One of the reasons I went to culinary school, after working in professional kitchens for a few years, was to have an understanding of why my recipes didn’t always work. Things would succeed if I followed the recipe to the letter, but if I played or strayed at all they would have as much chance of being a disaster as they did a winner.
In culinary school I learned enough about food science to be able to play with recipes or create my own from scratch. I learned why eggs should be warm when you whip them and why you should use low protein flours for cakes and higher ones for breads. They taught me about Brix, Baume and other technical ways to measure sugar in sorbet solutions so they will freeze, but not become a solid brick of ice.
After school, once I could afford it, I bought a Refractometer
So, then what? There is another way to have a greater chance at success than just praying for the best. You can use a method that involves floating an egg in your sorbet. Yep, I said FLOATING AN EGG, the whole thing, in the shell. It needs to be clean and it needs to be fresh. An older egg loses density and will float even if the sugar is too low. This is a cool experiment to do with your kids. As the solution gets more saturated with sugar, the egg is buoyed to the surface. Once the egg is actually floating partially above the surface, about the size of a quarter, the solution has enough sugar to prevent the sorbet from being too icy.
Perhaps not as impressive as whipping out your refractometer, but pretty amazing in a Beakman’s World kind of way and it allows you to make sorbet from just about any juice. Obviously, this will not work with all fruits, banana puree tends to be too thick and the egg, no matter how sweet the solution, will float on the surface. But, for citrus and other thin juices, it is wonderful.
How to Make Sorbet with Fruit Juice
3 cups juice (your choice, just make it a thin one), chilled (if you are using lemon or lime juice, it is too intense all on its own and you should start by diluting it with some water. I usually go with 2 parts juice, 1 part water).
2 cups simple syrup (you won’t use it all, but it is better to have too much, it lasts almost forever), chilled
1 to 2 tablespoons liqueur (this is for flavor, but it also prevents the sorbet from freezing solid. Alcohol won’t freeze, so it is great insurance that you will have a soft sorbet. However, if you add too much sorbet won’t freeze at all and you will basically have a margarita or daiquiri!)
1 very clean, fresh egg (I wash it with dish soap and rinse several times) Check the carton of eggs for a freshness date. Older eggs will float too easily and throw off the effectiveness of this method.
How to make sorbet:
Put your juice in a container that has room to add more liquid and is deep enough that you can submerge an egg. Gently place the egg in the container. At this point it will probably sink straight to the bottom, so don’t just drop it in. If it heads to the bottom, remove it and add about 1/2 cup of the simple syrup. Stir and try the egg again.
This time when you put the egg in it should be suspended in the liquid, maybe not to the surface yet, but hovering just below. Can you see the egg in mine, I am pointing at the faint white spot under the surface. Remove the egg.
Add another 1/2 cup of the simple syrup and stir.
Place the egg in the sorbet, now you can see it starting to emerge. It needs to be about the size of a quarter above the surface to indicate that there is enough sugar in your solution.
Add it a couple of tablespoons at a time until you have the right level.
Once it is floating high enough, add the liquor or liqueur of your choosing.
Freeze the sorbet according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
I freeze a container to the put the sorbet in so it won’t melt when you take it out of the machine. Freeze it immediately.
If the sorbet hardens a bit after being frozen for a couple of days, you can temper it by letting it “warm up” in the refrigerator for 20 minutes before serving.
HINT: the greatest thing about sorbet is it can be frozen, thawed and refrozen over and over. If your sorbet has been in the freezer for a while and is losing its nice texture, just thaw it and return it to the ice cream maker to freeze it again. This way you don’t have to use gums and other stabilizers to insure a great texture.
Recommended book on Sorbet and all things tasty and frozen is by David Lebovitz called The Perfect Scoop!
Enjoy!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 cups juice, chilled Make sure the fruit juice you choose is thin. If using lemon or lime juice, it's too intense on its own so start by diluting it with some water. 2 parts juice, 1 part water is a good starting point.
- 1-2 tbsp liqueur for flavor, but also prevents the sorbet from freezing solid.
- 1 egg make sure it's very clean. I wash and rinse with dish soap several times.
Simple Syrup
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Put your juice in a container that has room to add more liquid and is deep enough that you can submerge an egg. Gently place the egg in the container. At this point it will probably sink straight to the bottom, so don’t just drop it in. If it heads to the bottom, remove it and add about 1/2 cup of the simple syrup. Stir and try the egg again.
- This time when you put the egg in it should be suspended in the liquid, maybe not to the surface yet, but hovering just below. Refer to the step-by-step photos above where I am pointing at the faint white spot under the surface. Remove the egg.
- Add another 1/2 cup of the simple syrup and stir.
- Place the egg in the sorbet, now you can see it starting to emerge. It needs to be about the size of a quarter above the surface to indicate that there is enough sugar in your solution.
- Add simple syrup a couple of tablespoons at a time until you have the right level.
- Once it is floating high enough, add the liquor or liqueur of your choosing.
- Pour into your ice cream maker and proceed according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Tip: I freeze a container to the put the sorbet in so it won’t melt when I remove it from the machine.
- Freeze immediately.
What an awesome trick! I make sorbet a lot in the summer so I will certainly give this a try. Thanks.
What a great post. I love little tips and tricks like this. Bravo!
