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Someday, I'm going to learn centigrade conversion . . . (doh! 110C . . . would that be about 230F ?)
I use a candy thermometer, to insure that temperature doesn't rise above 175 degrees Farenheit. (80C??) It's tempting to cook it hotter, as it can take upwards of an hour at this altitude, (5000 feet) and the litharge goes into solution much faster at temps above 175F, but will also turn darker, the hotter it's cooked. The "soup" must be stirred continually to keep the litharge from settling into a solid mass in the bottom of the pan.
The single time I cooked black oil with water, it appeared to me that steam boiling off really improved "agitation" and absorption of the litharge. Of course, there's always some precipitate when the oil cools.
Anyone who's baked a cake at sea-level, then tried it at a higher altitude knows how sensitive differences in ambient pressure and temperature can be. It takes a fair amount of experimentation to come up with an agreeable product!
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