Rum, you get a very sweet taste and the maximum vanilla taste. With Bourbon, while you do get a wonderfully enhanced vanilla taste, there are specific smoky notes that emanate through the extract.
Is There Alcohol in Vanilla Extract? By definition, yes there is alcohol in vanilla extract. According to the FDA, vanilla extract is a mixture of vanilla scent and flavor characteristic, and alcohol. To be exact, the FDA requires an ethyl alcohol content of at least 35% for a product to be considered vanilla extract.
Split 4–6 whole vanilla beans lengthwise with the tip of a sharp knife. Use the dull side of the knife to scrape the seeds (vanilla caviar, if you're feeling fancy) from both sides of the pod, and transfer the vanilla seeds to an airtight container (I use a 16-ounce mason jar).
The liquid should be dark golden or brown. The darker the color, the stronger the vanilla flavor. If you've left the vanilla seeds in the bean, there should be lots of little flecks that have settled to the bottom of the jar. When you shake it, the extract should look almost opaque.
To make vanilla extract at home, you will need three simple ingredients: vanilla beans, food-grade vegetable glycerin, and water. You will also need a bottle to make and store the extract in. A dark brown glass bottle works best, but a clear one will work as well. The vanilla beans are the most expensive ingredient.
This allows the flavour compounds from the pure vanilla bean to infuse into the alcohol/water mixture, which then forms the pure vanilla extract. While vanilla beans can be extracted without alcohol, it is very slow, ineffective and results in a lower quality vanilla extract.
If it's at least 80 proof it won't go bad, and as long as it's not the cheapest rotgut, it should be fine. I don't use sugar at all. I have liked the result of using both vodka and rum, but the resulting flavors are somewhat different. I use vodka so no flavors are added to the vanilla.
Introduction: My name is Dr. Pierre Goyette, I am a enchanting, powerful, jolly, rich, graceful, colorful, zany person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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2. Fill the jar with vodka to the thread lines. Leave the lid off.
3. Put the trivet on the bottom of the Instant Pot and pour in 1 cup of water. Next, position the canning jar on the trivet.
4. Lock the Instant Pot’s lid into place and turn the pressure valve to sealing. Cook the vanilla extract using the manual button on high pressure for 40 minutes. To release the pressure, use a long utensil to turn the pressure valve to the open position. Be careful, steam will shoot out.
5. Use oven mitts to remove the jar of vanilla from the Instant Pot. Let the extract cool completely before screwing the lid on the jar. Putting the lid on the jar while it is still warm will cause it to vacuum seal. Your homemade vanilla extract is now ready to use right away! Leave the beans in the jar to allow the flavor to strengthen over time.
