Go to the Recipe: Super Lemon Sorbet
Very excited to give this a try in my creami.
Is it possible to skip/substitute the stabilizers if I plan to respin (for texture) in the creami every time? I didn't have a lot of luck trying to find these stabilizers last summer in Toronto.
Is invert sugar a possibility?
Ah great question Adrian. I'm sure we can find a substitute for you. What stabilizers do you have access to in the great North!?
Do you have access to any of these? Once we have a list of the ones you can easily get I can share some percentages.
The more dairy-free dessert options I can make for my lovely wife, the better. Keep ‘em coming guys!
In step 3, you cook the base including the lemon juice. In some of your other sorbet recipes, you cook the stabilizers, sugar, and water together and then add the volatile ingredients after to preserve as much fresh flavor as possible. I'm curious if you tried that approach here and didn't see much of a difference.
Also I think you might be missing a step, don't you need to blend the base to homogenize the pith?
hi Adrian, I think guar, locust bean, and xanthan gums are all readily available on Amazon, or barring that, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen at least some of those at Loblaws or Whole Foods, as they are commonly used in gluten-free baking. Health food sections or stores are also good places to look. Pretty sure Bob's Red Mill sells a bunch of gums too.
Hey chefsteps, I have a milk protein allergy so I’ve been looking for a great (meaning, comparable to a gelateria) lemon sorbet recipe for decades. Some are good, but they tend to lack creaminess. I’d like to try yours but guar and locust bean gums (galactosaccharides) upset my stomach. Can you suggest a replacement? Availability is not an issue - I will go to the ends of the earth to be able to make my own great lemon sorbet.
Hey Nicholas, really appreciate the reply! I checked again and it seems that availability on amazon has actually improved this year so I will in fact try the recipe as written.
But perhaps you can help me understand stabilizers a bit more theoretically. Is there any reference you would recommend for learning more about them and/or making substitutes? For someone with a creami who's just getting into making ice cream, I'd be open to investing in a few of these and making reasonable swaps across different recipes (that are often very prescriptive about which to use).
Also, if I do plan to respin in the creami every time I'm going to eat (for texture), does that change the stabilizer requirements much? I'm guessing I would be able to omit ones that mostly focus on softness and keep ones that fundamentally change texture/mouthfeel? Or maybe it doesn't work this way and I'm oversimplifying? Would love your thoughts! The creami is amazing.
Hi Folks. This looks wonderful, but I'd just as soon not buy a pile of separate stabilizers and instead just get the "ice cream stabilizer blends" you mentioned. Is there some sort of calculus for substituting? There are "ice cream stabilizers", "gelato stabilizers", and "sorbet stabilizers". Thanks in advance—this sounds great in a creami!
Looking forward to comparing this to Polar Ice Creamery's version on YouTube.
After so many years i have been heard. Pacojet usable guidance - i love it - Amen
Check out the Polar Ice Creamery channel on YouTube. He has consulted for hundreds of ice cream shops and he goes into all this in detail.
Also, Modernist Pantry sells their "Perfect" stabilizer mixes for ice cream, gelato, sorbet.
Why not use carboxymethylcellulose instead of LBG since it can hydrate at room temp? Or is there some other reason for cooking the base?
Im guessing you are missing a step if you aren't using a Ninja or Pacojet. The bits of pith were so terribly off putting when we made this in our countertop ice cream maker. Am I missing something, was this supposed to be blended before freezing?
Followed the recipe as written and the texture was pretty good but it was very bitter.
OMG This was amazing thank you!
I have the same question as JackL. What happens if you add the volatile ingredients (such as the lemon zest, and perhaps at least a portion of the lemon juice AFTER cooking the base? Would that yield a more vibrant flavor?
I did some trials with adding the zest and the pitch after the cook and I didn't notice a difference. I also tried adding the lemon juice after the cook but found the texture of the sorbet suffered.
