Cooking For Engineers

[CookNewb]

Hello all! Does anyone have any experience using supercritical vanilla extract? If so, how does it taste like? How does the 98% extract taste compared to the lower percentages? Where is the cheapest place to get it?
Thank you for any reply!

[GaryProtein]

^^^^^Is that like the so-called "double strength" vanilla extract?

[CookNewb]

No, supercritical vanilla extract is vanilla extract that has been extracted using supercritical CO2. The supercritical CO2 acts as a solvent to dissolve certain flavor compounds. It does not dissolve resins though so the extract is really pure.

From Wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supercritical_fluid_extraction

Selectivity

The properties of a supercritical fluid can be altered by varying the pressure and temperature, allowing selective extraction. For example, volatile oils can be extracted from a plant with low pressures (100 bar), whereas liquid extraction would also remove lipids. Lipids can be removed using pure CO2 at higher pressures, and then phospholipids can be removed by adding ethanol to the solvent.

[IndyRob]

I've been guilty of using too much normal vanilla extract in the past, so I'm not sure how super-critical (and I assume, intense) vanilla might help me.