Where to buy inexpensive whole vanilla beans?

[Pamela]

Whole vanilla beans are awfully expensive. Trader Joe's didn't have any when I looked today, and the regular grocery stores (Ralphs) sells a single vanilla bean for anywhere between $8.99 to $12.99!

Can any of you recommend me a place that sells somewhat affordable whole vanilla beans? I live in Southern California (Torrance, to be precise).

[olen1009]

Sorry, but I am astounded when I see people think that 6+ dollars for one vanilla bean is a great price. Folks...in bulk, a pound or two, they cost about $40 delivered. Let's give the benefit of the doubt and call that $0.50 per bean. How much profit or markup is reasonable? 300%, 500%? These things keeps for 1-2 years, so spoilage isn't justification for a ridiculous price. Support the merchants that sell them for $3-4 maximum, and tell the others that they are ripoffs! BTW, while Penzey's has great spices, and being close to me, it is nice to visit a spice shop. But, I have found that one of the best places for spices is an unlikely source...a meat packer supply company. Except for the vanilla beans, which about match Penzey's price, every other spice price was less than half of Penzey's...at Butcher-Packer DOT com. Great variety, great service. I just ordered from them again, and got my order, in good order, (Qt of liquid smoke, & 1 pound quantities of ground anise, garlic powder, onion powder, parsley), in 4 days, Chicago to NJ, under $45 including shipping. Plus, I like that they use paper, recyclable, rather than "plastic popcorn" for packing material. So, I highly recommend Butcher-Packer. Now...don't get me wrong: If you check out the prices of the meat grinders, you might say they are expensive. But, they are not amateur quality for only occasional use. Don't judge the rest of their prices by the prices of professional equipment.

[HillJ]

then you didn't read my recommendation for chef quality v-beans at $20.00 for 100 beans from a seller in CA on this thread and about a half dozen others related to the purchased and use of vanilla beans.

[jenniferfrance]

I bought mine directly from the producers. I live in France and I get them from Madagascar through a shipper. I get 100 long vanilla beans for 45 euros. They are organic and they are really great. If you can find a place directly from Madagascar, it would be cheaper. I usually go to a chocolate show every year and they come from Madagascar and Tahiti with them. Maybe I should start a business shipping them to people in the US. lol

[rcmullins]

Ok, I after reading these replies over, and over I finally jumped onto this and ordered from Vanilla Products U.S.A. I just couldn't resist the idea of buying vanilla beans and getting FREE beans in the process. Never having bought vanilla beans before I'm sure I'll be happy.

[rcmullins]

Ok, bought from Vanilla Products USA (www.VanillaProductsUSA.com) and I am ONE HAPPY CAMPER! I don't have anything to compare it to never having bought beans but I have been making stuff like crazy. I bought 1/2 pound of Madagascar Grade A and got 1/4 pound of Tahitian for free! This is great.

[thatswhatshemade]

I don't know if there is a home brewing store near you, but the one near me has great quality vanilla beans for SO cheap that I feel like I should tell them they are practically giving them away.

[lrhr]

Well, this revived thread inspired me: I just bought an assortment from http://myworld.ebay.com/vanillaproducts . 40 beans...10 Tahitian Gourmet Vanilla Beans grown in Papua new Guinea
10 Bourbon Gourmet Vanilla Beans grown in Madagascar
10 Bourbon Extract Grade Vanilla Beans grown in Madagascar
plus 10 grade B tahitian.
Under $15 with shipping. I'll know whether I like the cheaper or the more expensive (cause if I can't tell the difference, I won't shell out).

[morwen]

Did you buy previously from HillJ's source? I'd love a comparison. Beside the fact that I'm extremely pleased with the quality of the beans, the free 1/4 lb of beans with my order is a big incentive to stay with my purveyor.

[HillJ]

I'd be happy to comparison shop. My daughter reminded me that we receive a free vanilla extract with our order. I've also bought the saffron and dried mushrooms sold by the same seller. But, I'm certainly curious about the quality too. I'll buy a small order from the ebay seller for myself next week and report back.

