Celsius and Fahrenheit
Most of the world cooks in degrees Celsius and the US cooks in Fahrenheit. Here is how to convert, with a table of common oven temperatures.
Also called Celsius, Fahrenheit, Centigrade, Oven temperature conversion.
Celsius (°C) and Fahrenheit (°F) are the two scales recipes use for temperature. The US uses Fahrenheit. Almost every other country, including the UK, Canada, Australia and the Nordic countries, uses Celsius. Water freezes at 0°C (32°F) and boils at 100°C (212°F) at sea level.
How to use it
To turn Celsius into Fahrenheit, multiply by 9, divide by 5 and add 32. To turn Fahrenheit into Celsius, take away 32, multiply by 5 and divide by 9.
Recipes round oven temperatures to neat numbers, so you do not need the exact answer. Use this table:
| Celsius | Fahrenheit | Gas mark | Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| 120°C | 250°F | ½ | Drying, meringues |
| 150°C | 300°F | 2 | Slow baking, custards |
| 170°C | 325°F | 3 | Rich cakes |
| 180°C | 350°F | 4 | Most cakes and cookies |
| 190°C | 375°F | 5 | Muffins, pies |
| 200°C | 400°F | 6 | Roast vegetables |
| 220°C | 425°F | 7 | Roasting, bread |
| 230°C | 450°F | 8 | Pizza, crisp skin |
| 240°C | 475°F | 9 | Very hot ovens |
For meat, safe internal temperatures are given in both scales. USDA advice is 74°C (165°F) for poultry, 71°C (160°F) for ground meat and 63°C (145°F) for whole cuts of beef, pork and lamb followed by a 3 minute rest.
Common mistakes
- Setting a Celsius oven to a Fahrenheit number. 350°C is not a baking temperature, and 180°F is barely warm.
- Forgetting that the temperature in a recipe may assume a conventional oven. If you use a fan oven (convection oven in the US), turn it down by about 20°C (25°F) unless the recipe says otherwise.
- Trusting the dial. Many home ovens run 10 to 20 degrees off. An oven thermometer tells you what is really happening.
In recipes
"Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F)" is the most common line you will see. A recipe that says "180°C fan" or "160°C fan" has already been adjusted for a fan oven. "Moderate oven" in older recipes means about 180°C (350°F), a "hot oven" about 220°C (425°F), and a "slow oven" about 150°C (300°F).
Where it comes from
Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit proposed his scale in 1724 and Anders Celsius, a Swedish astronomer, proposed his in 1742. Celsius was long called centigrade, which you will still see in older British cookbooks.
Related terms
- Gas markGas mark is the oven scale on British gas cookers, from ¼ to 9. Here is the full table in Celsius and Fahrenheit and what each mark is for.
- Fan ovenA fan oven blows hot air around the food so it cooks faster and browns more evenly. Turn the temperature down about 20°C (25°F) when you use one.
- Top and bottom heatTop and bottom heat is the classic oven setting where the top and bottom elements heat still air, with no fan. Best for cakes, bread and custards.
- ThermometerA kitchen thermometer checks the heat of meat, oil, sugar and your oven, so food is safe and cooked how you want. Here is which type to use and how.
- Internal temperatureInternal temperature is the heat at the center of food, read with a probe thermometer. It is the surest way to know meat, fish and bread are done and safe.