Gas mark

The Gas Mark is a temperature scale used on gas ovens and cookers in the United Kingdom, Ireland and some Commonwealth of Nations countries.

History

The draft 2003 edition of the Oxford English Dictionary lists the earliest known usage of the concept as being in L. Chatterton's book Modern Cookery published in 1943: "Afternoon tea scones… Time: 20 minutes. Temperature: Gas, Regulo Mark 7". "Regulo" was a type of gas regulator used by a manufacturer of cookers; however, the scale has now become universal, and the word Regulo is rarely used.

The term "gas mark" was a subject of the joint BBC/OED production Balderdash and Piffle, in May 2005. The earliest printed evidence of use of "gas mark" (with no other terms between the two words) appears to date from 1958. However, the manufacturers of the "New World" gas ranges in the mid-1930s gave away recipe books for use with their cooker, and the "Regulo" was the gas regulator. The book has no reference to degrees. All dishes to be cooked are noted to be at "Regulo Mark X".

Equivalents in Fahrenheit and Celsius

Gas mark 1 is 275 °Fahrenheit (135 °Celsius). Oven temperatures increase by 25 °F (13.9 °C) each time the gas mark increases by 1. Below Gas Mark 1 the scale markings halve at each step, each representing a decrease of 25 °F.

To convert gas mark to degrees Celsius (${\textstyle C}$), multiply the gas mark number (${\textstyle G}$) by 14, then add 121:

$\left(G\times 14\right)+121=C$

For the reverse conversion:

$G={\frac {\left(C-121\right)}{14}}$

(These do not work for ${\textstyle G}$ less than 1.)

However it is usual to round the result of this calculation to a round number of degrees Celsius.

Conversion table

Gas mark	Fahrenheit	Celsius	Descriptive
1⁄4	225°	107°	Very Slow/Very Low
1⁄2	250°	121°	Very Slow/Very Low
1	275°	135°	Slow/Low
2	300°	149°	Slow/Low
3	325°	163°	Moderately Slow/Warm
4	350°	177°	Moderate/Medium
5	375°	191°	Moderate/Moderately Hot
6	400°	204°	Moderately Hot
7	425°	218°	Hot
8	450°	232°	Hot/Very Hot
9	475°	246°	Very Hot
10 (omitted in most tables)	520°	270°	Extremely Hot

Note that tables of temperature equivalents for kitchen use usually offer Celsius values rounded to the nearest 10 degrees, with steps of either 10 or 20 degrees between Gas Marks.

Other cooking temperature scales

French ovens and recipes often use a scale curiously based on the Fahrenheit scale, which itself has never been used in France: "Thermostat" (abbreviated "Th"), where Thermostat 1 equals 100 °F for conventional ovens, increasing by 50 °F for each whole number along the scale.

In Germany, "Stufe" (the German word for "step") is used for gas cooking temperatures. Gas ovens are commonly marked in steps from 1 to 8, corresponding to:

Stufe	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Approx. Temp.	150 °C	175 °C	200 °C	225 °C	250 °C	275 °C	300 °C	325 °C

Other ovens may be marked on a scale of 1-7, where Stufe 1⁄2 is about 125 °C in a conventional oven, Stufe 1 is about 150 °C, increasing by 25 °C for each subsequent step, up to Stufe 7 at 300 °C.