[morwen]

Great! I really appreciate that! It's not that I'm adverse to change, I'm adverse to shipping charges with the tight budget I maintain during the winter and fear of disappointment. I'm about out of beans but have enough that I'll hold off ordering until you report back. That's so awesome! Thank you!

[DAVESGIRL]

HillJ, how did you make out with this? What's the verdict?

[HillJ]

Thank you for pulling me back into this thread, I did forget to report back.
Ok, no issue with the purchase or with what arrived. I've got the entire order sitting in 2 inches dark rum staying nice and plump! All flavoring avenues have been tried but my preference remains with my original recommendation for a few reasons. One, I paid less (including s/h) and rec'd more individual beans for the money. 180 to the lb. They sell the beans by weight, because you get more value than buying bean by bean.
Two, I can also order mushrooms and saffron from my seller which means less s&h costs under one order.

However, ebay seller has good quality v. beans and it was a good first time experience.

[DAVESGIRL]

Thanks for this! I've gone on both sites and want to order beans today. I was previously eyeing a different site but see that I can make out cheaper going through one of these vendors.

[davis_sq_pro]

Please report back with the differences between the beans. I bought the Mexican beans last time (from Vanilla Saffron), and will probably go for the Tahitian beans on my next order. Would really be interesting to have some better information on the actual differences between varieties.

[HillJ]

To be clear this is what I bought Tahitian Vanilla Beans 1 lb - Chef Quality $19.95 and rec'd a free bottle of vanilla extract with my order. Early 2009. I plan to comparison shop thru the ebay seller for the same type of beans (1/4 lb).

[awritermom]

http://www.vanilla.com/index.php/TROP...

this site has a description of the different beans.

it sounds like saffron has the best deal... 34 cents a bean or less with shipping. vanilla products usa's variety pack is a nice option, but it is about 53 cents a bean.

[morwen]

I'm just finishing up my pound of beans that I bought back in early 2008 from this vendor: http://myworld.ebay.com/vanillaproducts (see post upthread). 2, nearly 3 years later I'm still very happy with them. I keep them in a vacuum bag in the back of a cupboard and they are nearly in the same condition as the day they arrived, still leaps ahead of those overpriced pathetic things that come 1 or 2 in a vial. A quick check at the website shows that the price per pound of the beans I bought has not gone up. That's 100-120 6"-7" beans per pound and if your order is over $20 they send an extra 1/4 pound of beans free. at that price I can be profligate with the beans. I'm off to order more.

[HillJ]

http://www.theposter.com/vanilla2.html
morwen, I can say the same of the lb I bought from this seller and paid considerably less than you did thru ebay.

[Sam Salmon]

The market in Neiafu town in the Tongan archipelago of Vava'u is a great place to stock up next you're there.

[morwen]

Oh cool! Cheaper beans! Oh wait...these are the beans I bought: http://cgi.ebay.com/1-lb-Prime-Gourme... $28 including shipping plus an extra 1/4 lb free. Gourmet Tahitian Beans on your page are $28.95 before shipping. Or did you order the chef quality beans at $19.95/lb? What's the difference between "chef " and "gourmet "? Oh, I see. Gourmet beans at your site are shorter, chef quality are the same size as what I'm ordering. Huh. Wonder what it is that makes the shorter "Gourmet " beans $9 more expensive? Not much in the way of information there. But a quarter pound of the gourmet beans costs $9.50 and they don't offer that in "chef" so an equal amount of beans at your site would be $29.45 before shipping is added in. I think I'm doing better at my site, even if it is only by the cost of shipping.

[HillJ]

Over a year ago I paid $20.00 for 100 vanilla beans thru the seller cited. I've been enjoying them quite a bit; shared a good deal too. I did not pay anything more than $20.00 for them.

