Getting every last
seed's worth.
A good pod has three lives in it: the seeds, the husk, and the sugar you bury it in afterwards. Here's how to use all of them.
How to split and scrape a pod
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Flatten it
Lay the pod on a board and press it flat with the side of a knife. A properly cured pod should give, not crack.
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Split it lengthways
Run the tip of a small sharp knife from one end to the other, opening the pod like a book. You don't need to cut all the way through.
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Scrape the seeds
Turn the knife over and drag the blunt edge down the inside of each half. The seeds come away as a dark, sticky paste — that paste is the flavour.
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Never bin the husk
The empty pod still holds a great deal of aroma. Drop it into your sugar jar, a bottle of rum, or the milk you're warming for custard.
Start here
Homemade vanilla extract
Split 6–8 pods, drop them into 250ml of vodka or bourbon, seal, and put it in a dark cupboard. Shake it once a week. It's usable at eight weeks and genuinely good at six months. Top the bottle up with spirit as you use it and it will keep going for years.
Vanilla sugar
Bury a used, scraped husk in a jar of caster sugar and leave it two weeks. The sugar takes on the aroma completely. Use it in shortbread, on pancakes, or in the rim of a cocktail glass. Keep topping up the sugar around the same husk.
Proper vanilla custard
Warm 500ml whole milk with the seeds and the split husk of one pod, then take it off the heat and leave it 20 minutes to infuse before you temper your egg yolks. That resting step is the difference between vanilla custard and custard with vanilla in it.
Vanilla chai & coffee
Add half a split pod to the pan when you simmer chai, or drop a husk into your bag of coffee beans for a week. Warm, rounded and nothing like syrup.
How to keep them at their best
Airtight, cool, dark. Keep the pods in the pouch they arrived in, or move them to a glass jar with a tight lid. A cupboard away from the hob is ideal.
Not the fridge. Cold, damp air is how pods pick up mould. Room temperature is what you want.
They last. Stored properly, pods stay good for two years and more. They may firm up over time — wrap one in a damp cloth for a few hours, or steep it in warm milk, and it will soften right back.
White frosting is a good sign. Fine white crystals on the outside of a pod are vanillin, not mould. It means the pod is rich. Mould is fuzzy, grey-green and smells musty — if you ever see that, get in touch and we'll replace it.
Pick up a jar
Five pods will see most kitchens through several months. Ten will get you a bottle of extract as well.
Shop vanilla pods