Making friends with your oven can help your transition to UK living a lot smoother!
Basically the Celsius temperature is about half the Fahrenheit temperature. One suggestion is to bring an oven thermometer with you (in Fahrenheit) so you can tell what the temperature is in your oven.
Another facet of ovens in the UK (and Europe) is the concept of fan assisted cooking. Some ovens offer the option of fan assistance and some just give you the fan assistance all the time – you will need to check the manual that comes with the oven to know for sure. Make sure your landlord provides you with appliance manuals! Fan assistance is supposed to be an energy saving measure that helps you achieve good cooking results at a lower temperature (thus using less energy). As a rule, having the fan assisted option on will greatly increase the temperature in your oven (so you need to set the controls lower than called for in the recipe) and will shorten cooking times.
Here’s some help:
Slow | Slow | Mod | Med | Med Hot | Med Hot | Hot | Hot | Very Hot | |
Fahrenheit | 275 | 300 | 325 | 350 | 375 | 400 | 425 | 450 | 475 |
Celsius | 140 | 150 | 165 | 180 | 190 | 200 | 220 | 230 | 240 |
Gas Mark | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
Weights
Most English recipes use weight to determine quantities instead of volume as in the States. For that reason, most English recipes will call for so many grams or ounces of an ingredient instead of so many cups or tablespoons. To make matters more confusing, the English sometimes use Imperial measurements and sometimes use Metric so you will need to understand both to be able to follow any recipe. Do remember that unless otherwise stated, most teaspoon or tablespoon amounts assume a HEAPING tablespoon or teaspoon – not a level measure as you would expect in the States. You may find that purchasing a kitchen scale will help greatly in trying to follow UK (and European) recipes.
There are approximately 2.2 pounds per 1 kilogram so about 500 grams of mince (hamburger) is about 1 pound. The conversion for pounds to grams is to multiply # of pounds X 453.6 for # of grams. Remember there are 1000 grams per 1 kilogram!
Dry Measures - Pounds to Grams
Pounds | .25 | .5 | 1 | 1.5 | 2 | 2.5 | 3 | 5 | 10 |
Grams | 113.5 | 227 | 453.5 | 680.5 | 907 | 1.15 kg | 1.4 kg | 2.25 kg | 4.5 kg |
Ounces | .25 | .5 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 32 |
Grams | 7 | 15 | 30 | 60 | 120 | 240 | 360 | 480 | 1kg |
Fluid ounces are the same but while 8 fluid ounces equals one cup in the States, 10 fluid ounces equals one UK cup (or 1/2 Imperial pint). An Imperial pint is 20 fluid ounces while 16 fluid ounces make up one American pint. Sometimes metric measurements are used so this information is included as well: (To convert quarts to liters multiply # of quarts X .95 for # of liters)
Ounces | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 16 | 20 | 32 |
US Liq. Cups | 1/4 | 1/2 | 3/4 | 1 | 1 1/4 | 2 (1 US pint) | 2 1/2 | 4 (1US qt) |
UK Liq. Cups | 1 | 1.6 | 2 (1 UK pt) | 3.2 | ||||
Milliliters | 60 | 120 | 180 | 240 | 300 | 480 | 600 | 950 |
1 liter = 1000 milliliters = approx. 1 1/4 US quarts = approx. 2 UK pints
(To convert feet to meters, multiply # of feet X .3 for # of meters)
1/2 inch = 12 mm = 1.2 cm
0.4 inches = 1 cm
1 inch = 2.5 cm
12 inches = 1 US foot = 30 cm
36 inches = 1 US yard = 90 cm
40 inches = 1 meter
1 mile = 1760 yards = 1.6 kilometers
0.62 mile = 1 kilometer