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Homemade Vanilla Extract with the Instant Pot

If you are looking for a great little gift this holiday season, this homemade vanilla extract is perfect! It makes a great small gift on it's own or wrapped up with a holiday cookie cutter or gift card. During the holidays, I like to have a small gift ready for those I encounter. This makes a great gift for:
  • Neighbors
  • Coworkers, the ones I like ☺
  • Teachers in combination with a gift card
  • Household helpers (nanny, house cleaner, pet sitter)
  • Friends
  • Relatives that you're going to see but don't normally buy a gift for
To make your own vanilla extract, you'll need:
A few safety precautions to keep in mind:
  • DO NOT use a stove top pressure cooker to do this, it would be very dangerous. You must use an electric pressure cooker.
  • Use mason jars which are intended for canning, otherwise they can break under the pressure in your Instant Pot.
  • I recommend gifting your vanilla in amber glass bottles because the colored glass helps to keep the vanilla from breaking down in the light. I used these 4 oz sized bottles.
Directions:
  1.  Fill each mason jar almost to the top with alcohol.
  2.  Cut each vanilla bean in half and split.
  3.  Add several split beans to each jar. For a half pint jar, add 7-9 bean halves.
  4.  Put the lid on the mason jar loosely. The lid will help to keep water out of your extract but if it's on too tight it's hard to get the lid off later.
  5.  Place in the bottom of your and Instant Pot add 1 cup of water.
  6.  Place the lid on your Instant Pot and set to Pressure Cook on high for 30 minutes. Turn off the keep warm setting.
  7. When the pressure cook is finished, allow the pressure to release naturally and allow the jars to cool. It takes about 30 minutes for the pressure to release but the jars were hot for at least an hour.
  8.  Fill the bottles, adding 2-3 split bean halves to the new jars. The extract will continue to strengthen with the beans in the bottle. 
  9.  Tag for gifting!
A few tips....
  •  As you use the extract you can top it up with more alcohol, I'd suggest using the same kind of booze you used in the original to keep a consistent flavor.
  •  The beans need to remain covered, if you aren't going to top up, you'll need to remove them.
Cost analysis

I made 19 4oz bottles of bourbon vanilla extract, on supplies I spent:
  •  25 grade B vanilla beans 34.95
  •  24 4oz amber glass bottles with lids 22.58 (I have 5 bottles left for another project)
  •  2.5 liters of Evan Williams bourbon was a little under 30.00 (I bought 1 1.75L and one .75L bottle)
For a total of $87.53 or $4.60 per bottle!

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