Cooking temperatures: oven and meat
Celsius, Fahrenheit, gas mark: the oven and internal meat temperatures so you never have to guess.
Gas mark / °C / °F reference
| Gas mark | °C | °F | Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 140°C | 275°F | Slow cooking |
| 2 | 150°C | 300°F | Gentle baking, meringues |
| 3 | 170°C | 325°F | Moderate-low oven |
| 4 | 180°C | 350°F | Moderate oven (the most common) |
| 6 | 200°C | 400°F | Hot oven |
| 7 | 220°C | 425°F | Very hot oven, pizza |
| 9 | 240°C | 475°F | Grill/broil |
Converting Celsius ↔ Fahrenheit
°F = (°C × 9/5) + 32 °C = (°F − 32) × 5/9
A fan (convection) oven cooks faster: drop the temperature by about 20°C (or roughly 20°F less at the same setting) compared with a recipe written for a conventional oven, for the same cooking time.
Internal temperatures for meat
| Meat | Internal temperature |
|---|---|
| Beef, rare | 52-55°C / 125-131°F |
| Beef, medium | 58-62°C / 136-144°F |
| Beef, well done | 68°C+ / 154°F+ |
| Pork | 63°C / 145°F minimum |
| Poultry (chicken, turkey) | 74°C / 165°F minimum |
| Fish | 60-63°C / 140-145°F |
Resting after cooking
Let meat rest for 5 to 15 minutes (depending on the cut's size) before carving: the juices redistribute through the meat instead of running out onto the board, and the internal temperature keeps climbing a few more degrees.
Checking doneness without a thermometer
Without a probe thermometer (the most reliable option), a few rough hand-touch references exist: rare meat gives easily under the finger (like the base of a relaxed thumb); well done resists noticeably (thumb touching the little finger). These stay approximate — a probe thermometer remains the only truly reliable method, especially for poultry, where food safety leaves no room for guesswork.
Frying temperatures
| Type | Temperature |
|---|---|
| Light frying (fritters, tempura) | 160-170°C / 320-340°F |
| Classic frying (fries, chicken) | 175-185°C / 350-365°F |
| Bread-cube test | A bread cube browns in ~1 minute at the right temperature |
Smoking oil is already too hot and has passed its breakdown point — let it cool before continuing, and never add cold oil to smoking oil.
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