Michael Horowitz wrote:

> Good morning George -
>
> The cold plate method would be placing a plate in the freezer
> untill chilled. dropping some of the mix on the platter and seeing if
> it skims over, correct?

Yup.

> The temperature method is based on "if it has a lot of water in it,
> it can't get above 212*, but get rid of the water and you can get to
> 220*; At 220* the mixture will gell", correct?

I usually shoot for 222, pretty sure it will gel at that temp and much
higher and you get leather. The 222 comes from a book I have on
preserving, one of those pretty coffee table things that my sis gave me
several years ago. Pretty flashy but has some sound advice and some
excellent recipes in it. The 222 works for me 99% of the time, the other
times it's by guess and by gosh.

> Finally - the archives describe a simple test for the presence of
> pectin. Is it safe to assume that if one took a sample and found it
> lacking, you could add commercial pectin, stir and retest until you
> got favorable results? - Mike

Yes, you probably could but! I have never added pectin to a marmalade
yet or needed it. Citrus fruit generally has enough pectin to do the job
if you cook it long enough. I don't get in a hurry when I'm making
marmalade, which I will be tomorrow. Tomorrow I will be making kumquat
marmalade and figure it will take at least a couple of hours prep time
and maybe that long to cook it and can it.

> PS - You don't happen to have a brother named Doug do you?
>

Nope, no brothers at all. Shirley is a fairly common name in the US,
I've found some about everywhere I've gone. Some are kin, some aren't,
thank goodness. What's the old saying: "You can choose your friends but
you can't choose your relatives." I have way too many cousins. <VBG>
> George Shirley > wrote:
>
>
>>Cut it in half Mike, won't hurt a thing. The way I make marmalade, and
>>I'm sure others do the same, is cooking it down to the proper
>>temperature and/or using the cold plate or spoon method to check for
>>consistency.