VANILLA BEANS GRADE AFTER CURING

In these part, i would share about the process after curing vanilla beans.

After curing process, generally about five to seven pounds of green vanilla beans yields one pound of finished product, or about one hundred twenty pounds of finished beans per acre of vanilla vines. When properly cured, vanilla beans should resemble long, very thin cigarillos; supple, very dark brown, a raisin like texture and a somewhat oily sheen. High quality beans may have white crystals of vanillin clingingto the outside, but this is rarely seen today.

The beans should be free of mold and insects. Beans should be less than 25-30% moisture or a greenish-white mold will develop. If mold does develop, it is removed by washing with alcohol in mild cases, or by cutting off the affected portion if severe. The odor of mold from a few beans can permeate an entire box.

This reduces the quality and the value of the beans. After curing, the vanilla beans can be divided into thefollowing four quality grades by appearance (the numbers of, and names given to, these grades differ according to source).

1. Whole beans, no defects', oily sheen, smooth exterior, moist, aromatic, very dark brown.

2. Whole beans, some defects', rough exterior, somewhat reddish color, spotted, dry.

3. Splits; whole split beans.

4. Cuts; beans chopped into 1-2 in. lengths, may include very small whole beans.

The sorted beans are grouped by quality grade, packed loosely or in bundles of 50-100 in tin, wooden or cardboard boxes, sealed and shipped to their destination. The bulk of global vanilla bean trading is handled by only a handful of importer-dealers. Internationally, all beans are traded in the cured form. Locally, many vanilla farmers sell their crops of green beans to regional curing operations, but green beans are not traded internationally.