[IvoryWinds]

I just ordered 2 Vanilla Beans/$3.50 at MySpiceSage.com. With ANY order you get 8 Vanilla Beans free + 1oz of any spice free. From what I understand the 8 Vanilla Beans free is a periodic special that they run. The shipping is $4.00 on any order. I've never ordered here before but read some good reviews. So my total order came to $7.50/including shipping and I ended up with 1 oz. of spice and 10 Vanilla Beans. I'll be back later to give my input on the quality of my purchase. If the quality is good then I'm in the money because the price can't be beat in my opinion.

[Rojellio]

Why not just get Vanilla Paste? Its already scraped out, and you get a lot more for the money.

[davis_sq_pro]

It's not the same thing. The pastes are extracts, made from the entire bean--not just the seeds, and contain, depending on the brand, some of the following ingredients that you may or may not want to use in your recipe: sugar, alcohol, thickening agents, etc. There are certainly good use cases for it but there's a reason that it's much less expensive than beans--you don't have the choice of what parts to use, how to use them, etc.

[Soop]

I imagine if it was purely seeds, it would possibly be worth about the same as gold...

[TheCooksCorner]

I've just ordered 20 Prime Gourmet Tahitian beans from http://myworld.ebay.com/vanillaproducts for $5 plus $4 shipping (to Canada). That's less than 50 cents each!

I used to live in Mexico, where vanilla originated, but it was very hard to get there and not cheap at all. Also the quality was very uneven. I wish we'd had the 'net then, I would have ordered online!

I'll report back once I've tested.

Gina

[gentlyferal]

A couple years ago, I bought 1/4 pound of vanilla beans for about $20 on eBay, from the Arizona Vanilla Company. (I still get marketing emails from them.) When the beans arrived, they were so fresh and supple I could tie knots in them. Beautiful flavor, even though they are now stiff as store vanilla beans. Price included shipping, by the way, for about FORTY vanilla beans. At this price, a half-dozen vanilla beans would make a great gift. I'm down to my last eight or nine beans; I'll probably buy more in a few months.

[HillJ]

http://www.saffron.com/ and click to their vanilla bean line up
I stand by this recommendation. High quality, generous lb. and delicious bean.
They are currently selling organic v. beans.

[gentlyferal]

"Vanilla beans 1 lb.
Everyday lowest price in the USA $19.95"

I do believe saffron.com has me beat. Thanks!

[scubadoo97]

I've purchased saffron from saffron.com. Very happy. They don't specify the grade of vanilla but I often wonder if I could tell that big of a difference between grades.

[HillJ]

I started out with the smallest order they offer and was delighted. Then I ordered a lb. for $20.00. Plump, healthy full of beauty pods and seeds. I'm still using that lb. all this time later with great satisfaction. Jars of vanilla sugar, homemade vanilla extract and hundreds of recipes later. I haven't bought the saffron (yet) but I can happily vouch for the v. bean.

[davis_sq_pro]

Has anyone ordered multiple types of vanilla from them? I'm still working my way through my first order, 1/4 lb of the Mexican beans. (Which I ordered because they were the most expensive and--I assumed--the best. There is no information on the site regarding how the varieties differ.) I would be interested in hearing about the differences between them...

The Mexican beans are quite fragrant and I have no complaints, especially for the price. I took the recommendation on the package and have the beans stored in about 5 lbs of sugar, which has taken on a very nice aroma. All in all, a great purchase.

[HillJ]

I ordered a lb of the least expensive and have enjoyed the v. beans very much. I noticed today the site has been revamped; including a new organic variety which was not avail when I purchased my lb.

[BerkshireTsarina]

Just returned from a trip to San Francisco, where I made sure to get to Valencia Street in the Mission District, to Xanath (the retail store name, where they sell the vanilla and saffron ice cream). It's the Saffron Co., just its other name. Bought wonderful Tahitian vanilla beans, although they sell other varieties and other vanilla products as well. Also bought saffron from them, but haven't tried it yet. Quality seems splendid and price is amazing.

