Vanilla planifolia 2004
January 3, 2004.
First vanilla flower spike appears. Three more spikes appeared shortly thereafter, but because of illness I was only able to pollinate most of the first and some of the 2nd.
February 21, 2004.
Started pollination, finished in April. (To see the page on how to pollinate a vanilla flower, see Pollinating a Vanilla Flower.
December 2, 2004
A mixed bag for ripeness. Some of the greener pods might not quite be ready, but the yellower pods should have been picked a few weeks ago. There are even 3 brown pods on this spike, one very dry and hard, one totally brown but still soft, one half yellow and half brown. Pods should be picked when they show the first hint of yellow color on them, or around 9 months of being on the stem. Notice the mold on the leaves and beans from the honeydew the beans produced.
December 2, 2004
The unwashed beans still on the cut spikes. (I rinsed the beans off in cold water to remove any honeydew mold) Note the all-brown pod in the center of the picture. This one is still soft and pliable and has a nice vanilla scent, though not strong.
December 2, 2004
I cut the soft brown bean open. The inside was still quite moist and fragrant. However, after tasting it, the vanilla flavor was rather weak. Nice crunchy seeds.
December 2, 2004
After rinsing, the beans are placed in a pot of boiling water for 3 minutes. Sometimes the water will smell quite sugary, but this time it smelled more like an orchid flower.
December 2, 2004
The beans are drained and placed on a paper towel to dry for a few moments. The beans turn a slightly brownish-green color.
December 2, 2004
While still almost too hot to handle, the dried beans are placed in a sealed plastic bag, which is placed on a folded towel, which is placed on an electric heating blanket set on LOW, which is placed on a griddle pan (to protect the table underneath from any accidents).
December 2, 2004
The towel is folded over the plastic bag of beans and the heating pad rolled and clipped together. The aim here is to try to keep the beans at slightly higher than body temperature (perhaps 100 degrees F.?) to sweat, but not bake. The beans are supposed to sweat for one to three days, according to an article in the December 2004 Orchids Magazine.
December 6, 2004
After 4 days, the beans are still rather green. Turned the heating pad up to high heat (measured at 130 degrees F. right next to the beans).
December 9, 2004
The beans are still more green than brown, but I don't want to bake them further. Note that the towel the beans are resting on is yellow, not white (for color reference). Now the slow drying process starts. Orchids Magazine says that the beans are spread out in the sun where they become warm, sometimes almost too hot to handle, during the day. Being winter in this part of the world, I just unfolded the towel to one layer on top of the heating pad, and turned the heating pad up to high. During the night, I'll place a single layer of the towel over the top of the beans (in addition to the single layer that's underneath them) and turn the heating pad on low. Then will repeat this process every day. The magazine says this slow drying process should continue for two to three months.
December 12, 2004
This doesn't look promising. All but 3 of the beans have dried way too fast, a couple of them actually crispy. I'm thinking I should have only sweated the beans for 1 day, 2 maximum, even if they ended up more green than brown as the magazine stated. However, the 3 largest beans are developing more of a vanilla aroma. I'm keeping all the beans in an unsealed plastic bag (to allow for humidity but still get some air in the bag), on one layer of towel with another layer of towel on top for warmth, and the heating pad turned back down to medium.
January 5, 2005
A failure. The beans dried out too quickly again and smelled more like dried plant matter than vanilla. Many never developed an all-brown color, remaining mostly green.
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