Ruben Porto

Hi guys, does anyone have a good sugar/water/total solids ratio for sorbet? I'm working with 34% total solids, 65% and 15% sugar content. Texture has been smooth but a bit chewy; I think the water content needs to be slightly higher. Would be interesting to see what everyone else is doing with sorbet. I don't think it's caught on here in the UK as much as ice cream. Many thanks in advance.

Hi Bojana, The primary reason that I heat my ice cream mix to 71.4°C for 60 minutes is to reduce the water content, thereby increasing the percentage of protein in the mix. Protein in ice cream is a very very good thing. The second reason for heating the mix is to promote reversible protein denaturation, which improves texture. Heating the milk, or cream, above about 71.4°C will lead to irreversible protein denaturation, which is detrimental to the foaming and emulsifying characteristics of protein. This is why I wouldn't recommend reducing milk or cream on high heat. I guess you could add skim milk powder to your mix to increase the protein content. This would make reducing the water content in a mix a little less important. You could then heat the mix sous vide to about 71.4°C to promote reversible protein denaturation. I haven't tried heating an ice cream mix sous vide before so I don't know whether it works. Would be great to hear from anyone who has prepared an ice cream mix sous vide.

Hi Jo, I'm glad your ice cream turned ok well. Many many thanks for the temperature controlled stirring hot plate suggestion. I have been looking for a long time for a way of making the heating process less boring and the closest I came was a $17,000 ice cream pasteuriser; your suggestion is a lot more helpful! A temperature controlled hot plate will be my next investment so many thanks. You mentioned in your first post that it took you a while to get the mix up to 71.4°C. If you are using a low heat to get the mix up, I recommend trying a medium heat. You want to get the mixture above 65°C as quickly as possible in order to limit the time that the mix spends between 5 and 65°C, the range at which bacteria are likely to multiply and impart an unpleasant flavour. Just make sure that you continually stir the mix to prevent the yolks from curdling. Also, it's a good idea to mix the sugar and yolks together before you add the milk and cream; I find that this too helps prevent the yolks from curdling. Thanks again for the feedback and let me know if you need any help. All the best, Ruben

Hi everyone! I'm the chap from http://icecreamscience.com/. I hope the website helps but feel free to send me a message if you need a hand. It would be great to get your feedback JoNorvelleWalker on how your ice cream turned out. All the best, Ruben