Imitation vanilla extract

[elyse]

you guys use ass-lubricant (crisco) in cakes and cookies...

you guys use fake baconbitz...

you guys have milk that is basically white water

you guys do this unhealthy complete bullshit of "lowcarb"

etc.. etc... etc... 

Who is "you guys?"

Were you trying to be funny? If so, I don't get it.

I ignored it because of the infectious smile.

[schneich]

bullshit!! tonka beans if used as a spice is no toxic at all

if you eat a whole bag of tonkabeans things could be different 

but if you eat a whole bag of salt it could be too 

.t.

I'll tell you what. YOU use that stuff and take your chances. I'LL choose not to. My mom had a liver transplant -- liver disease is not anything I'd want to risk getting. The FDA has determined that even small amounts of coumarin can be toxic. Why use this crap when you can use real vanilla?

iam sorry about your mom...

all i said was that small amounts of tonka is NOT toxic.... if you

use it in the same way as i do ( like a nutmeg nut)

its perfectly ok!

it shows that your knowledge as a (hobby?)patissier is quite poor if you

refer to tonka as crap. tonka is not only a substitute 4 vanilla but a very nice & intruiging

spice, when used properly its gives you a nice mysterial, fruity, scent.

a lot of substances we deal with is dangerous when used wrong, or in to

large quantities (like my old friend Theophrastus Bombastus

von Hohenheim once said "die dosis macht das gift")

your "fda" seems to have problems with a lot of stuff : creme fraiche, bitter almonds,

pickled garlic.. etc.... i mean comeon... i use bitter almonds in most of my italian coffeecookies...

what would i be without creme fraiche.... maybe its sometimes appropriate to question certain things your governmant says or does (including georgy boy) ....

t.

[schneich]

you guys use ass-lubricant (crisco) in cakes and cookies...

you guys use fake baconbitz...

you guys have milk that is basically white water

you guys do this unhealthy complete bullshit of "lowcarb"

etc.. etc... etc... 

Who is "you guys?"

Were you trying to be funny? If so, I don't get it.

you guys = US residents

t.

[Katherine]

On the other hand, I think doubling the amount of vanilla in any recipe can only improve it in most cases.

I speak as a person who has never used imitation vanilla, but my opinion has always been that the effects of the chemical soup that is often used in products labeled as using "artificial flavoring" are exacerbated by the fact they they use so much of these flavorings. I guess most people want the most intense flavor they can get, and don't care about the foul aftertaste in Otto Spunkmeyer cookies, or flavored coffees.

[MGLloyd]

Edited October 15, 2003 by MGLloyd (log)

[schneich]

I will certainly defer to your apparently greater knowledge of how Crisco can be used.  Thanks for sharing.

its weird, but its a fact that the only places you can buy crisco in germany

are gay shops... (and we aalll know what they do with it )

t.

[laurenmilan]

On the other hand, I think doubling the amount of vanilla in any recipe can only improve it in most cases.

Ain't that the truth... I routinely double (or triple) the amount of vanilla in recipes. And I've found that I do much better with a generous amount of imitation than a modest amount of genuine vanilla extract.

[elyse]

I will certainly defer to your apparently greater knowledge of how Crisco can be used.  Thanks for sharing.

its weird, but its a fact that the only places you can buy crisco in germany

are gay shops... (and we aalll know what they do with it )

t.

Not to "blue" the boards, or anything, but Crisco is probably the worst thing you could use. For safe sex, anyway.

[KarenS]

So, should we bring up the heritage of Germany? The fine cuisine, the treatment of humankind, etc...

[IrishCream]

Sheesh...I lived in Germany and you can buy shortening in any grocery store. But there is a point about coumarin. If you are taking Coumadin, a blood thinner, as many people who have been through surgery or have heart problems do...then ingesting any product with coumarin is dangerous. Good reason to avoid Mexican vanillan products and Tonka beans. What a loss....

In defense of German food though...the butter can be eatan like cheese, it is that delicious. The breads are phenomenal. The beer is real. The deli products available at any store put American grocery stores to shame. The vanilla? I didn't bake while I was there because my oven didn't work.

