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Post by sugaralchemy on Mar 12, 2006 23:12:38 GMT -5
I'm not the expert sebastian is, but I have never explicitly heard of any company using only the vanilla bean "scrapings" or other selective parts of the bean in their chocolate. I'm curious where you got the idea companies might only use part of the bean.
Interestingly, do you know those vanilla bean "specs" you find in your ice cream? They're often made from whole vanilla beans that are finely ground following using the beans in making vanilla extract. If you inspect at least some brands under a microscope, it's clear that it's actually the whole bean ground up and not specs. I could even hook you up with suppliers who offer these sorts of vanilla bean products - post-extraction vanilla powders/specs. Honestly, they are mostly for appearance and (perhaps) texture at this stage... but they do certainly make ice cream look impressive.
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Post by Alan on Mar 12, 2006 23:16:22 GMT -5
I'm curious where you got the idea companies might only use part of the bean. I don't recall. I know that I've read it in a place or two, but where...I don't know. If I come across it again, I'll let you know. Alan
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Post by Sebastian on Mar 13, 2006 12:19:21 GMT -5
Most of the flavor is w/in the bean itself, hence the reason some 'clean it out', if you will. If you're using the entire bean, you'd be doing so 1) to make it more economical (you throw away a lot of you toss out the husk) and 2) if you want a visual appearance factor (if you like seeing the 'specs' in the product. This may also be attained by using the seeds w/in the bean - they are very, very, very small and not fiberous as the shell is.
To be honest, very few places use the bean as the direct source of the flavor any more (although a few do) as there's the hassles of grindnig it finely (not easy) and dealnig with whatevers on the outside of the bean (micro issues, metals issues). Most undergo an extraction process (water, alcohol, or glycerol suspension) and a few plate it on a dry substrate.
Some flavor houses will sell spray dried vanilla powders that have seeds in them as well, so you get a dry, standardized, good flavor that also has the visual component to it as well. I like to use these in my Sunday morning pancakes, personally 8)
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