How can I make sorbet without a recipe? I would like to be able to make sorbet with whatever ingredients I have on hand without always looking up a recipe. I understand that it's important to get the correct balance of sugar, liquid, and other ingredients for the end product to have the right texture.

There seem to be a couple options for testing your sorbet mixture: syrup density meters and refractometers. Before I spend money on one of these tools, I'm wondering:


Can I reliably make sorbet without one of these tools?
What techniques do you use to make sorbet with each of these tools?
Are there advantages/disadvantages to one way or another?
What do I need to know about the different scales (Brix, Baumé, specific gravity, other) and what readings should I target?
Are there other things to consider regarding ingredients (purée v. juice, effect of additives such as alcohol, etc.)?
Too much to go into here, but let me refer you to Harold McGee's less well known book, The Curious Cook: More Kitchen Science and Lore, where he has an entire chapter devoted to this topic, complete with tables for a whole bunch of fruits.