Hi, as the price of decent Vanilla extract has skyrocketed, I am looking for a cheaper viable alternative to Neilsen Massey. 

Any tried and tested suggestions? 

Thanks! 

I use McCormick for general baking and homemade for special things.

Cook's Illustrated recently tested a bunch of vanillas, real and imitation.  https://www.cooksillustrated.com/articles/1345-in-search-of-the-best-vanilla

The overall winner was the super cheap Baker's Imitation Vanilla Flavor. I just can't bring myself to use it.

They said the top pure extract is the Simply Organic brand. I've tried this one, and thought it was flavorless.

I think one great idea is to pray for good weather and a hearty crop — a cyclone hit Madagascar last year and demand has been increasing anyway with manufacturers trying to be more responsible with using real ingredients — no es bueno 

The best alternative that I've found is plain, ole McCormicks, but it sure isn't cheaper!  After trying several different ones, I bit the bullet and order the quart bottle of Neilsen-Massey.  I had to use four times as much of the other brands, which made it just as expensive anyway.

K8memphis, so that’s reason for the crazy prices. Will pray for better weather in Madagascar!

yes it is, lyndim — and ironically right after I posted I saw a tv commercial for beer of all things really pushing the “no artificial anything”  slogan — not that they use vanilla in beer but actually it might be an improvement hahaha

I  don't know whether you guys get it across the pond but I have found Dr Oetkars vanilla bean paste great for sponges and fillings. Go careful on decorative frosting through as it does leave the buttercream speckled.

I  don't know whether you guys get it across the pond but I have found Dr Oetkars vanilla bean paste great for sponges and fillings. Go careful on decorative frosting through as it does leave the buttercream speckled.

I have always used McCormick, but one day when I was going to buy two bottles at my local grocer I saw a bottle by Morton & Basset Spices.  The M&B Spices bottle was a few dollars less expensive than 2 bottles of McCormick for the same amount of product so I figured I would give it a whirl.  Haven't really been able to tell the difference between the two types of extracts in my finished products which is nice.  But as a Maryland gal it is just down right hard not to use McCormick since the company was founded in Baltimore.

I know everyone thinks Neilsen-Massey is very expensive, but the first time I ordered it, I compared the price to the big bottle of McCormicks I had in the pantry and - surprise, surprise - the McCormick was four times more per ounce!  That settled it for me, so I order the NM by the quart.

Where do you buy your Nielsen-Massey?

I ordered it from King Arthur Flour.  I used to buy it from Chef's, but they are no longer in business.

Thank you.

right now two pints, a qt, of mccormack is $70 — 

a nielsen massey  quart of unspecified vanilla is is $109 on amazon

king arthur is $129 for a quart of madagascar vanilla amazon is is $139 —

I've never been impressed with Nielsen Massey (I know, that's not normal) and I prefer powdered vanilla flavoring anyway.  I was looking on Amazon at the prices of different powders and it seems that the average price is somewhere around $3.00-3.50 an ounce with some as low as $.59 an ounce. Except for Nielsen Massey - theirs is $13.00+ per ounce. Definitely not worth the exorbitant price as far as I'm concerned.

I did pay $135.00 ($4.20 per ounce) for my quart of Neilson-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla from King Arthur Flour.  The comparison I made was years ago, when the same bottle was $35 dollars and my McCormick came from Food Lion.  It was literally four times as much, per ounce, at the time.  I don't have any McCormick's for comparison currently.  I also have part of a 32 ounce bottle of Sysco Imperial Pure Vanilla Extract, which I purchased from a restaurant supply store for around $80.  It is not worth a fig!  Has practically no flavor at all.

Double fold (double strength) Madagascar bourbon pure vanilla

it's expensive, the different brands have been all good so far.  As I bake to please myself to my own taste, I'm contented to pay the enormous price. Especially when people say, "my stuff never taste this good and I used that same recipe."  Well, yes.  However they don't use the same expensive ingredients either.

Just to confirm my absolute favorite vanilla extract...………….  I was running out of the expensive 'Penzys'  Double fold (double strength) Madagascar bourbon pure vanilla.  It's now about $50 for 4 ounces. 

So I bought some 'Loran' Double fold (double strength) Madagascar bourbon pure vanilla, less expensive and should be the same. $32 for 4 ounces. 

It's not as flavorful.  No matter what I've purchased nothing compares to the 'Penzys' vanilla.  You'd have to make your own homemade vanilla to get the strength and intensity that you get with Penzys.   It may not be that noticeable in anything other than frosting, but It's superb in SMBC and really makes a big difference. 

MBalaska .... I completely agree. Penzeys is all I use. Expensive but i try to factor that in to pricing. The double strength vanilla is the best I’ve even tasted and it makes a huge difference. I think you can even taste the difference in the cake as well. 

But I don’t know how widespread Penzeys is..... 

at $50 for a half a cup (4 oz.) of extract, I doubt that it's too popular or well known.  Not too long ago I was paying that much for 16 oz. 

I've never tried the Penzey's double strength Madagascar bourbon pure vanilla.  I've used several of the quart bottles of Neilson-Massey Madagascar bourbon pure vanilla and I can tell a huge difference in both the cake and frosting.  Now I am dying to give the Penzey's a try.

https://www.penzeys.com/online-catalog/vanilla-double-strength/c-24/p-1519/pd-s

planning on using the Lorans dbl vanilla for all my baking, & save the Penzy's for ice cream, pudding & frosting. 

Bump 

in other vanilla news I bought a two ounce bottle of Watkins vanilla powder for ten bucks at wal mart -- and I am surprised at the price with sky high vanilla prices I expected it would be higher -- '' the first ingredient is dextrose though so i'd surely rather have something with more vanilla oomph but...I use it rarely so oh well

That's funny @-K8memphis, as I was looking at that vanilla powder on the internet last night.  Thinking that perhaps it would help fill in the void of the super expensive vanilla that I love.  It was surprising to see that either dextrose or maltodextrin was the main ingredients.  

.

I wouldn't really be concerned, those are normally used as anti-caking ingredients and fillers for things that highly concentrated to make them easier to measure.

thatcakedude— yes of course but for example the Nielsen Massey powder is a half ounce more, 2.5 oz and it sells for $27 — so just makes you wonder how much vanilla you’re really getting for the ten bucks I paid for the Watkins — yes those additives are necessary to make it a useable powder but the low price makes the intensity/quality suspect — kwim

also — the other bottle of nm vp I bought was $17 — but I can’t remember if that included shipping — I don’t think it did

Agreed -K8memphis, It's the cost that's the concern, not the ingredients in powdered vanilla sugar.  One of my favorite candies, Original SweetTARTS, has as the first ingredients dextrose & maltodextrin.  I love those little sugar bombs to pieces.  However, you do not pay $20 for one single roll of candy  sugar bombs.  It's $25 for a box of 36 rolls.  

""""Vanilla bean prices have soared because of a shortage in Madagascar. The island country has more than three-quarters of the world’s vanilla fields.""""

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/vanilla-bean-shortage-madagascar-drives-up-us-prices/