10 (TEN) Whole Grade A Prime Gourmet Bourbon Madagascar Vanilla Beans 5~6" by Vanilla Products USA (10 Count (Pack of 1))

After reading how easy it is to make homemade vanilla extract, I finally took it upon myself to experiment and see if vanilla making was as easy as people say it was. Short answer - make your own vanilla...it's bonehead easy. The Vanilla Products Vanilla Beans are a really great value and the beans that I received were fresh and plump. The smell of the beans were so aromatic that I could smell them as soon as I opened the package. To make the vanilla extract, I simply sliced the beans once down the middle of the bean from top to bottom, them put them into a bottle before covering all the beans with vodka. You can use rum or brandy instead of vodka for a different flavored vanilla. Store the mixture of vanilla beans and alcohol in a cool, dark cabinet and shake occasionally. The result after a few weeks will be a very aromatic vanilla that blows anything bought at a store out of the water. In terms of price, you'll be getting a whole lot more vanilla extract for your buck, and if you start running low on vanilla extract, simply add more alcohol to the bottle. Overall, I'm very pleased with the quality of these beans for vanilla making. The beans arrived well packaged, were fragrant and fresh, and were quite plump. They steeped well when in vodka to make vanilla extract, and the flavor is fantastic. I will definitely be purchasing from this company again in the future.

Bought for friends to make an extract from. This is robust vanilla, very strong smelling, almost a chemical smell to it, but I know it's natural. The beans were approx 5-6" and very dry - looked like extract quality, not sure about Prime Gourmet. If you follow the directions on the label, you will get some first class vanilla extract out of the ten beans. I didn't take off any stars, as the product is definitely right for extraction. If I were to use this directly for baking or cooking, then I would say the beans are too dry and chewy.

The vanilla beans I received were so much fresher than the last brand I bought, which were like tough shoe leather. These beans were dried but still soft and pliable so that I could easily slice them open to extract the vanilla bean "marrow" as I call it, which had a strong scent and flavor to it. I use vanilla bean to make homemade vanilla extract and vanilla bean ice cream and it all turns out great! The length of these beans was about 2-inches shorter than what I purchased before but the quality of the bean was much better.

Quality beans- I’ve ordered 3 times now- my vanilla is delicious!

I am waffling on what to put here. In the past I have purchased the 25ct 6-7" beans from this seller. I would've rated them a 10 if I could. So it was a "no-brainer" choice to come back to this seller. The price on those, though, had skyrocketed. So I chose the 10ct 5-6" beans instead and supplement with other more economical (presumably lower quality) beans from elsewhere. In the ways the count, perhaps the most, I would still rate the beans a 10-- they are hands down the most moist pods (this means fewer lost vanilla seeds as they stick together when you scrape the pod); the smell is so strong that it is easily smelled through the vacuum sealed plastic (this indicates strong-flavors); and, consistent length sizing true, or better, to pkg advertising (indicates seller is honest in advertising and cares about quality). However, I was sorely disappointed by the width of the beans. Because around half were so skinny, they barely had 1/4 tsp of the seeds. This was surprising because prior purchases were more consistently sized. So is the value still there? For me, yes. The quality is very high. I just wish the price was more reasonable, given the skimpy size of many of the pods. (Yes, I know the market was deregulated and the prices vary now; but, I'd rather have more consistency in sizing rather than a certain number of pods).

Do yourself a favor and do a google search for making your own vanilla extract. They recommend your buying the cheapest vodka you can find for the preparation. I did that. Used the whole bottle and a larger quantity of the vanilla beans (I bought 2 packages). It takes a couple of months to properly flavor the vodka, so don't plan on using the recipe right away. Obviously I bake and use vanilla quite a bit to want to make a whole big bottle like I did. But do your research. You don't get all of those nasty additives you'll find in the store preparation. And you get great value as well! My husband was in charge of shaking the bottle every day. This was his favorite job because he love LOVES the smell of vanilla, and he smelled it every single day.

Product as expected. Good quality.

These vanilla beans came in a vacuum-sealed plastic package. The outside of the package included instructions to make your own vanilla extract, which was helpful, because that's why I bought them. I bought a 750 ml bottle of cheap vodka, used kitchen shears to cut the beans into one inch sections and put the pieces in the bottle. I stored it in a dark place, turned it over once a day to mix things up and, violà, in two weeks I I had 24 ounces of vanilla extract for less than $25 dollars. The least expensive store brand that I have found is McCormick at Walmart for over $2.ounce. This is double the price of my homemade version and it's nowhere near as yummy. We add the homemade extract, along with a little half-and-half, to coffee. It's less expensive and healthier than refrigerator-case creamers. Have you ever looked as those ingredient lists? Bleeck! Just do it! You won't regret it.