Is it worth it to spend more for vanilla?

[Anonymous]

I solemnly vow to never buy anything at Penzey's because of the constant shilling on this website.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our chef only uses Nielsen Massey Bourbon Vanilla Paste.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I took these amazing continuing ed cooking classes in Arlington from a CIA grad/ personal chef / awesome person named Michelle something and I learned so much from her. One of those lessons was that most chefs use imitation vanilla - there was a specific reason but I forgot why.

I’m no expert, but if you want to go down the rabbit hole, here are some videos from America’s Test Kitchen you might find helpful:

[Anonymous]

Here is the Serious Eats version.

TLDR: no one can tell in baked goods. In unbaked applications, they preferred the real extract but if they added vodka, it evened the score again. So people seemed to be responding to the alcohol content mainly (which makes perfect sense since that is a clear difference between the two).
Nobody liked the beans better. Fine for if you want the speckles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here is the Serious Eats version.

TLDR: no one can tell in baked goods. In unbaked applications, they preferred the real extract but if they added vodka, it evened the score again. So people seemed to be responding to the alcohol content mainly (which makes perfect sense since that is a clear difference between the two).
Nobody liked the beans better. Fine for if you want the speckles.

Sorry
https://www.seriouseats.com/taste-test-is-better-vanilla-extract-worth-the-price

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our chef only uses Nielsen Massey Bourbon Vanilla Paste.

I use only Gray Poupon.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't waste the good stuff on teenaged boys who would eat just about anything.