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

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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 (93 °C), and a slow oven has a temperature range from 300–325 °F (149–163 °C). A moderate oven has a range of 350–375 °F (177–191 °C), and a hot oven has temperature set to 400–450 °F (204–232 °C).[1][2] A fast oven has a range of 450–500 °F (232–260 °C) for the typical temperature.[citation needed]

## Estimating oven temperature

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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

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* Conversion of units
* Gas mark
* SI Units

## References

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1. ^ a b 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.