Homemade Vanilla Extract

A few months ago I found myself with quite a few vanilla beans. This usually happens in the holiday seasons when Costco is selling them in 10-packs. I decided it was time to learn how to make Vanilla Extract. It turned out to be easy. One of the advantages of making it yourself is not having additional preservatives, sugar, or other chemicals.
To make it at home, you need a tightly-closing bottle that holds about a cup of liquid, and is clean without other scents.

Vanilla Extract

5-Whole Vanilla Beans
1-Cup (approximate) Vodka or Bourbon

Split the vanilla beans lengthwise, leaving about an inch at the end uncut. Place the beans into the bottle. Fill the bottle with the vodka or bourbon. Seal the bottle tightly and place it in a cool, dark place for six weeks, shaking the bottle twice a week or so to mix it up.

That's it. If you top off the bottle as you use it, it can last quite a bit longer than you might expect.

Note: One thing I've noticed is a lot of recipes have you add vanilla (or rosewater) to a sauce you're simmering on a stovetop early in the process. This is how you waste vanilla extract. If you're going to make a vanilla flavored sauce or custard, halve the amount of vanilla in the recipe and whisk it in after taking it off the stove. This will save your precious flavor extracts.