oak chips & vanilla bean to secondary

going to move a whiskey barrel stout to the secondary today. calls for the oak chips to be boiled for 5 minutes to be sterlized. Can I add the vanilla bean to the same pot ,boil with the chips and then add all of the liquid along with the chips I will be placing them in a small grain bag ) should i soak the bean in a shot of bourbon before I boil.
thanks steve

Don't boil the bean. You'll get a much different flavor if you do. I would also hold off on adding a vanilla bean to the batch. You'll get vanilla flavor from the chips in a few months. So unless you want even MORE vanilla in it, I'd not use it (at all).

How long are you going to condition your beer? I agree with not boiling the vanilla -- just soak it in some bourbon. Remember to split the beans lengthwise and scrape everything into the bourbon, then dump it all in.

call for 4 weeks in secondary

should i leave it longer. its a brewers best kit

You want to be careful how long you keep your beer in contact with oak and vanilla. The best suggestion is periodically to taste it, and take it out of secondary when you have the flavors you want.

For me, a month is a good starting point for oak. BUT, I'm using Hungarian oak CUBES. Very different product. I did use some American (or was it French?) oak the first time I added any to a batch. I'd have to look back through my notes to see how long I left it there. I DO know that the oak flavor was really nice early on, but 2-3 months later it had changed to VANILLA!! No vanilla was used in the batch. This is why I caution you on using both items in a batch.

Thanks I will taste it after 2 weeks and go from there