<p>Oregon Spice Whole Vanilla Beans. Pods.</p> <p>A 7 to 9 inch vanilla bean will weigh approximately 5 grams and will yield about 1 gram or 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla seeds. Half that amount should be enough to give flavor to a recipe for 4 to 5 people. Remember that the vanilla seeds are the essence and flavor of the vanilla, so it is important that the skin be as thin as possible. You want a &#8220;plump&#8221; bean with a thin skin; you want lots of seeds with little moisture. By gently squeezing the bean between your fingers, you can tell how thick or thin the bean is. When the seeds are scraped out, they should come off the skin easily, and no mush residue should be present. If you see so called &#8220;sugar crystals&#8221; coming out of the bean, use, then do not discard the bean &#8212; they are pure vanilla crystals.</p>