What is the equivalent of one vanilla bean compared to artificial vanilla extract?
Alex V., Houston, TX I’m a bit confused by this one, but here goes. First of all there is a difference between artificial and real vanilla extract, however, in recipes, they are meant to be exchanged, measure for measure. I think the real extract tastes better because it does not have anything artificial. There is no way to measure the vanilla bean again the extract, even if we are talking about real thing, and I’ll tell you why. Vanilla bean is like a bark which is wrapped around tiny vanilla seeds. The tiny seeds impart flavor as does the bark itself. The vanilla bean can be used whole, or have a tiny 1/4 inch cut off and used in a recipe. How fresh the bean is determines how much you use, so if the vanilla bean is moist and pliable, you’ll need less; if it is dried out you might need to use half the bean to get any flavor out of it. Also the bean is used in different types of preparations – you use the seeds to perfume homemade vanilla ice cream; or the bean is used to perfume fruit
