Frozen Desserts 28°Bx

Sorbet Sugar & Brix Calculator

Sorbet texture comes down to sugar. Choose your fruit (or enter its Brix), and see how much sugar to add for smooth, scoopable sorbet, with optional dextrose for a softer scoop.

How to use it

Choose the fruit, or enter its Brix from a refractometer.
Enter the weight of purée or juice, any water, and the texture you want.
Dissolve the sugar, mix, chill well and churn.

How it works

Sorbet freezes well at about 25 to 31°Brix (25 to 31% sugar). Fruit already contains sugar, from about 7°Brix for lime juice to 22 for banana, so the calculator adds only the difference: sugar = (target × (fruit + water) − fruit Brix × fruit) ÷ (100 − target).

Dextrose is less sweet than sugar but lowers the freezing point more, so swapping a quarter of the sugar for it gives a softer sorbet that isn't sweeter.

Assumptions and limits

Fruit Brix values are typical for ripe fruit; ripeness and variety change them, so measure when you can.
Citrus juices need water to balance their acidity.

Tips

A clean raw egg in its shell floats with a quarter-size circle showing at about 28°Brix.
A squeeze of lemon and a pinch of salt make fruit taste brighter.
Serve sorbet a few minutes out of the freezer for the best texture.