Hey Paul, are you wonder what your favorite blend is? The ratios and %'s for substituting in those blends are usually listed on the packages.
I bet you could make a good sorbet using carboxymethylcellulose (CMC). But LBG is the G.O.A.T for sorbets in my opinion. LBG gives a unique SLIGHT chew to sorbet that is hard to replicate with any other hydrocolloid. I do have some experience with carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) we're using it in a vegan ice cream base we have. I use it more with "leaner" low-fat ice cream basis not sorbets. The main functional benefit of CMC is emulsifying and acting as stabilizer to prevent large ice crystals. Though the CMC with help thicken, trap air, and improve mouth feel. The inulin in my recipe is serving some similar functions.
Personally I don't think it does. You can totally add the zest and the pith after and blend it into the chilled base. BUT I would not add the juice after because it won't have had LBG hydrated in it and you will have a icy texture with an inconsistent texture.
Too bitter for you?
Hey Chris, I'll need to do a couple trials to find a substitution that results in a similar texture. I think we would want to play with CMC, inulin, starch, xanthan, and/or pectin.
I had the same experience using my countertop ice cream machine to finish. The pith especially just ruined the texture. I decided to melt the sorbet at room temperature, strain through wire mesh, then cool everything and run it back through my ice cream maker. I lso aadded an extra 20g dextrose FWIW, the original was too bitter for me and my guests.
I was very happy with the resulting sorbet, both texture and taste. Will definitely make this again but with the mixture strained after cooking to remove all solids.
Guessing there is no way around the inulin to get the creamy texture? Huge no no to folks following FODMAP diet.
Dextrose and inulin…yet two more ingredients that’ll sit in cabinet for years after using them once in pursuit of trying a new recipe.
I made this with Meyer lemons, and it turned out perfectly. I’m super-impressed by the texture this recipe achieves in my Ninja Creami, and I’m going to try adapting the same mix of stabilizers to a watermelon lime sorbet recipe I’ve been developing. Thanks for the inspiration!
The bitter element was pretty polarizing—I liked the edge, but not everyone was into it. If I wanted to mellow it out a bit by removing the pith, are there other adjustments I’d need to make?
@chris_solomon check out under-belly.org for some great breakdowns on stabilizers. I’ve used a CMC/Guar/lambda carrageenan mix with good success, you can read up there to decide what to swap the guar out with
@nicholas.gavin
several other commenters have asked but it doesn’t look like this has been addressed: if not using a Paco or Creami, and just using a standard ice cream machine, should the recipe include a blending step to homogenize the pith, or is intended to be spun with chunks of diced pith?
Went off script a bit but I am super pleased with the results. Limes were on sale, so I subbed them on instead of lemons. I skipped the pith and added 10 makrut like leaves while heating the base...I stupidly just roughly chopped them so i had to strain them out after, which meant i also strained out the zest.
However, after spinning in the creami, the results were incredible. Texture is the standout, but it tastes like a "super" like. The citrus freaks in my household love it; I found it a bit too tart, but if you serve a scoop with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream alongside the combo is incredible.
Don't skip chilling the serving vessel!!!
I just made both. They're sitting in my freezer, waiting to spin. I will say, tho, that the recipes seem DRASTICALLY different in acidity levels. The Polar recipe calls for 75g of lemon juice, 1000+mL water, and 2g citric. I had to read it twice to make sure it was right! CS on the other hand calls for 300g juice, 2g citric, and 400g water. The bases taste QUITE different from one another. So even if both end up being 'good', they are quite different beasts.
Happy to hear it worked out well! Simply omitting the pith is all you need to do, no adjustments needed.
Sorry for the late reply. For a standard table top ice cream machine I like to leave the chunks in the base. I absolutely love the texture of them in the smooth base once frozen. That being said you can absolutely pulse the base/pith with an immersion blender before spinning. Also if anyone wants to remove the bitter component from the sorbet they can omit the pith without making any substitutions!
I love the scoop with a scoop situation you got going on there buddy.
