Sorbetto ( Fruit Gelato)

I'm converging on recipes and processes for fruit gelato/sorbetto.  Technically, if it doesn't have dairy, it's a sorbetto, not a gelato; a southern Italian thing, as opposed to the northern thing where dairy rules.

In any case, Cooks Illustrated had a recipe for raspberry sherbet and that clued me in to a couple key facts.  Number 1: pectin is your friend; Number 2: don't churn too long.   I still have my refractometer, but so far, I've been going by taste.

Pectin (of which there is a lot in some fruit, and not much in others) helps maintain the structure so it's creamy and doesn't freeze into fruit icecubes. And, yes, there's  "yellow box" and "pink box" pectin, for "sugar added" and "no sugar added" jelly making.  The former expects to see TONS of sugar (as in cups per pound of fruit) and apparently, there's a whole complex sugar, pectin, gelling chemistry.
Not too much churning, because air whipped into it makes ice foam, not creamy sorbetto.

The goal is saturated taste, and the sobetto not melting into juice when it sits on the plate/bowl. (although Saddle Peak cheats on this by serving their sorbetti on a block of ice with depressions in it).

Strawberries don't have much pectin (as opposed to raspberries, and even less than apples). So I made a first batch with strawberries, sugar, and "add sugar pectin" because that's what I had.  about 5/8 cup sugar for a couple pounds of strawberries.  Zap it in the food processor until smooth, then spend 10 minutes ramming it through the chinois. (something I learned in cooking class at the Athenaeum.. get that little ladle out and beat it through the screen).  It was great, taste wise, but froze rock hard after a day.

Try #2.. got pink box pectin (processed to require less sugar, apparently.. it's on the web, google pectin and you'll find out more than you want to know). Spun up some fresh strawberries (bought yesterday) in the processor, churned it this morning, and it's freezing now.

Also did a raspberry according to the Cooks Illustrated recipe this morning, beating it through the chinois as well.   Just churned it, so it's freezing (curing) now too.

We'll see how it comes out.   Raspberry on the top, Strawberry on the bottom.

Next, up: real gelato with dairy. Caramel, chocolate, vanilla (vaniglia), etc.