Why buy extracts when you can make your own? Good quality extracts, especially vanilla, can be quite expensive. It takes less than five minutes to make extracts, less, if you decide to open a bottle of vodka and stick some vanilla beans in it – that’s probably about one minute! Homemade extracts are cost-effective and fun to make. You just need some patience since you have to wait about 4 – 6 months before you can use them. These are perfect DIY gifts!

Start off with some simple extracts – orange, lime, lemon and vanilla.  Aside from the citrus and vanilla beans you will just need some glass bottles with tops and a bottle of vodka.

CITRUS: Buy organic citrus. Why organic? You don’t want pesticide or wax in your extracts. Some organic fruits may have wax on them. If you suspect this, rinse them under warm water then scrape the rind with your finger tips to see if there’s any wax collected under your nail. Use a soft brush and scrub them well or a vegetable wash to remove the wax. When you make your own homemade recipes, you have control over what goes inside of them.

VANILLA BEANS: There is a variety of vanilla beans to choose from and you can read more about them on the internet. For this recipe we bought Madagascar beans. These beans will produce an extract that is dark and full-bodied. 

BOTTLES: They can be found in any dollar or craft store, or check online for a manufacturer that specializes in bottles. Amber color bottles are best to store vanilla extract since light and heat are its biggest enemies. However, we buy clear bottles and keep them in a dark closet away from the light. Why? Because we take great pleasure in opening the dark closet, pulling out these little gems carefully and holding up them up to the light to inspect the color. We then take a sniff and then place them back gently in the closet. Once the aging process is over, you can transfer them to amber color bottles if you wish. Most extracts will retain their potency for at least a year and up to three years if properly stored.

VODKA: Buy a good quality vodka to make the extracts. We’ve seen instructions where it states you can buy an inexpensive vodka, but like with most things in life, especially in the kitchen, quality matters. You can use dark rum or bourbon, by the way, but we’ve used only vodka so far. Experiment with different types of spirits until you find what you like. In fact, we will use a dark rum or bourbon the next time, especially for the vanilla extract, so we can compare.

VANILLA EXTRACT

(2-3 whole vanilla beans, depending on size; 8 oz. of vodka)

Directions:

• Take a sharp knife and make a slit starting just below the top and end just before you get to the bottom
• Place cut vanilla beans inside your glass bottle
• Add vodka, filling up to the neck of the bottle
• Seal tightly and store bottle in a cool, dry place for 4-6 months
• Shake the bottle occasionally and have some patience. Test it after 4 months if you really can’t wait and see if you get the rich flavor, if not, let it sit a while longer.

 

ORANGE EXTRACT

(1 naval orange; 8 oz. vodka)

• Peel strips of zest from your orange
• Lay the strips with the pith facing up on a cutting board – see photo below.
• Take a paring knife and lay it on an angle against the pith with the blade moving away from you, not towards you, and remove as much pith as you can (don’t press too hard on the strips otherwise the oil will be released on the board and you want to preserve the oil in the bottle)
• Place zest into your glass bottle
• Add vodka, filling up to the neck of the bottle
• Seal tightly and store bottle in a cool, dry place for 4 – 6 months
• Every week or two, tilt your bottle upside down to gently mix the liquid inside.  
• After aging process, remove the zest from the bottle before using.

LEMON EXTRACT

 (1 large lemon; 8 oz. vodka)

• Peel thin strips of zest from your lemon – follow procedure above to remove pith
• Place zest into your glass bottle 
• Add vodka, filling up to the neck of the bottle
• Seal tightly and store bottle in a cool, dry place for 4-6 months
• Every week or two, tilt your bottle upside down to gently mix the liquid inside.  After aging process, remove the zest from the bottle before using.

 

LIME EXTRACT

(2 limes; 8 oz. vodka)

Follow recipe for Lemon & Orange Extracts 

Every week or two, tilt your bottle upside down to gently mix the liquid inside. After aging process, remove the zest from the bottle. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remember to scrape the pith of the citrus peel before adding it to the bottles.