An unusual recommendation from Cooks
If you've been reading here for any length of time, you know I heart Cook's Illustrated very much. Their recipes rock, and I love their taste tests and equipment tests, which are sort of like a kitchen version of Consumer Reports. One of the reasons I adore their reviews is that they often find that the most expensive kitchen item is not the best.
Generally, though, when they rate foods, the more natural, real items(like Parmesan Reggiano) win over cheaper, more processed foods(like Parmesan in a green jar). So, I was surprised when I read that they had pitted imitation vanilla against real vanilla and found that the imitation vanilla was just as good(and sometimes better!) than the real stuff.
This is good news for frugal bakers like me, who hate to pour a tablespoon of vanilla into a recipe! Cook's does caution that imitation vanilla is best used in baked goods(cake, brownies, cookies) and not in uncooked foods(frosting, pastry cream). Most of my vanilla goes into baked goods, so my real vanilla consumption has gone way down since I read this tip, and my food tastes just as good.
The large-ish bottle of imitation vanilla in the picture up there only set me back $.89, and an equal amount of the real stuff would be more like $5-$7. So, go buy a container of the imitation stuff and use it with abandon!
WOW! That is great information...I have always used real vanilla! I also happen to be out so you just saved me $$$$. 🙂
Awesome. I do always keep a bottle of real vanilla around for stuff like frosting and pudding, but I go through it at a much slower pace now.
Baking is my favorite thing so I use vanilla a lot. I've used both real and imitation, but the real costs a lot more and comes in a smaller bottle so I use the imitation a lot more. It's good to know that it's just as good for baking!
Yeah...I used to be a real-vanilla-only snob. I could have saved myself a lot of money over the years! lol Oh well....you live and you learn.
WOW, I would've never guessed it. I will have to buy some imitation and hide it from my hubby...who loathes the word, "imitation", on just about anything!
Vicki, you can tell him that the editors at Cooks, who are VERY picky about their food all rated the imitation as well as the real stuff(much to their chagrin! lol). They did a blind tasting and in some recipes, these uber picky cooks actually preferred the imitation.
Maybe you should hide it, bake something with it, and then ask him if he noticed. 😉
I'm an avid reader( and subscriber) of Cook's. I believe it was only a certain brand of imitation vanilla that they recommended. I'm a huge red sticker clearance gal, but I'm also a baker/chef and I truly believe that real vanilla is the way to go. You can make your own though with some cheap vanilla beans ( check ebay) and cheap vodka.
America's Test Kitchen (PBS) came to the same conclusion about imitation vanilla.
I used to buy a quart of Real Vanilla to get the best price/ volume. It cost an arm and a leg.
I haven't used it up since I saw that report but I'll gladly get imitation next time I need Vanilla.