Can the simply syrup be made using Splenda and how would it effect the sorbet?
Hi Earlene,
This is such an interesting question. I don’t have any experience using Splenda in this kind of recipe? I fear that it will not produce the same density of liquid and will therefore not work in the same way to suspend the egg? Worth a try, but I would try it in a very small batch in case you are not happy with the result.
Thanks, Zoë
What an unbelievably helpful post. Your blog is great! I still kind of want one of those refractometers though…
Madame, floating an egg is much cooler than using a refractometer. It just is. Love it!
Fantastic trick, thank you so much!
Cool trick! I’m excited to try this! Is the liquer necessary? I don’t enjoy the flavor of alcohol and want to share my treats with my toddler!
Hi Maman,
No, you don’t have to use the liqueur, it just gives a little insurance against freezing too hard.
Enjoy with your toddler! Zoë
The pink grapefruit is a gorgeous colour. Thanks for sharing the hint on the syrup/
Thanks for the information about the chinois, Zoe.
I had looked at some in a kitchen store and wondered if you used the stand that comes with some? When is that useful?
Also, do you have the dimensions of the one you have? Gobel didn’t say in the ad. It appears to be the fine mesh, not the little holed type?
Mary
Hi Mary,
A chinois is always very fine meshed. There are also strainers called “China Cap” which are made of perforated metal and tend to be much less expensive, but do not strain quite as much from the liquid.
The stand is helpful when you are trying to hold a heavy pot to pour the liquid out into the chinois. I have never used one, but sometimes wish I had one!
Mine is 8″ across at the top.
Thanks, Zoë
Ciao Zoe, thank you so much for the very useful tip , I can’t wait to show it to my kids !
Zoe,
What brand of chinois do you recommend? Do you have the wooden tapered device that goes with it?
Thanks,
Mary
Hi Mary,
I just put a link to the same one I use in the post, so you can see it. I don’t use the pestle, but I do use the back of a small (2-ounce) ladle.
Thanks, Zoë
YUM! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Zoe, great tip! Thanks for sharing.
Hello Zoe,
How nice of you to share such great tips! I wonder of I thaw the sorbet (for its loss of nice texture), do I need to put them in the ice cream making again or just put it straight back to freezer?
Thank you again. I really love your site!
Hi James and Guzcon,
You will need to refreeze the sorbet in your ice cream machine to get the texture back.
Thanks, Zoë
I was so excited to find this last night after yielding very successful sorbets (strawberry, and pineapple), and two very unsuccessful sorbets (lime, and grapefruit). So, we unfroze, and our liquids test fine using the egg. What dictates the success of refreezing, the stirring action of an ice cream maker, or its icy walls? (We froze each of these in a glass bowl without a lid, so we have multiple potential “issues” I bet!)
Thanks so much, I’m very excited to figure this out!
Two very useful bits of information for me! I’m going to try out the egg thing next time I make sorbet, and I have some past-its-prime sorbet I’ll be refreezing tomorrow!
Wow Zoe! How incredibly cool! I had no idea what a refractometer was, or knew that there was so much science behind sorbets! Fell in love with them after trying Jeni Britton’s sour cherry lambic beer sorbet. Great to know that I can make them with the fruit of my choice, and an egg 😉
Awesome – I was wondering about a technique for keeping sorbet (and ice cream) not too hard. And I’m a sucker for anything involving science! Now you have me wondering why to stop when the egg is just starting to float.
Hi Erica,
If the solution is too saturated with sugar, it will just be runny and not freeze well or will just be cloyingly sweet. This is also true if you add too much alcohol.
Thanks, Zoë
This is a phenomenal tip!! My sorbets tend to come out very icy. Thank you for the info
Thank you so much for realizing that there are those of us out there who hunger for this kind of information, but aren’t able to go to culinary school! I am so jazzed!
What a great post–thanks for this very useful information!
OMG, I never knew this trick, thank you so much Zoe, I learn a lot from you. Can’t wait to make the sorbet in summer.
I think these pictures are stunning…I love the one with the fruit in the basket. Can’t wait to try this – time to take out the chinois and ice cream maker!! Nice job lady…this is really cool. I need all of the help I can get with tricks in the dessert world – this one is right up my alley! 😉
As a home brewer/winemaker I already own a refractometer. What is the measurement range that you are looking for in a sorbet (in Brix or SG)? Are there multiple ranges for different textures? Thanks.
Hi Joshua,
Yes, I was just having this conversation on Twitter with a pastry chef and you do need to understand the fruit and its starch content and other factors, but for most juices you can get away with a straight number. Now, what that number is varies from pastry chef to pastry chef. My instructor at the CIA, who I bought the refractometer from had us using 24 to 26 as the target. I have heard others using an even higher number, up to 30. At that point it is really up to your taste, as long as it is in the range.
Enjoy, Zoë
Hi Joshua,
I just tested this batch of grapefruit and blood orange sorbet with my refractometer and it was at 28, which is right within the range. On the high end, but still in range.
Thanks, Zoë
WOw, this is wonderful! I can;t wait to make some when it gets warmer!
Zoe, we (Greeks) use the same method to get the right amount of salt for brining grape leaves, feta cheese or for olives!
Hi Peter,
That is so cool, I didn’t know that! Thanks for letting me know, I’ll have to give it a try!
Cheers, Zoë