56 
SPICES 
CHAP. 
four hours afterwards the smaller beans are taken out, 
and twelve hours later the larger ones. During this 
process the vanilla has sweated and acquired a fine 
chestnut colour. Now they have to be dried. 
The pods are spread on matting and exposed every 
day to the sun for nearly two months. When the drying 
is nearly complete, sun heat is no longer required, and 
the pods are spread out in a dry place till they are 
sufficiently dry. They are then tied in bundles for 
market. 
This process has been employed successfully at 
Eeunion for some years, says Delteil. It requires some 
judgment and skill in the baking process, as vanilla 
from dry places should have a higher temperature in 
the oven than those from wet localities. The time that 
the pods must be left in the oven also depends on the 
number of bundles and the size of the pods. 
4. The Boiling Water Process. — This has given good 
results in Eeunion. Large iron cauldrons full of water 
are put on the fire, and as soon as the water is nearly 
boiling, at about 194° Fahr., the pods are lowered into 
it in cylindrical baskets of rattan. Sometimes they are 
dipped only once for fifteen to twenty seconds, at other 
times they are dipped and taken out again two or three 
times, remaining three or four seconds in the hot water 
each time. After this the baskets are emptied on tables 
covered with black cloth, or on mats to drain. When 
all the pods have been scalded they are piled together, 
covered up and put in an oven for a quarter of an hour. 
They are then spread on tables covered with blankets, 
and exposed to the sun until two or three o’clock, and 
afterwards rolled up in the blankets and transferred to 
a shut-up room, where they will keep warm till the next 
day, or they can be put in cases lined with wool, where 
they can retain their heat longer. This is continued 
for four, -six, or eight days, according to the weather. 
During the process the pods are examined from time to 
time, and those that have reached the stage at which 
further heat would hurt them are taken out. 
