Learn Oven Temperature Conversions

By
Syrie Wongkaew
Syrie Wongkaew
Sydney-based food writer, editor, photographer, and food stylist with a focus on Australian and Thai cuisine.
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Updated on 11/11/19
Close-up of a man putting baking tray of vanilla crescents in oven for baking, Munich, Bavaria, Germany
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When cooking, oven temperature can make or break your desired meal. If you make it too hot, your entree could burn. A low temperature could cause a meal to take an extended time to cook and dry out any good piece of meat, fish, or poultry. For this reason, you should know how to convert degrees in Fahrenheit to Celsius, as well as the reverse.

Describing Temperatures

When describing oven temperatures, you'll hear words like "hot," "cool," "slow," and "fast." Here's what all of that means:

  • A cool oven temperature would be 90 C (200 F), while a slow oven is considered 150 to 160 C (300–325 F).
  • A moderate oven temperature is often a range of 180 to 190 C (350–375 F), and a hot temperature is above 200–230 C (400–450 F).
  • A fast oven would have a range of 230–260 C (450–500 F).

Convert Fahrenheit to Celsius

To convert degrees from Fahrenheit to Celsius, subtract 32 from the Fahrenheit temperature, multiply by 5, then divide by 9. So if the temperature is 350 F, you would subtract 32 to get 318, then multiply by 5 for 1,590 which divided by 9 equals 176.66. That is then rounded up to 180 C.

Convert Celsius to Fahrenheit

To convert Celsius to Fahrenheit, you will need to multiply Celsius degrees by 9, divide by 5, then add 32. If the recipe says 200 C, multiply by 9 to get 1,800, then divide by 5 for 360, and then add 32 for a result of 392. Round that up to 400 F.

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Guide to Oven Temperatures

Here is a quick and easy chart to oven temperatures. (Note: Australians and New Zealanders use Celsius.)

Guide to Oven Temperatures
Celsius Electric Celsius Fan Forced Fahrenheit Gas
120 100 250 Very Slow
150 130 300 Slow
160 140 325 Moderately Slow
180 160 350 Moderate
190 170 375 Moderately Hot
230 180 400 Hot
250 210 450 Very Hot
260 230 500 Very Hot

Another option is to use this guide and simply refer to each number for the corresponding temperature. For example, 3. 160 C is 3. 325 F or 3. Moderately Slow.

Celsius Electric

  1. 120
  2. 150
  3. 160
  4. 180
  5. 190
  6. 200
  7. 230
  8. 250

Celsius Fan-Forced

  1. 100
  2. 130
  3. 140
  4. 160
  5. 170
  6. 180
  7. 210
  8. 230

Fahrenheit

  1. 250
  2. 300
  3. 325
  4. 350
  5. 375
  6. 400
  7. 450
  8. 500

Gas

  1. Very Slow
  2. Slow
  3. Moderately Slow
  4. Moderate
  5. Moderately Hot
  6. Hot
  7. Very Hot
  8. Very Hot