Sorbet making with hydrometer
March 11, 2011 6:06 AM Subscribe
Help me use a hydrometer to make the perfect sorbet
Sorry I'm a home brewer but not a chemist. . .so
I was using a hydrometer to make sorbet last night. . as I used a can of lychees I was unsure of what the sugar content was. . . I blended the can, strained through fine mesh . . . then took readings adjusting for temperature. the goal was about 25%-35% sugar by weight based on specs for sorbets from On Food and Cooking . . so then using this calculator. . I figured I needed a gravity reading about 1.11 - 1.16 (@60F) which would yield a 25-35% "Actual Original Extract" . . I assumed here that AOE is essentially sugar content but I couldn't find many places online that confirmed it. . . I added sugar to the warmed liquid until I got that reading. it turned out ok but my questions are:
Is "actual original extract" as noted on that calculator equivalent to % of sugar by weight?
Does a gravity reading only measure sugar content? I didn't strain it too fine, so there was a bit of fruit particulate in the extract, would that affect gravity readings? I understand gravity is a measurement of fluid density, not sure how suspended fruit particulate affect that??
Sorry I'm a home brewer but not a chemist. . .so
I was using a hydrometer to make sorbet last night. . as I used a can of lychees I was unsure of what the sugar content was. . . I blended the can, strained through fine mesh . . . then took readings adjusting for temperature. the goal was about 25%-35% sugar by weight based on specs for sorbets from On Food and Cooking . . so then using this calculator. . I figured I needed a gravity reading about 1.11 - 1.16 (@60F) which would yield a 25-35% "Actual Original Extract" . . I assumed here that AOE is essentially sugar content but I couldn't find many places online that confirmed it. . . I added sugar to the warmed liquid until I got that reading. it turned out ok but my questions are:
Is "actual original extract" as noted on that calculator equivalent to % of sugar by weight?
Does a gravity reading only measure sugar content? I didn't strain it too fine, so there was a bit of fruit particulate in the extract, would that affect gravity readings? I understand gravity is a measurement of fluid density, not sure how suspended fruit particulate affect that??
Response by poster: This is the one I used and it was not near the end.
posted by patrad at 9:49 AM on March 11, 2011
posted by patrad at 9:49 AM on March 11, 2011
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Was the measure you got at the very end of the scale on your hydrometer? I've been trying to get a syrup hydrometer to measure syrups in the bar.
A hydrometer measures the ratio of density of the solution, specified against the density of water (where water is set to equal 1.0) [lab supply]. There exist hydrometers calibrated for various solutions [wikipedia]. When using a hydrometer in brewing and winemaking, we assume for simplicity's sake that the solution is only sugar in water. Even though we can generally see particulate matter in the sample.
posted by Prince_of_Cups at 9:16 AM on March 11, 2011