  We present a new procedure able to identify and measure the critical
temperature. This method is based on the divergence of the relaxation time
approaching the critical point in quenches from infinite temperature. We
introduce a dimensionless quantity that turns out to be time-independent at the
critical temperature. The procedure does not need equilibration and allows for
a relatively fast identification of the critical temperature. The method is
first tested in the ferromagnetic Ising model and then applied to the
one-dimensional Ising spin glass with power-law interactions. Here we always
find a finite critical temperature also in presence of a uniform external
field, in agreement with the mean-field picture for the low temperature phase
of spin glasses.
