I’ve always bought the 16 oz bottle at Costco, it used to be around $13+, last summer it was $26 and now it’s $34. Any good resources for the best price? Any one know if it’s predicted to go back down?
I also was surprised at how the price increased. I think something was mentioned about the prices because of the harvest.
If you want to buy it at Penzey’s, the price is twice as high.
https://www.penzeys.com/online-catalog/vanilla-single-strength/c-24/p-1514/pd-s
It’s a vanilla shortage:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-vanilla-shortage-20161119-story.html
I don’t know how it compares to Costco, but I usually purchase vanilla (and other baking essentials) at Aldi. But sounds like it will be $$$ everywhere.
I just noticed our gallon jug of vanilla is running low. It’s been a long time since I bought it. If I get it today, I will report back on the cost. Now, I will have to price it out. I can live without it but H likes to make egg creams with it.
The price is going way up…but I have at least 8 bottles I bought at CVS for $1 each thanks to the Good Buy of the Day thread a while ago! Stuff doesn’t spoil!
If you clicked on the Penzey’s link, the store notes in red that the price is going up alot tomorrow (June 18).
When I’ve traveled to Mexico I always bring back the large bottles of vanilla for my mom, she loves baking with it.
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/Healthday/story?id=6157423&page=1
"Pure vanilla is made with the extract of beans from the vanilla plant. Mexican vanilla is frequently made with the extract of beans from the tonka tree, an entirely different plant that belongs to the pea family. Tonka bean extract contains coumarin. Since 1954, coumarin has been banned from all food products sold in the United States.
Consumers should be cautious when buying vanilla in Mexico and other Latin American countries, the FDA advised. Look for “vanilla bean” on the label’s ingredient list. Don’t buy the product if it says “tonka bean” or has a vague ingredient list or no list."
@Madison85 that’s good to know but I doubt the little bit she puts in cakes would have a significant effect.
Penzys is raising their price tomorrow (Monday), you can still order or buy from a store at current prices today, I think. They sent emails about it.
Thanks, good to know.
I just ordered some for myself and for D2 (grad student who loves to bake) as well. I used to buy double strength when it was all cheaper, but we switched to single strength last year when the price hikes escalated.
Darn, I read up on it last summer when the price was $26 and it seemed like they were predicting improvement so I put off buying some and our CVS did not have the vanilla sold cheap, though I checked.
The price of baked good and ice cream will go up as the result.
I read an article a few months ago that said they were switching to imitation vanilla to keep the costs down. I wish they would just raise the prices and keep the real vanilla.
America’s Test Kitchen/Cook’s Illustrated did a taste test on vanilla a few years ago. Very surprising results - if the vanilla was used in a baked good, the heat impacted the taste. Even more surprising, they found artificial vanilla gave the best taste results in baked goods probably because it held up to heat better than the natural vanilla.
I haven’t gotten over my natural inclination to avoid artificial stuff, so haven’t tried it yet, but maybe this would be a good time to experiment with it if the price of real vanilla is getting crazy. The taste tests did find for recipes that weren’t heated that natural vanilla extract tasted best, but I don’t have too many recipes using vanilla that aren’t heated.
Anyone else try the artificial vanilla in baked goods? Any particular one you’d recommend?
Found some similar tests that aren’t behind a pay wall:
https://sweets.seriouseats.com/2013/12/taste-test-is-better-vanilla-extract-worth-the-price.html
Of the different Penzey’s vanillas, which do people use/recommend?
I wonder if there will be experimenting with other flavoring extracts until the price drops —it’s quite high now.
Fun fact. Vanillin (the primary component of vanilla’s complex flavor and the basis of artificial vanilla) can be made by decomposing saw dust or wood chips from certain types of trees with sulfuric acid.
If you are ever in a forest that has Ponderosa or Jeffrey pines–go sniff the bark close up, especially if the sun has been shining on the tree & the bark is warm. They smell like vanilla–sometimes really strongly. (They are, according to a friend of mine, an organic chemist, chock full of vanillin in their sap. They’re the preferred species for use in making artificial vanilla.)
When my kids were younger, we’d go hiking in the mountains and they would run around sniffing trees to find all the “vanilla trees.” I still sniff trees when I’m hiking in a Ponderosa forest.
@doschicos --Maybe these descriptions will help you decide.
King Arthur's Flour sells 3 varieties of vanilla--
Tahitian-- "Vanilla extract made from Tahitian vanilla beans is a rich, intensely aromatic vanilla; fruity and "sweet," with cherry overtones."
Mexican--"More flavorsome & complex than any other; described as "creamy, woody, spicy, and sweet."
Madagascar --"A rich, creamy, sweet vanilla, mildly assertive, with old-fashioned vanilla flavor."
Since I mostly use vanilla in baking (where the subtleties get lost)--I use the least expensive.