Oven Temperature (Gas Mark ↔ °C ↔ °F)
Convert oven temperatures between gas mark, Celsius and Fahrenheit.
Following a recipe written for a different oven? Convert between gas mark, degrees Celsius and degrees Fahrenheit. Calibrated to the standard gas marks 1–9.
Formula / method
Examples
180 °C
≈ 6
Reading the three scales
British and Commonwealth ovens are often marked in gas marks, while recipes may quote Celsius or Fahrenheit, and this tool lines up all three. As a reference, gas mark 1 is about 140 C or 275 F, gas mark 4 is 180 C or 350 F (a moderate oven), and gas mark 6 is 200 C or 400 F (fairly hot). Each whole gas mark step is roughly 14 C, or 25 F, apart.
Enter a value on any one scale and the tool returns the matching temperatures on the other two, so you can follow a recipe written for a different type of oven.
Practical baking notes
Oven dials are not laboratory instruments, so treat the converted figures as close guides rather than exact settings. Real ovens also run hotter at the top than the bottom, and fan or convection ovens usually bake around 20 C hotter than their stated number, so many cooks drop a fan oven by about 20 C from a conventional recipe.
If you only need to move between Celsius and Fahrenheit for other purposes, the Temperature Converter handles the general case without the gas mark scale.
Where it's used
- Following a British or Commonwealth recipe on an oven that isn't marked in gas marks
- Setting a gas cooker from a recipe that only gives Celsius or Fahrenheit
- Converting temperatures in an old British cookbook to a modern electric oven
- Matching an American recipe written in Fahrenheit to a UK gas oven dial
- Checking the roughly 14 C per gas-mark step when adapting a recipe
Real-world examples
- A UK recipe says 'bake at gas mark 6' — the tool gives 200 C / 400 F
- An American cake recipe at 350 F converts to gas mark 4 / 180 C
- Roasting at gas mark 7 works out to about 220 C / 425 F
- A moderate oven at gas mark 4 equals 180 C, a common baking temperature
A bit of history
The scale grew out of the 'Regulo', an automatic oven temperature controller introduced by Radiation Ltd. in the 1920s and advertised for their 'New World' cooker on 13 May 1923; the printed term 'gas mark' dates from around 1958.
Did you know?
Because the Regulo controller was fitted to most gas cookers, its brand name became the generic term for the whole numbered temperature scale.
FAQ
How accurate are the fractional gas marks?
The formula is calibrated to the standard whole gas marks 1–9. The very low marks (¼, ½) are slightly approximate, but everyday baking temperatures convert exactly.