Oven Temperature

Gas mark versus thermometer settings

Older and many UK recipes specify heat as a gas mark (an integer on a domestic gas oven dial) rather than a Celsius thermometer reading. Electric and fan ovens usually want °C or °F. This page maps a chosen gas mark to common conventional and fan (convection) temperatures in both Celsius and Fahrenheit.

Values follow widely published UK recipe correspondence tables. They are practical cooking approximations — oven thermostats vary, and “fan” recipes often run cooler than conventional for the same browning.

Typical relationship

As gas mark rises, temperature rises roughly in steps of about 10–20 °C. Fan settings are commonly shown around 20 °C lower than the conventional column for the same gas mark, matching advice printed in many British cookbooks. Always defer to your appliance manual if it conflicts.

Worked example

Gas mark 6 is often listed near 200 °C conventional (about 400 °F), with a fan setting near 180 °C (about 350 °F). A Victoria sponge that says “gas mark 4” is a moderate oven; breads and pizzas usually sit higher.

Tips for better results

• Preheat fully; many ovens reach air temperature before shelves and stoneware do.
• Use an oven thermometer if bakes run consistently pale or burnt.
• For food science temperatures not tied to gas mark, use the Temperature converter.

Common mistakes

• Treating fan and conventional °C as interchangeable without adjusting recipes.
• Converting with a simple °C↔°F formula while ignoring that gas mark tables are recipe conventions.
• Using grill/broiler marks as if they were oven gas marks.

FAQs

Are these exact physics conversions?

No — they are culinary lookup values linking dial marks to typical set points.

What about Celsius-only recipes?

Enter through Temperature if you only need °C ↔ °F ↔ K.

Related: Temperature, Nutrition, Celsius / Fahrenheit guide.