Vanilla beans

[ElsieD]

If this question has been asked before I apologize but I started looking for it, got to page ten and said the heck with it. If this question is a repeat - sorry. But please answer.

I have been cooking and baking for years but always used vanilla extract until last year when I converted to using mostly beans. When I scrape the vanilla bean to get the beans (seeds?), and then put the them in with my other ingredients, why do I end up with clumps of beans (seeds?)? I have some rice cooking on the stove right now and no amount of whisking is breaking the clumps down completely. Is there a secret to this? The same thing happened when I made vanilla ice cream.

[ChickenStu]

try mixing violently in a small amount of the liquid you are using.

[Chris Hennes]

Right, I think that just like with say, cornstarch, adding the seeds to a little liquid to get them flowing first is the key to "unclumping" them.