If you are new to France or don't cook much so you haven't bothered to figure out what the Celcius conversion is or what on earth #1 through 10 on your oven dial means, well then fret no more...
Lat summer I was lucky enough to move into a beautiful apartment with a gorgeous custom-designed kitchen and a new 5 gas-burner oven, one being a super charged uber-BTU burner in the center, but I had no idea what degrees the oven dial numbers represented. I would usually turn it all the way on, then turn it half way back... not the best way to do it but I got by...
I was at a Christmas Day Open House a few weeks ago and someone asked, "What temperature is #5?!" I immediately responded "350 degrees, Betty Crocker temp!" This woman looked at me in shock and asked me how I know that and what the heck was "Betty Crocker temp." To her first question, I responded "I'm a cook...", which as I've said many times, and will continue to repeat, means nothing more that I am terribly underpaid, I burn water less frequently than I did before and, in this case, I read the Paris Insider Guide (more on that below). In regards to the Betty Crocker question...
When I worked on Michael Chiarello's cooking show, Casual Cooking, he called 350º "Betty Crocker temp" because "nothing really gets carmelized at 350F....just soft. If carmelization equals flavor then I say forget the baking temp if your a cook and go slow or fast." (Thanks for clarifying Michael! If my head weren't attached...) Now this is advice from a REAL culinary professional and the founding chef of the best restaurant (well it was when he was there) in the Napa Valley, Tra Vigne!
This is courtesy of my roommate's oven user guide and a handy-dandy little book I picked up at the information booth at the American Cathedral called Paris Insider Guide. These are all approximates of course and vary widely with each oven. Just because your oven dial is pointing to 350º (or 175º or #5) in no way, shape, or form means that your oven is actually 350º. Most times it isn't. Our ovens in cooking school were always off and in constant need of calibration so we kept an oven thermometer in our big orange tool box. I strongly recommend buying one with both Celcius and Farenheit readings on it and keep it in your oven so you don't over- or undercook dinner, just when you've decided to impress the in-laws with your first holiday meal! Or you can do what I do and just rotisserie everything so I don't have to worry about those annyoing numbers...
OVEN TEMPERATURES
Dial 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 |
Celsius 75º 100º 125º 150º 175º 200º 225º 250º 275º 300º |
Farhenheit 165º 210º 255º 300º 350º 390º 440º 480º 530º f*ing hot! |
Thank you so much for your conversion chart! I'm a student studying abroad in France, and I like to cook on my free time! You're a lifesaver!
Posted by: Carola | Monday, 28 January 2008 at 07:33 AM
In some random French cake book, it has Th. 5 down as 150 C - is this wrong then? Should it be 175C?
many thanks- am trying to work out what the heck it means so I can bake my daughter's first birthday cake!
Posted by: Jessica | Wednesday, 18 February 2009 at 09:27 AM
How much would an oven live this cost?
Posted by: Salena | Sunday, 09 January 2011 at 12:35 PM