A critical stage in the curing of vanilla is the “sweat,” where the enzymatic process that develops the vanillin takes place. The sweat box creates an environment that holds the beans at the optimal temperature for this process.
In the How to Cure Vanilla Beans article, I describe how to put together an ad hoc sweat box using a cooler and hot water bottles. In this article, I will describe how I built the electrically heated sweat box used to handle larger quantities of vanilla pods.
I occasionally get questions from people who are growing their own vanilla and want to know the best way to cure the beans. Getting a good cure out of your beans can be a little challenging, but hopefully, this guide will make it easier.
It is essential that vanilla be properly cured in order to obtain the desired aroma and flavor from your vanilla beans. The process of curing vanilla beans is a matter of supporting both the vanillin development and the slow drying of the bean in order to preserve it.
In Part 1, I explained how to harvest and prepare the beans for curing, and what equipment you’ll need. Next, we’ll go through how to sweat, dry and age the beans.
Peruvian vanilla grower Ashley Britton has launched a project to bring vanilla production to the Peruvian Amazon to benefit the indigenous Awajun people.
Vanilla pompona has been wildcrafted in this part of the Amazon for a long time for local use, but with global demand for real vanilla growing, this is a good time to establish vanilla pompona as an export product. The region suffered a setback in its ability to provide a cash income when the cacao was rejected for too high a cadmium content. Ashley hopes that vanilla, specifically vanilla extract, can supplant the lost cacao income.
A couple of months ago, I received an email from a a fellow vanilla grower in Peru named Ashley Britton. We have been exchanging knowledge and experiences since then, and it has expanded my thinking about what vanilla is and how it can be grown.
Ashley is growing vanilla in the mountainous rain forest region of San Martín in Northern Peru. In that area, the vanilla orchid that is found growing wild is vanilla pompona, a species of vanilla that ranges from southern Mexico through northern South America. That represents roughly the same range as vanilla planifolia, the main species for agriculture, which we grow here on Kauai. San Martín is known for its orchids, and they are featured in the tourism of the area as well as providing a local agricultural product.
Pompona vanilla was the first vanilla to be recorded by westerners and exported as a flavoring. It was grown commercially, but was eventually supplanted with vanilla planifolia because the latter got better yields in a plantation setting. Pompona vanilla remains a widely used flavoring in the regions where it grows naturally: Peru and parts of southern Mexico. These days, it is almost completely unknown outside of these areas.
The beans we harvested late last winter have now cured and aged enough to be sold! There will only be limited quantities at first, as beans that were harvested later in the season are not done aging yet.
Lisa and I had an incredible day of pollinating yesterday! We’re pretty sure we’ve never had so many flowers going off before. She and I pollinated 682 flowers, taking us nearly 2 hours to complete the day’s pollination.
Went out to the vanillery and was greeted with the sight of ripening beans! You get used to the beans growing for months, then all of a sudden…they’re turning.
This year seems a bit earlier than usual, but that could have been expected since the 2018 flowering season also started early. The flowering season in Hawaii starts in January and extends through June. April and May are the peak normally, but trips to the vanillery every morning need to happen for a full 6 months!
Perfectly ripe: these will be picked today!
Picking the Ripe Beans
When the beans ripen they need to be picked right away because they develop quickly once the yellowing starts. We search the vanillery for ripened beans every 3 days or so to get the beans at the peak of ripeness.
Like most fruit, the sugar content starts to go up rapidly in the final stages of ripening. This sugar is in the form of glucovanillins that are the precursor to vanillin and related aromatics. Developing these aromatics is the most important goal in producing vanilla, so letting the sugars fully develop is critical.
We try to pick the beans when they are fully ripe, but not opened at the tip. As the beans ripen, they begin to split open to eventually release their seeds. The beans that open are still good from a fragrance and flavor standpoint, but cannot be sold as grade A or grade B as they tend to dry out too much and don’t meet the aesthetic standard of a graded bean. Ungraded beans are used to make our own vanilla extract. These in the picture are perfect, however, and will probably yield grade A beans after curing.
It’s finally time to start selling our 2018 vanilla harvest! I’m putting together the retail packages today and soon we’ll have them in the store to sell. I’m pretty excited about the vanilla we have to offer this year, it is without question the best quality vanilla we have ever produced.
This year, we will be selling the beans two ways: First, for the best, largest, and most beautiful beans, in small priced-by-the-bean packages of 2. We’ll also be selling our grade A and grade B beans by the ounce, so even if there are a few smaller beans in there, you’ll know you’re getting all the vanilla you’re paying for. The quality is just excellent either way.
If you’re a wholesale customer for whole vanilla, let me know, and I’ll get a bulk price sheet out to you.
Visit our Shop to see our currently available vanilla products.
Thank you so much for my Vanilla beans, they were delivered today and smell awesome!!! The vanilla extract I have made is simply “WOW!” the richness is beyond what I expected…
I received the vanilla today and was so blown away by the fragrance when I opened the shipping envelope! I can’t wait to open the actual package at work tomorrow. The beans are the largest and most beautiful I have ever seen!!!
The Grade B Hawaiian vanilla beans are very nice. The beans are a good size, moist and have an oily shine. The aroma was very strong and sweet & reminded me of vanilla caramels. These vanilla beans are excellent quality.