[HillJ]

BT, you made my day! Isn't the area itself positively beautiful! Enjoy your purchases! I just made vanilla bean rice pudding this morning and enjoy knowing the source for these beans every time I use them. My vanilla sugar pot has lasted through dozens of pounds of organic sugar. The vanilla extract I made using rum & beans has generated enough gifts for the year. As for the saffron, well it's simply magical. Last time I made saffron & leek potato bake I used a generous pinch. So good. What did you think of their mushrooms?

So dear BT, have fun experimenting!

[BerkshireTsarina]

MUSHROOMS? Oh dear! Will their wonders never cease. I never saw any mushrooms. Dazzled by the vanilla beans and saffron, I suppose. I'll use the saffron in paellas of various kinds. But what is the recipe for saffron & leek potato bake? It sounds great.

[HillJ]

http://www.theposter.com/mushroom2.html
this takes you to the mushroom farm offerings.

The recipe is a basic; one of those throw together deals but goes something like this:

Potato And Leek Bake

3 c leeks, cut Into 1/2-inch pieces

1/2 c Carrots, shredded (optional, we like the sweetness

)

2 T Olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1 t Powdered dry rosemary or 1/2 t fresh

1 c Vegetable broth

2 lb Unpeeled red potatoes, sliced in thin rounds

1/4 tsp saffron threads

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In deep skillet, coat leeks and carrots with olive oil. Cover and simmer over low heat until soft. Add s&p and rosemary. Mix well. Layer a well-oiled 2-1/2- to 3-quart casserole (with cover) with 1/3 of the potatoes, then 1/2 the seasoned vegetables. Repeat and finish with last 1/3 of potatoes. Pour broth evenly into casserole. Sprinkle with saffron. Cover and bake for 50 minutes covered at 375 degrees. Uncover and bake for another 10 minutes until pototoes are fork tender. Enjoy!

[BerkshireTsarina]

Sounds good! And I've got the saffron to give it a try ----

[dagwood]

worldpsice.com. I buy all my spices through them. Vanilla beans are $3.50 each, plus shipping, which is always reasonable.

[scubadoo97]

I last purchased grade A Madagascar Bourbon beans from Vanilla Products USA http://stores.ebay.com/Vanilla-Produc...

When I bought mine they were $35 shipped for 1 lb of beans which is around 100-120 beans. Currently you can get 1/2 lb for $31 shipped. So that's about $0.55 per bean. They are super long and soft. Great flavor.

[Soop]

$3.50 per bean is very expensive IMO
I got £50 for 12, which is roughly in line with Scuba's

[didou5000]

Try this website.

http://www.vanilla-one.com

Their beans are really good and inexpensive.

[mcf]

Costco has them, too, in the warehouse, but not online.

[shaogo]

Posts like this are why I enjoy CH so much. I thought that Penzey's was the only game in town. Boy, was I wrong.

I cannot wait for the arrival of my vanilla beans. My creme Anglais will never be the same! And don't get me started on Saffron (one word comes to mind: Bouillabaise!)

[alwayscooking]

For those in the NE,Ocean State has a set of 4 tubes containing 3 beans each for $5. Each tube has a different type of vanilla bean - Tahiti, Mexican, Madagascar, Papua

[Sal Vanilla]

Costco. Look low near the spices. Cheap -o!

[Soop]

Oh man, I know a place that did them for 99p each - but it's in the UK with me. Is that really cheap? i should have got more than 3

[cstr]

Costco has 10 imported whole beans that come in 2 vials for $11.99, a steal!

[ricepad]

*Some* Costcos, but sadly, not every Costco sells vanilla beans.

[rcspott]

7 Beans for $7.95 and free shipping

http://www.jrmushroomsandspecialties....

[puppymomma]

I bought from this seller (JR Mushrooms). They used to sell on Ebay.

The quality was excellent and I found it was the best buy out there.

Meryl
http://inspiredbites.blogspot.com/

[mr99203]

I second the recommendation for JR Mushrooms, I bought them through Amazon.com. The more you buy, the better the price (over 50 for $36 if you need a lot). Their dried porcini mushrooms are great and really well priced too.

[HillJ]

http://www.saffron.com/
One lb. is $19.95 and very fresh bean pods!

