Oven Temperature Converter

About the Oven Temperature Converter

Oven temperatures are given in more ways than any other kitchen measure. American recipes use Fahrenheit. Most of the world uses Celsius. British recipes often add a gas mark, and increasingly a separate figure for fan ovens. Get it wrong and the difference is not subtle: 180 degrees Fahrenheit is barely warm, while 180 degrees Celsius is the classic temperature for baking a cake.

This oven temperature converter translates any of them. Enter a temperature in Fahrenheit, Celsius, fan Celsius or as a gas mark, and it gives the equivalent in every other system — the exact conversion, the rounded figure that recipes actually use, the setting for a fan or convection oven, and the nearest gas mark with its traditional description.

How to Use the Oven Temperature Converter

Enter the temperature from the recipe.

Choose what it is given in: °F, conventional °C, fan °C or gas mark.

For gas marks, enter ¼ as 0.25 and ½ as 0.5.

How Oven Temperatures Are Converted

  °C       =  (°F − 32) × 5 ÷ 9
  °F       =  °C × 9 ÷ 5 + 32
  fan °C   ≈  conventional °C − 20

Gas marks use a standard table rather than a formula.

Step-by-Step Example

350 °F.

  Celsius:   (350 − 32) × 5 ÷ 9      =  176.7 °C  → recipes say 180 °C
  Fan oven:  177 − 20                 =  about 157–160 °C
  Gas mark:                              4 (moderate)

200 °C.

  Fahrenheit: 200 × 9 ÷ 5 + 32       =  392 °F  → recipes say 400 °F
  Fan oven:   200 − 20               =  180 °C
  Gas mark:                             6 (hot)

Oven Temperature Chart

Fan and Convection Ovens

A fan oven — called a convection oven in North America — has a fan that circulates hot air. Moving air transfers heat to food more efficiently, so food cooks faster and more evenly at the same setting. The usual adjustment is to set a fan oven about 20 °C, or 25 °F, lower than a recipe written for a conventional oven, or to keep the temperature and shorten the time.

Modern recipes often give both figures, such as "180 °C (160 °C fan)". If only one is given and you are not sure which, a recipe from the UK or Europe published in recent years often assumes a fan oven; an older recipe, or one from the US, usually assumes a conventional oven.

Why Recipes Use Round Numbers

The exact conversion of 350 °F is 176.7 °C, but no recipe asks for that. Home ovens are not accurate to a degree — many run 10 °C or more hotter or cooler than the dial says, and temperatures swing as the thermostat switches the heat on and off. Recipe writers therefore round to the nearest 5 or 10 degrees. Using 180 °C for 350 °F makes no practical difference.

Checking Your Oven

If bakes regularly come out burnt, pale or undercooked, your oven may not match its dial. An inexpensive oven thermometer, placed in the centre of the oven, shows the real temperature. If it reads 15 °C hotter than the setting, simply set the dial 15 °C lower from then on. Preheating fully — usually 15 to 20 minutes — also matters, because many ovens signal they are ready before the whole cavity has reached temperature.

Choosing the Right Temperature

Different foods need different heat. Low temperatures, around 140 to 150 °C, suit slow cooking, meringues and rich fruit cakes that must cook through without burning. Moderate temperatures of 170 to 190 °C are the everyday range for cakes, biscuits and casseroles. High temperatures of 200 to 230 °C crisp roast potatoes, brown meat, bake bread and puff up pastry. The very hottest settings are for pizza and for searing.

If a recipe is baking too fast on the outside and too slowly in the middle, the oven is probably too hot for the size of the dish; lower it slightly and allow more time. If food is pale and soggy, the oven may be too cool or overcrowded.

Rack Position and Hot Spots

Most ovens are hottest at the top and at the back. The middle shelf gives the most even heat for cakes and biscuits. Rotating trays halfway through baking evens out hot spots, and leaving space between trays lets air circulate, especially in conventional ovens without a fan.

Preheating

Always let the oven reach temperature before the food goes in.

Understanding Your Result

Converted is the main result: Celsius from Fahrenheit, or Fahrenheit from anything else.

Celsius shows the exact figure and the rounded one recipes use.

Fahrenheit gives the temperature in °F.

Fan oven gives the setting for a fan or convection oven.

Gas mark gives the nearest gas mark and its description.

Worth knowing explains fan ovens and oven accuracy.

When Should You Use This Calculator?

Following a recipe from another country.

Using a fan oven with a conventional recipe.

Converting an old recipe that uses gas marks.

Checking an oven against a thermometer reading.

Writing recipes for readers in different countries.

Common Mistakes

Confusing Fahrenheit and Celsius figures.

Forgetting to lower the temperature for a fan oven.

Lowering it twice when the recipe already gives a fan temperature.

Not preheating fully.

Trusting the dial of an oven that runs hot or cold.