How To Scrape A Vanilla Bean
How To Safely Cut A Vanilla Bean
Cutting your vanilla bean to get to the dark flavorful seeds inside is simple and only requires a paring knife. The fresher the bean, the easier the job. I didn’t use the freshest bean in these photos and it was still easy to do.
Lay the bean on a cutting surface so that it lays on the flattest side.
Take a paring knife and start at one end using only the tip of the knife.
I slowly pull the knife down the body of the bean rocking it a little in an up-down motion to make sure that I’m getting through the skin on the back.
The tips are tougher so starting and ending your cut on either side of the tips will make it easier.
Slowly follow the shape of the bean, keeping your knife tip as close to the center as possible. If you start to veer a little to one edge, turn the tip more toward the center and keep going.
Should you slip and cut a piece before you get to the end…no worries! Simply place the tip back where you left off and continue. You can still scrape the inside of all pieces.
After you have your bean cut in half, you can see the tiny seeds inside that you’ll want to scrape out.
Scraping A Vanilla Bean
You can either scrape the seeds into a bowl or directly into your recipe.
Since it tends to stick to everything, including the knife tip, I usually scrape it right into my custard base to make sure I get it all. You may prefer to scrape it into a bowl first so that any small splinters from the outer hull can be removed before using it in your recipe but if some do make it in, they soften easily and won’t hurt your recipe.
That’s all there is to it! Just move your knife slowly down the bean, carefully scrape the seeds out of the inside, and your done!