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Oven Temperature Converter

Convert between Celsius, Fahrenheit and UK gas marks.

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Type a temperature in °C, °F, or a UK gas mark and we'll fill the other two plus the descriptive label. Useful when a recipe gives one and your oven dial shows another - American °F, European °C, British gas mark.

Celsius

180 °C

Fahrenheit

356 °F

Gas mark

4

Oven

moderate

How to use it

  1. Pick a scale

    Tap Celsius, Fahrenheit or Gas mark and type your number.

  2. Read the other scales

    The other two update live. The descriptive label below tells you whether the oven is cool, moderate, hot or very hot.

  3. Adjust for your oven

    Fan oven? Subtract ~20 °C / 35 °F. Old thermostat? Trust an oven thermometer more than the dial.

What is it?

An oven temperature converter translates between the three scales kitchens encounter: degrees Celsius (most of the world), degrees Fahrenheit (United States) and the British gas mark (¼ to 9). The descriptive label - 'cool', 'moderate', 'hot', 'very hot' - is the historical bridge: older cookbooks specified ovens by description, and the gas mark numbers preserve that vocabulary.

When to use it

Whenever a recipe gives one scale and your oven uses another: American recipe at 350 °F on a European dial, British 'gas mark 6' on an American dial, French 180 °C on a UK gas oven. Also for translating older cookbooks that say 'moderate oven' without a number - moderate is ~180 °C / 350 °F / gas mark 4.

Common mistakes

Forgetting fan-vs-conventional - a fan oven at the recipe temperature usually bakes ~25 °C / 35 °F hotter than the recipe expects. Treating 'gas mark 4' as 200 °C (it's 180); same for 'gas mark 7' (it's 220, not 250). And trusting the oven dial: most home ovens drift 10-20 °C off, so an oven thermometer is worth the £10 / $15.

FAQ

Where do gas marks come from?
British gas ovens use a numeric dial from ¼ to 9 instead of marked temperatures. Mark 4 is roughly 180 °C / 350 °F, the most common baking temperature. Each step is ~10 °C / 25 °F apart.
Why does my oven still bake unevenly even at the right temperature?
Domestic oven thermostats drift by 10-20 °C from the dial setting; the temperature is also uneven across the cavity (top usually hotter). An oven thermometer placed on the rack is the fix.
Fan oven vs conventional?
Fan (convection) ovens cook faster - subtract about 20 °C / 35 °F from a conventional recipe, or shorten the time by ~25%. The conversions here assume conventional temperatures.

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