The current issue (Nov/Dec 2003) of Cook's Illustrated contains an object lesson on why it's often good to question conventional wisdom, in this case the belief that pure vanilla extract is necessarily better than imitation vanilla.
They conducted a series of taste tests and found that CVS Premium Imitation Vanilla (selling for about 12.4 cents per ounce) beat five of the six pure vanilla extracts (selling for between $1.50 and $4.00 per ounce) that were tested. McCormick Imitation Vannilla Extract was right behind CVS in the rankings, but at $1.25 per ounce, it's not nearly such a bargain.
Needless to say, I ran right out and bought an eight ounce bottle of CVS Premium Imitation Vanilla and conducted my own unscientific taste test. My results echoed theirs.
Of course, there are a few caveats. A real vanilla bean is still the hands down winner, especially when making custards, but when baking, there seems to be essentially no difference among the various choices. Also, these were "premium" imitation vanilla products, which contain some natural ingredients. Regular old imitation vanillas (the kind we used when I was growing up) might not fare so well.
In any case, I know which vanilla I'll be using from now on.
Posted by jt at October 11, 2003 01:25 PMI read the comments on the CVS imiatations vanilla extract but can't find anywhere to order some or where I can purchase it??? I live in Olympia, Washington. Can I order this through the mail somewhere??? I checked the Internet and no help there what-so-ever!! Any help would be appreciated. I read about these great buys just to find I can't get them anywhere!!!
Best Regards,
Gil Larson
Posted by: Gil Larson at January 21, 2004 12:25 AMSorry, but I'm afraid I can't help. I double checked the CVS web site and you are right, they don't seem to offer the CVS imitation vanilla on their web ordering system.
You might want to look for McCormick Imitation Vanilla, which is nowhere nearly as good a bargain, but it's still cheaper than pure vanilla extracts and is probably more widely available.
Good luck.
--JT
Posted by: jt at January 21, 2004 05:55 AM