I want vanilla beans. I love the look and the taste in recipes. As with most things...I need to get them online. What do you recommend? As in...what's the difference in the types?
I found a place with bottles of paste where 1 tbsp = 1 bean. This seems so much easier...anyone ever try it?
Thanks!
I also like vanilla beans and the paste. Either one just gives a great flavor! I found a great deal on a bottle of vanilla paste at Ross'. 
I still buy vanilla beans but for other cooking purposes now. For baking vanilla paste is the cats meow if you can get your hands on the good stuff.
You can also make your own, just like you can vanilla or vanilla sugar, but sometimes buying it's just so much easier.
I buy the beans so I can make vanilla essence aswell. Any beans that I scrape for the seeds, I add to the bottle of vodka so that none of the bean ever goes to waste.
I buy mine of eBay, but I'm from the UK so that may not be relevant. Have a look and see
found an ebay store that specializes in vanilla beans.
http://stores.ebay.com/vanillaproductsusa
read a review on them and one person said that they got the pound of madagascar beans and there were approx. 115 beans in the pound. this is the cheapest i have ever seen the beans.
I use vanilla bean paste all the time and love it! I am curious as to how you use a vanilla bean, do you grind it up? I know you would probably soak the bean in alcohol for vanilla extract like some others mentioned. How would you use it in a cake or cookies? Are there any other fun things to use them in? Just curious.... 
When I order, I receive a vacuum sealed pack of 100 beans. What you do is take them out of the pack, wrap them up in cling film (saran) in bunches of 5 or 10 (I pull the saran quite tight around them), you then put them in a sealable jar eg screw top (I use an old coffee jar) then keep them in a dark cupboard. Any time you use them you take out one of the bunches, take out what you need and re wrap them.
To use vanilla beans you run your knife down the length of it, try not to cut the bean in half. Then flip the knife over and use the back of the knife to scrape the beans out. Add the seeds to whatever your making. I find the seeds work best in items you cook, eg baking or infused into milk over the hob. I use the homemade vanilla essence for things that aren't cooked eg buttercreams.
When I make vanilla essence I get a bottle of vodka and add the beans to it (cut length ways but not scraped) there is a recipe for how many beans per cl of vodka but I just go by what looks right. Just google homemade vanilla essence. I then leave it in a cupboard and shake it once a week. I add my leftover beans to it whenever I have any. It'll take at least 3 months to "mature". I like to leave it about 5-6 months. When you use a bit I top it up with vodka so that all the beans are covered. Obviously it'll make it weaker so you have to find the balance. I like to have a bottle "maturing" whilst I am using another one.
Hope that all makes sense and helps
When I order, I receive a vacuum sealed pack of 100 beans. What you do is take them out of the pack, wrap them up in cling film (saran) in bunches of 5 or 10 (I pull the saran quite tight around them), you then put them in a sealable jar eg screw top (I use an old coffee jar) then keep them in a dark cupboard. Any time you use them you take out one of the bunches, take out what you need and re wrap them.
To use vanilla beans you run your knife down the length of it, try not to cut the bean in half. Then flip the knife over and use the back of the knife to scrape the beans out. Add the seeds to whatever your making. I find the seeds work best in items you cook, eg baking or infused into milk over the hob. I use the homemade vanilla essence for things that aren't cooked eg buttercreams.
When I make vanilla essence I get a bottle of vodka and add the beans to it (cut length ways but not scraped) there is a recipe for how many beans per cl of vodka but I just go by what looks right. Just google homemade vanilla essence. I then leave it in a cupboard and shake it once a week. I add my leftover beans to it whenever I have any. It'll take at least 3 months to "mature". I like to leave it about 5-6 months. When you use a bit I top it up with vodka so that all the beans are covered. Obviously it'll make it weaker so you have to find the balance. I like to have a bottle "maturing" whilst I am using another one.
Hope that all makes sense and helps
Great information! Thanks for taking the time to explain, I am definitely going to experiment!
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