Oven temperatures

Common oven temperatures (such as terms: cool oven, very slow oven, slow oven, moderate oven, hot oven, fast oven, etc.) are set to control the effects of baking in an oven, for various lengths of time.

Standard phrases

Table of equivalent oven temperatures[1]
Description	°F	°C
Cool oven	200 °F	90 °C
Very slow oven	250 °F	120 °C
Slow oven	300–325 °F	150–160 °C
Moderately slow	325–350 °F	160–180 °C
Moderate oven	350–375 °F	180–190 °C
Moderately hot	375–400 °F	190–200 °C
Hot oven	400–450 °F	200–230 °C
Very hot oven	450–500 °F	230–260 °C
Fast oven	450–500 °F	230–260 °C

The various standard phrases, to describe oven temperatures, include words such as "cool" to "hot" or "very slow" to "fast". For example, a cool oven has temperature set to 200 °F (90 °C), and a slow oven has a temperature range from 300–325 °F (150–160 °C). A moderate oven has a range of 350–375 °F (180–190 °C), and a hot oven has temperature set to 400–450 °F (200–230 °C).^[1][2] A fast oven has a range of 450-500 °F (230–260 °C) for the typical temperature.^{[citation needed]}

Estimating oven temperature

Before ovens had thermometers or thermostats, these standard words were used by cooks and cookbooks to describe how hot an oven should be to cook various items. Custards require a slow oven for example, bread a moderate oven, and pastries a very hot oven. Cooks estimated the temperature of an oven by counting the number of minutes it took to turn a piece of white paper golden brown, or counting the number of seconds one could hold one's hand in the oven.^[3] Another method was to put a layer of flour or a piece of white tissue paper on a pan in the oven for five minutes. The resulting colors range from delicate brown in a slow oven through golden brown in a moderate oven to dark brown in a hot oven.^[4]

See also

• Conversion of units
• Gas mark
• SI Units

References

1. SI Units:Temperature. NIST Physical Measurements Laboratory. 5 June 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
2. Irma S. Rombauer; Marion Rombauer Becker; Ethan Becker (1997). Joy of Cooking. Simon and Schuster. p. 1074. ISBN 978-0-684-81870-2.
3. Carlotta Cherryholmes Greer (1920). School and Home Cooking. Allyn and Bacon. pp. 330–333.
4. Irma S. Rombauer (1946). The Joy of Cooking. Bobbs-Merrill. p. 447.