[scubadoo97]

They don't say what the grade is but that's a damn good price. I paid double for a pound of grade A Madacascar bourbon beans. But how do your really know?

[HillJ]

I took a chance for 20.00 and was delighted. That price can't be beat unless you know a grower and she's generous. The beans are plump and generous in size. I make my own extract and I'm no longer stingy about using fresh beans at this price.

[scubadoo97]

Thanks HillJ. I've purchased saffron from them and was pleased as well.

[coll]

It must be heaven to have enough beans to play around with!

[HillJ]

coll, truly. I was just singing the praises of this supplier (again) yesterday. I made three baked goods using the beans and was showing two of our party guests how I've made vanilla extract, sugar & syrup from my "host jar of empty pods" ...

[coll]

I'm thinking I should stock up before the holidays, and along with my usual baked goods send a couple of gift wrapped beans to all!

[HillJ]

Sounds like a plan!

[beth1]

Bulkfoods.com has great beans, and they're reasonably priced. I've bought from both them and a seller on e-bay, and the blukfoods.com beans were much better. Even after going through the mail to Florida in the summer, they were still soft, fresh, and sticky.

[katecm]

Do you have World Market where you are? They have affordable spices. I get saffron from them, as well.

[Pamela]

Oh, another good idea. There is a Cost Plus World Market in the area. Didn't consider that, but I think Penzey's Spice has them beat in terms of prices.

[morwen]

There are also some saffron vendors on ebay. Haven't ordered from them yet or compared prices with other online vendors but am considering it. We don't have World Market, Whole Foods, or Trader Joe's in our area so I have to rely on the internet for some of these things. I like the fact that vendor ratings are available on ebay, helps make a choice.

[davis_sq_pro]

Here's a company that sells both cheap vanilla AND cheap saffron (I have not personally ordered from here yet, but have heard great things from a friend):

http://www.saffron.com/

[HillJ]

I'd be happy to vouch for www.saffron.com's vanilla pods. I've bought hundreds of vanilla beans from this supplier. Always reliable, fresh and delicious.

[cutipie721]

I was going to suggest this store. Although I don't have any personal experiences with them, I saw them being listed as a source at the back of either French Laundry or Bouchon book.

[morwen]

I got my beans here: http://myworld.ebay.com/vanillaproducts

They were around $25 including postage for a pound of tahitian beans. They also carry madagascar. There were about 115 beans in the pound, nice sized, moist and fragrant. I'm very happy with them, they were exactly what I was looking for. I'll order from this seller again and try the madagascar beans next time.

[Pamela]

Morwen:

What a great deal! I wonder if this is what NYCKaren was referring to above. Didn't know buying whole vanilla beans online was an option.

LJS: I hear 'ya.

[roxlet]

This is a great resource -- thanks for the tip -- but what do you use a pound of vanilla beans for?

[Pamela]

I, too, would like to know what you do with all those vanilla beans. One pound is a lot!! Most recipes use one or two beans only!

[scubadoo97]

They seem to last a long time. Use them to make your own extract, put them in the french toast for the morning, make a sauce to top some fish. I made my own vanilla yogurt. Give some away to your favorite friend. For the price of say a dozen pods you get over 100.

[morwen]

So far I :
put 10 split beans in a pint of vodka for vanilla extract

put another 10 in cognac for sipping

made vanilla pudding, steeping the beans in the milk and using the extract

rinsed off the steeped beans from the milk, patted dry and sunk them in a jar filled with sugar

was so happy with the vanilla sugar that the next time I made panne cotta I put those used beans in a jar filled with coarse sanding sugar for pies, scones, etc

discovered that some of the seeds scraped into a pan sauce for scallops was very tasty

flavored a clear white wine aspic encasing fresh strawberries

flavored whipped cream

made ice cream

I still have a lot of beans left and with so many beans at that price I feel I can be a little profligate in experimenting with them. I have a Handi-Vac food sealer and am able to revacuum the bag shut after removing the beans I need. It's been about 7 months since I got the beans and they're still as moist and fragrant as when I got them. I store them at room temp in my pantry.

