I do trust Alton Brown and generally find his recipes reliable. My comments are mainly tweaks. 1) He's sterilizing the jars, which is fine to do but unnecessary. 2) Marmalade lasts a lot more than 6 months on the shelf, though color may darken and flavor will eventually fade. However, a 6-month life is extremely conservative. 3) It seems like a lot of sugar. Not everyone would like their marmalade that sweet. I'm not sure, either, how much sugar would be optimal for blood oranges. 4) His temperature is a bit high. I'd go 221 degrees unless you want a stiffer preserve. At 223 degrees there is a risk of over-cooking and caramelization, especially with all that sugar. Carol

Carol: thanks for your reply. The alternating sugar and fruit made sense, but I was unsure if the sugar was supposed to be adjusted or if the fruit was supposed to be exactly 5 cups, etc. I end up with 5 1/2 cups cooked fruit and used 4 3/4 cups sugar. It tastes great (mixture of Valencias, navels and Meyer lemons). But it looks like I overcooked it as the cooled jam seems a little, um, rubbery. I went to get my thermometer out of the drawer and realized a neighbor still had it from their paneforte adventures at Christmas time. I was sure I could handle the cooking without it as I've not had problems with marmalades before. I used cold plates from the freezer and thought I was almost there. But it looks like was more than almost there. Also, I always have to make peace with the darker color when I use organic natural sugar. It's just not the same as the sparkling jewel tones when using white sugar. I'm definitely doing this recipe again and have to figure out to avoid the overcooking. Thanks again for your help. Kristine

I use the recipe in the "Small Batch Preserving" 4 cups Seville-type oranges (I use Navel) 2 lemons, very thinly sliced 4 cups water 1/4 tsp baking soda 4 cups granulated sugar Remove the thin outer rind from oranges with vegetable peeler and cut into fine strips with scissors or sharp knife or use a zester. Place rind, lemons and water in a very large stainless steel or enamel saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, cover, reduce heat and boil gently for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove and discard remaining white rind from oranges. Cut in half. Place orange halves and juice in a food processor or blender and process until finely chopped. Add chopped pulp and baking soda to lemon mixture in saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat, cover and boil gently for 20 minutes, stirring frequently. Add sugar to fruit mixture. Return to a boil and boil rapidly, uncovered, until mixture will form a "gel", about 20 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove for the heat. Ladle into hot jars and process for 10 minutes. Makes about 6 1/2 cups. Linda

Linda I have a GE Profile Performance w/convection....do you think Id be better off cooking 2 at a time to RARE in the center rack...Id hate to screw this up as this is one of the dishes for DH 40th bash....hate to admit but theres a lot of potential new customers for my business at this party so Id hate for the meat to be overdone. My SIL Rosanna had the same opinon as you RARE...because it will finish its cook on the rack ...Another question as far as the other 2 back up trays (there are 3 trays each will have 2 thinly sliced roasts in each) the staff will be warming all the foods for the party an will set the buffet with one of each tray of foods then there are 2 back ups per rack. How shoul they heat the other 2 in the oven so they will be hot enough for a switch when the 1st pan is done...so not to be overcooked? I sound crazy I know but Im more nervous about this party then any other one I have ever done! Thanks