Quick answer: for one litre of cream, custard or ice cream, count 2 to 4 beans of Bourbon vanilla. For one litre of a drink or infusion, 1 to 2 beans. For one litre of arranged rum, 3 to 5 beans. The low end of each range is for a large bean, the high end for a small one: an XL bean carries far more seeds than an S. And in every case, the split bean infuses with its seeds, covered, off the heat.
The dosage table, by preparation
These are the three benchmarks we write on the page for our Bourbon vanilla beans. They hold for one whole bean, split and scraped, with its seeds and skin left to infuse.
| Preparation | Volume | Number of beans |
|---|---|---|
| Creams, custards, ice creams | 1 litre of milk or cream | 2 to 4 |
| Drinks and infusions | 1 litre | 1 to 2 |
| Arranged rum | 1 litre of rum | 3 to 5 |
For half a litre, halve the amount: one bean for half a litre of cream or milk already gives a frank vanilla note. When vanilla is the point of the dessert, custard, ice cream, aim for the top of the range. When it plays a supporting role, rice pudding, stewed fruit, stay at the bottom.
Why grade changes the dosage
A recipe that says "one bean" does not say which one. Our beans are sorted into four grades by length: S from 10 to 12 cm, M from 13 to 15 cm, L from 16 to 18 cm, XL from 19 to 20 cm. It is the same Bourbon vanilla, Vanilla planifolia, from the same harvest, grown and cured by our family in the SAVA region, in north-eastern Madagascar. Only the length changes.
And length is matter. All else being equal, a 19 cm bean carries twice as many seeds as an 11 cm bean. For the same number of beans, you therefore put twice as much caviar into your litre of milk with XLs as with Ss. That is why our benchmarks are ranges, not round numbers: the low end is for large beans, the high end for small ones.
In practice, with Ms, the everyday baking grade, you sit in the middle. With Ls or XLs, count fewer beans. With Ss, count more, and that is often the best choice for an infusion, a vanilla sugar or a rum, where only the matter counts. All four grades and their price per bean sit side by side on the Bourbon vanilla beans page, and we explain what you are paying for in each of them in what a vanilla bean really costs.
One point not to confuse: grade is a length, quality grade is a sort by moisture and appearance. At retail, we only sell Gourmet, the supple bean that splits under the knife. Gourmet, TK, Red and Cuts are explained in our page on vanilla grades.
How to infuse to extract everything
Dosage is not everything. The method has four steps.
- Split. Lay the bean flat, the tip of the knife at one end, and open it along its full length. A supple bean opens without tearing. If it cracks under the blade, it has dried out: read our advice on storing beans.
- Scrape. The back of the blade scrapes the inside from end to end. This black paste of seeds is vanilla caviar. It goes straight into the liquid.
- Infuse the bean too. The emptied skin is not waste, it carries a large share of the aroma. It joins the caviar in the milk or cream.
- Covered, off the heat. Bring the liquid to a simmer, turn off the heat, cover, and let it steep until the liquid cools. The heat opens the bean, the lid keeps in what would evaporate. Remove the bean when you move on with the recipe.
For an ice cream or a custard, you can go further: infuse the day before, leave the bean in the cold liquid overnight, and only remove it the next day. It is the surest way to draw everything a bean can give without adding a second one.
In an arranged rum, the logic is different: you split the bean lengthwise, leave it whole in the bottle, and the alcohol does the work slowly, over weeks rather than minutes. The detail is in our page on vanilla arranged rum.
Common mistakes
Boiling for too long
What gives vanilla its aroma is volatile. At a rolling boil, uncovered, part of the aroma leaves with the steam, and what remains takes on a heavier, less refined taste. A simmer is enough to open the bean, the lid does the rest. If a recipe calls for long cooking, such as rice pudding, keep the heat low and the lid on.
Throwing away the bean once scraped
This is the most common mistake, and the costliest. Many recipes only mention the seeds, and the emptied bean ends up in the bin. Yet the skin carries as much aroma as the caviar, and it gives the infusion its length on the palate. A scraped bean always goes into the liquid along with its seeds.
Measuring by weight without looking at the grade
Weighing seems more precise than counting, and that is true in a workshop. But a weight does not say how many beans it contains: at equal weight, a bag of Ss holds far more beans than a bag of XLs. A recipe written in beans assumes a grade. Before converting it into grams, check which one, then adjust within the range.
Making up for a too-short infusion with an extra bean
A cream that lacks vanilla usually lacks time, not beans. Before opening a second bean, reheat to a simmer with the first, cover, and let it steep again off the heat.
Reusing an infused bean
A bean that has infused a litre of milk has not given everything. Rinse it under clean water, pat it dry, let it air-dry on a plate, then choose its second life.
- Vanilla sugar. Slip the dry bean into a closed jar of sugar. Within a few weeks, the sugar takes on the aroma, and it then serves for pancakes, biscuits, coffee. Add every newly infused bean to it: the jar only grows stronger.
- Alcohol. An already infused, split bean, in a small bottle of rum or vodka, gives a homemade extract over the following months to flavour a cake batter.
- A second infusion. Possible, in hot milk or stewed fruit, but it gives noticeably less than the first. For a dessert where vanilla is the point, use a fresh bean.
A bean that becomes covered in a white veil in the sugar jar is nothing to worry about: these are vanillin crystals, a sign of richness. We explain it in frost on a vanilla bean.
Frequently asked questions
Do you need more beans for an ice cream than for a custard?
The benchmark is the same, 2 to 4 beans per litre, but ice cream sits at the top of the range. Cold mutes aromas: a base that tastes just right warm will seem faint once frozen. Custard, served cool but not frozen, is content with the middle.
Is a frosted bean dosed differently?
No. Frost is vanillin crystallised on the surface, not mould, and it does not need to be removed. A frosted bean is dosed within the same range, and the frost goes into the infusion with the rest.
Which grade should I choose if I only make infusions?
The S. In an infusion, only the matter counts, nobody sees the bean. It is the cheapest bean per unit, and you simply count one more within the range. All our beans, and what comes from them, are gathered in the Bourbon vanilla collection. The rest of our pages are kept in the Wiki.
