# Showerthoughts

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Posted by
u/benyacobi
18 hours ago

## Vanilla becoming the default flavour of ice cream is the greatest underdog story of all time.

Edit: thank you for educating me about the ubiquity of vanilla. Still, none of the other products that use vanilla seem to ever give credit to vanilla. They are usually named something else. Anyway, I have learned a lot about vanilla tonight and I now feel like I am a better man.

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level 1
LorenzoPg
10.3k points · 15 hours ago
3

Fun fact: Vanilla (the real stuff) has a similar price to silver.

level 2
emptyzombiekilla
5.3k points · 15 hours ago · edited 11 hours ago
2

Is there a cheaper alternative?

Edit: While I have your attention check to make sure you're on WiFi.

level 3
TrashJack42
3.3k points · 15 hours ago

Imitation vanilla flavoring, which you can get at any grocery store.

level 4
really-drunk-too
960 points · 13 hours ago

People love to hate on imitation vanilla. I read about some sort of blind taste test where people actually preferred the taste of imitation, though.

level 5
Nabber86
659 points · 13 hours ago

America's Test Kitchen did some flavor testing and determined that fake vanilla was better than real vanilla extract, especially for baked goods.

level 6
elrog
766 points · 12 hours ago

> especially for baked goods

That is the critical part that tends to get overlooked. There is nothing like real vanilla for things that don't get put in super hot ovens and where vanilla is the main flavor. Custard or icing/frosting are just vastly superior with real vanilla. For things like cookies, brownies, or pancakes, its just a total waste of money though. Artificial works at least as well.

level 7
croscat
504 points · 12 hours ago

So true. I use imitation for anything that goes in an oven, real vanilla for anything that doesn't. I have never gotten a complaint.

Source: am a baker

level 8
Chemical_Ire
69 points · 11 hours ago

So would you consider caramel, going to 250 degrees, an application for real or imitation?

level 9
croscat
65 points · 9 hours ago

Good question. I haven't made caramel in years, but I don't think I added vanilla at all when I did. If I were to add to something cooked like caramel, I would probably wait until the cool down stage and use real vanilla.

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level 7
RubyPorto
72 points · 11 hours ago

While I agree that good vanilla extract is worthwhile in uncooked applications, the fun thing is that, in those applications, most people can't tell the difference between vanilla extract and artificial vanilla with some vodka added. Try a blind triangle test comparing them sometime.

Since artificial vanilla isn't extracted with alcohol, it doesn't need to have alcohol in it, so it doesn't. Thus we've associated the little bit of alcohol flavor that vanilla extract adds and artificial vanilla doesn't woth vanilla extract itself.

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level 6
thurrmanmerman
12 points · 10 hours ago

Man, my tastebuds would disagree with that entirely. I've got a coworker that makes cookies every week - they're good. Another coworker recently brought her a bottle of real vanilla back from Mexico, and the first time she cookies were made with it, there was a very noticeable "WHAT THE FUCK did you put in these cookies to make them this good?!?" sensation.

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level 5
Cl0veH1tch
21 points · 11 hours ago

The difference is that imitation vanilla, or vanillin, is actually just one part (the main, strong part) of natural vanilla. "Natural" vanilla also contains like 400 other, lesser but detectable, flavor and scent compounds. Same for maple syrup and "Mapleine", the main component of the natural stuff. They are the same thing, but the "natural" one just has lots of other chemicals that make it slightly different.

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level 4
somekid66
828 points · 13 hours ago

Which as an added bonus does not come from a beavers asshole.

level 5
really-drunk-too
510 points · 13 hours ago · edited 13 hours ago

I think that is technically true for both, you might be thinking of something... else?

Edit: wait the chemical comes from where? I’m gonna have to look this up.

Edit: well well well looks like i learned something today, on a sunday no less

level 6
jerdle_reddit
517 points · 13 hours ago

Castoreum is sometimes used as a vanilla flavouring and comes from a beaver's ass.

level 7
PrayForMojo_
1.9k points · 13 hours ago
3

My grandma used to make the best beaver musk cakes. During trapping season she was always so excited to make that treat from her youth. She always had the happiest looks on her face when she milked those beaver assholes for all their juices.

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