[Soop]

How does the extract work? And would they go in rum?

*edit* Heheheh, just bought 50 for £8.49 :)

Thanks for the ProTip!

[morwen]

Sorry it took so long to reply, just found your query. The extract works great! I think it's called "essence" on your side of the pond. I imagine they would be very tasty in rum both for drinking and used as an extract. In fact, I think I recall an article online somewhere that suggested using the rum to make extract. I prefer vodka because it's mostly flavorless to begin with and I would imagine the rum itself would add flavor to whatever you were cooking. The bottle of cognac I flavored came out very nice. That was 10 beans to a 750 ml bottle as opposed to 10 beans in a pint of vodka for extract.

[Soop]

I still haven't gotten around to doing this. I kind of realised I don't really drink at home (and I'm not big on spirits). Every time I come close, I prefer a bottle of wine!

But it's really nice having so many vanilla beans at my disposal

[morwen]

We're not big drinkers either and generally wine is our go to as well when we have dinner guests, but I do offer spirits to guests when we're ready for dessert or with coffee and small talk. The flavored cognac is often requested and I've had so many nice compliments on it. I made it originally as a flavoring choice in my cooking arsenal but it's moved into the sipping realm as well. And the beauty of it is it doesn't spoil but seems to be getting better the longer it sits! I've been thinking of flavoring some Calvados with the beans to kick up the roasted apples I make based on the recipe in "Sunday Suppers at Lucques". The recipe already calls for a vanilla bean but I'm thinking vanilla extracted in the Calvados will add another layer of depth like it does when I use the extract, vanilla sugar and bean in vanilla pudding.

[Soop]

oooh, that's a good idea. You could make an awesome apple pie!

[scubadoo97]

I also got a pound of grade A Madagascar Bourbon beans from this same dealer over 6 months ago. It was ~ $40 shipped. Now that's over 100 very long subtle pods. I keep them in a vacuumed sealed bag in a dark place in the cabinet. So far they are holding up well. When I think of the 3 for $10 in the jars in the grocery store that are half the length and are dry and nasty I know why I seldom purchased vanilla beans.

[LJS]

I know this is mean-spirited but I must confess I am kind of glad to hear you pay the same prices in Southern California as we do here in Toronto for vanilla beans....you pay SO much less for much of the produce I long for! My friend who lives near you now, an ex-pat from here, is constantly gloating about asparagus,oranges, lemons, dates or something that she just purchased for about 1/5th of what I would have to pay!

Now, if you ever find yourself in my fair city, check out Carrot Common...they have organic VB's for "only" $6.50 for two, but they don't come in that impressive glass vial and they seem to dry out very fast...I use my 'spent' beans to flavour vanilla sugar when they are used and re-dryed.

[beany]

LJS, Bulk Barn has vanilla beans in the glass vials for $4.95 for about 5 I would guess. Imported from Germany.

I totally agree though, the price differences between the US and Canada are astounding!

[LJS]

I would have answered sooner but I was out at Bulk Barn...thanks!

[beany]

lol no problems, hope you got some!

[chefathome]

I so agree! Prices for foodstuffs in Canada are often so much higher it's not even funny. Plus what we pay on the prairies is often higher than in Toronto! Not really fair...

Regardless I always must have vanilla beans on hand not only for sweet and savoury recipes but for vanilla extract and, as LJS does, to flavour granulated sugar.

BTW, bay leaves work well to flavour rice. Another topic...

[Pamela]

Whole vanilla beans tend to be a seasonal product, so stock up during the holidays (I've seen them at Costco's and Trader Joe's). However, off season, I just discovered a valuable spice source: Penzey's Spices.

At the mainstream supermarkets, a single whole vanilla bean ranged from $8.00 to $13.00. For one bean! At Penzey's Spices, you get three whole vanilla beans for $7.25.

[NYCkaren]

You can get them on eBay but I'm not sure about the quality.