Vanilla absolute / vanilla extract

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

I've just been digging through the archives searching for info on

vanilla absolute. I've just purchased a bottle and I'm in loooooove

with it.

I know this is going to sound like such a dumb question, but I have to

ask. What exactly is the difference between how vanilla absolute is

made and vanilla extract is made? From what I understand, vanilla

absolute is solvent extracted (see 1). Vanilla extract, which is used

for cooking, is made by curing beans in alcohol (see 2). Isn't this

technically extracted by a solvent also?

Sources: 1. http://www.aromaweb.com/essentialoilspz/vanilla.asp,

2. http://www.culinarycafe.com/Spices_Herbs/Vanilla.html

Thanks,

Indigo

[Guest guest]

If you don't mind my asking, where did you purchase your absolute? I

have purchased vanilla absolute in the past and it was thick paste

that had to be diluted in oil or alcohol to be usable. Even then

it's still thicker than any of the other absolutes/oils blended with

and sinks to the bottom of my blends. I haven't tried a vanilla co2

yet. Is that easier to work with?

-OxR

[Guest guest]

> I know this is going to sound like such a dumb question, but I have to

> ask. What exactly is the difference between how vanilla absolute is

> made and vanilla extract is made? From what I understand, vanilla

> absolute is solvent extracted (see 1). Vanilla extract, which is used

> for cooking, is made by curing beans in alcohol (see 2). Isn't this

> technically extracted by a solvent also?

>

I'll bet a lot of people struggle with questions like this. Not dumb at all. I

don't know the

specifics, but I imagine there are two differences:

1. The type of or sequence of solvents used during extraction

2. The degree to which the solvent is removed after extraction

I believe that vanilla extract is more or less literally an extraction of

vanilla beans into

alcohol, without the subsequent removal of the alcohol (just filter out all the

solids).

If vanilla absolute is made in a manner similar to other absolutes, the material

is first

extracted with something like petroleum ether (hexane). This solvent is

evaporated

leaving the waxy, solid first extract. This extract is then re-extracted with

alcohol to pull

out the alcohol soluble (=useful for perfume) parts and leave the solid

insoluble waxes

behind. Finally, the alcohol is removed from the final extract (probably by

gentle vacuum

distillation or something like this), leaving the purified absolute behind.

In summary: extract = vanilla soaked in alcohol

absolute = ether/alcohol extraction followed by removal of

solvent.

Hope this helps...

[Guest guest]

> If you don't mind my asking, where did you purchase your absolute? I

> have purchased vanilla absolute in the past and it was thick paste

> that had to be diluted in oil or alcohol to be usable.

No problem. I purchased it from http://www.interwega.ch. It's a shop

in the middle of Switzerland. My vanilla absolute isn't thick but it's

not watery thin either. It's in the middle in terms of fluidity, at

least to me.

Indigo