Sorbet-making for nerds
The magic number for sugar concentration in sorbet is 37%. That concentration of sugar gives the right texture (niether too icey, nor too sticky-syrupy).
When making a fruit juice sorbet, a hydrometer is an extremely helpful tool for obtaining the right sugar concentration. With a little algebra, it’s possible to account for the sugar already in the fruit juice, and thus add exactly the right amount of additional sugar to obtain 37% sugar weight/volume. (Assuming 1.4 kg sugar raises the volume by 1 litre works well.)
My approach is:
Cold-extract fresh fruit juice.
Measure specific gravity of juice.
Calculate required sugar addition to raise sugar concentration to 37%.
Add sugar to the minimum volume of juice possible required to dissolve the sugar (using half the volume of juice on hand is usually fine). Dissolve over gentle heat. (By not dissolving the added sugar in water, the juice is not diluted and flavour is maximised.)
Blend back the fruit syrup with the remaining juice.
Proceed as usual, getting as much air into the sorbet as possible, minimising the ice crystals, etc.
Measuring the specific gravity of pink grapefruit juice
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