[schneich]

So, should we bring up the heritage of Germany? The fine cuisine, the treatment of humankind, etc...

i dont want to be in a position to judge on how german cuisine really is..

i certainly have my doubts on that... even in big cities as cologne you will have a hard time

to find a good place 4 dinner...

but

most "good" regional cuisine chefs (as there ist nothing like a "german" cuisine)

have a great tradition to use fresh "season" ingredients and dont try

to do asparagus and strawberry in winter... also the ingredients come from the region

to keep the miles on the actual product down, which is not only ecological but also

qualitywise good...

the treatment of humankind is pretty good in germany these days... if you payed attention

to your teacher in school you might have noticed that has been so for moren than 50 years..

treatment of human kind is but something that the US really cant impute during the last year...

torturing and keeping prisoners in an unhuman way during the iraq war is something the US

was blamed even by organisiations like amnesty international....

besides my opinion on your president is that he is not elected correctly and a fucking lunatic too !!!

you have never been to germany anyway, and if your opinion is really what you wrote

you shouldnt bother us with your attendence...

cheers

t.

Edited October 16, 2003 by schneich (log)

[beans]

So, should we bring up the heritage of Germany? The fine cuisine, the treatment of humankind, etc...

i dont want to be in a position to judge on how german cuisine really is..

i certainly have my doubts on that... even in big cities as cologne you will have a hard time

to find a good place 4 dinner...

but

most "good" regional cuisine chefs (as there ist nothing like a "german" cuisine)

have a great tradition to use fresh "season" ingredients and dont try

to do asparagus and strawberry in winter... also the ingredients come from the region

to keep the miles on the actual product down, which is not only ecological but also

qualitywise good...

the treatment of humankind is pretty good in germany these days... if you payed attention

to your teacher in school you might have noticed that has been so for moren than 50 years..

treatment of human kind is but something that the US really cant impute during the last year...

torturing and keeping prisoners in an unhuman way during the iraq war is something the US

was blamed even by organisiations like amnesty international....

besides my opinion on your president is that he is not elected correctly and a fucking lunatic too !!!

you have never been to germany anyway, and if your opinion is really what you wrote

you shouldnt bother us with your attendence...

cheers

t.

egads....

OKAY!

What the heck does what I've quoted have any shred of interest to the topic of VANILLA KarenS and schneich?!

I got a good look at the recent price of the everyday Neilsen Massey Madagascar Bourbon variety. My eye's popped out of my head with the $11.00 figure on a cutsy, cut out, flourescent sign. Thank heavens I have a fairly decent stock, a nice gift of some lovely quality whole beans and some left over vodka, not of my exact preference, left over from a recent party within the household de beans!

[excelsior]

When I make mazetta I put in a sniff of vanilla. One time after making it I thought it had an off flavor. I was perplexed. After complaining about the "wasted time" and that I'd have to "make it again" my wife confessed that she "refilled" the vanilla bottle with "immitation vanilla." Well, I remade it with real vanilla and it was delicious!

It may be that if something goes in the oven with scads of other ingredients I might not be able to tell the diff. But with plain old mazetta, I thought immitation tasted nasty when I didn't even know I used the immitation...that's a pretty blind test n'est pas?

suffer the politics.... I thought this was about pastry & baking

Edited November 20, 2003 by excelsior (log)

[Comfort Me]

I take great pride in the product of my kitchens. I like to use products which are fresh, natural, and unprocessed.

That said, I will admit to having a quart bottle of this wonderful quasi-vanilla that I picked up at E & S Sales in Shipshewana, Indiana -- think Trader Joe's for the Amish -- it's where I stock my baking patry, but that's a whole other thread. Anyway, this product is a blend of real vanilla and imitation, and I use it in almost everything. I use the vanilla paste in custards and butter cookies and whipped cream.

Prices for vanilla have just gone through the roof. It was getting so I was spending $30 a month on vanilla for a while. So I too did a side by side, blind taste test -- only I did it with pastry cream. I had three friends, blindfolded so they couldn't look for seeds, taste the pastry cream and 1 out of the three liked the artificial blend best and two couldn't tell a difference. For the sake of full disclosure, I had them blind test me, and I thought they gave me two spoons of the same custard.

So I'm not going to feel bad about economizing. It means I can spend more money where it will make a difference.

[Anna N]

...So I'm not going to feel bad about economizing.  It means I can spend more money where it will make a difference.

Now you tell me! I just paid $5.00 (Cdn) for 46ml of pure vanilla extract! I can buy cognac cheaper!