An excellent question, one that drags us to our knees just when were getting a little self-satisfied for pretty consistently putting Celsius temperatures in most of our recipes. (Many Americans, as you may know, are not completely wedded to the idea that there may be other temperature scales or other countries out there….)

Some will be interested to know that the gas mark is the temperature scale used on many gas ovens (cookers) in Britain, Ireland, and some other countries with a British heritage. They may be astounded to learn that the scale is growing in popularity and is now the most common temperature scale on new gas ovens in several of those countries. In fact, few new models are labeled with temperatures in Fahrenheit or Celsius. So we are apparently not coming together as a world, even if each others' recipes are only a tiny click away.

In spite of our best intentions, the prospect of our putting gas mark numbers on recipes is probably going to take a little while and may not be entirely consistent to start. Would it be alright with you if we produced a chart that included Fahrenheit and Celsius temperatures alongside gas mark equivalents, in a form you could print out and keep near your oven? So that the next time you find an appealing recipe at Ochef, you can take advantage of it?

On the faint assumption that it would, here goes:

Fahrenheit Celsius Gas Mark Old-Fashioned Words 225° 110° 1/4 Cool 250° 120° 1/2 Very low (or slow) 275° 135° 1 Low (or slow) 300° 150° 2 Moderately low (or slow) 325° 160° 3 Moderate (or medium) 350° 175° 4 Moderate (or medium) 375° 190° 5 Moderately hot 400° 205° 6 Hot 425° 220° 7 Hot 450° 230° 8 Very hot 475° 245° 9 Very hot 500° 260° 10 Extremely hot

You will note that we have included some of the words that are occasionally found in older recipes to describe oven temperature. Needless to say, they are imprecise and often inconsistent.

Your question shamed us into redefining our autotext setting that reminds us to include the Celsius conversion to now include gas mark settings, as well. Going forward, gas mark should be included in all our recipes. Who says you can't teach old dogs new tricks?