200°C is exactly 392°F. Almost every recipe will tell you 400°F instead, and that rounding is deliberate rather than sloppy: 400°F is a mark on an American oven dial, and 392°F is not.
The 8-degree gap does not matter for a tray of roast vegetables. It matters more than you would expect for pastry and bread, where a hotter oven changes how fast the outside sets before the inside cooks.
| Celsius | Fahrenheit (exact) | Recipe Fahrenheit | Gas mark | Fan oven |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 140°C | 284°F | 275°F | 1 | 120°C |
| 150°C | 302°F | 300°F | 2 | 130°C |
| 170°C | 338°F | 325°F | 3 | 150°C |
| 180°C | 356°F | 350°F | 4 | 160°C |
| 190°C | 374°F | 375°F | 5 | 170°C |
| 200°C | 392°F | 400°F | 6 | 180°C |
| 220°C | 428°F | 425°F | 7 | 200°C |
| 230°C | 446°F | 450°F | 8 | 210°C |
| 240°C | 464°F | 475°F | 9 | 220°C |
The "recipe Fahrenheit" column is the conventional dial setting, not the exact conversion — the two drift apart by up to 11°F at the ends of the range. Fan-oven figures follow the usual guidance of reducing by 20°C.
Why recipes say 400°F and not 392°F
Oven dials are marked in round numbers, and the two systems chose different rounds. American ovens step in 25°F increments — 325, 350, 375, 400, 425 — while European ovens and gas marks step in tens and twenties of Celsius.
So cookbook conversions snap to the nearest usable dial setting rather than the arithmetic answer:
- 180°C is exactly 356°F, written as 350°F
- 200°C is exactly 392°F, written as 400°F
- 220°C is exactly 428°F, written as 425°F
Notice the rounding goes both directions, so it is not a consistent bias. At 180°C the recipe figure is 6°F cooler than the exact conversion; at 200°C it is 8°F hotter.
For most cooking this is well inside the error of a domestic oven anyway — home ovens routinely run 10–15°C off their dial and cycle above and below the set point as the thermostat works. If you bake seriously, an oven thermometer tells you more than any conversion chart.
Fan ovens: subtract 20°C
A fan (convection) oven moves hot air across the food, so it cooks faster at the same dial temperature. The standard adjustment is to reduce the conventional temperature by 20°C, or about 25–35°F:
- 200°C conventional → 180°C fan (356°F)
- Or in Fahrenheit: 400°F conventional → 375°F fan
Cooking time usually shortens too, by roughly 10 percent, so check earlier than the recipe says the first time you make something.
Watch the labelling on recipes. British recipes often write both, as "200°C/180°C fan/gas 6" — in that notation the first number is the conventional oven and the second is already adjusted. Subtracting another 20°C from the fan figure is a common mistake that leaves things underdone.
Gas marks
Gas mark 6 is 200°C. The gas mark scale is roughly linear above mark 1, rising about 14°C (25°F) per mark:
- Gas mark 4 = 180°C = 350°F — the standard baking temperature
- Gas mark 6 = 200°C = 400°F — roasting, and most bread
- Gas mark 7 = 220°C = 425°F — hot roasting, pizza on a domestic oven
Below mark 1 the scale breaks into fractions (½ and ¼) used for slow cooking around 120–135°C. The system is British, and it survives on older gas ovens where the dial has no temperature markings at all.
Converting temperatures in general
The full set of conversions, in both directions:
- °F = °C × 9/5 + 32
- °C = (°F − 32) × 5/9
Mental shortcuts:
- Double the Celsius and add 30. For 200°C: 400 + 30 = 430°F — 38° high, so this one is poor at oven temperatures. It works acceptably near room temperature and badly beyond it, because the error grows with the temperature
- The exact method is barely harder: × 1.8 then + 32
Worth remembering: −40° is the one temperature where both scales read the same, and 100°C is 212°F, water’s boiling point at sea level. For any temperature high enough to cook with, use the formula rather than a shortcut.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is 200°C in Fahrenheit?
Exactly 392°F. The formula is °F = °C × 9/5 + 32, so 200 × 1.8 = 360, plus 32 = 392.
Why do recipes say 400°F for 200°C?
Because 400°F is an actual mark on an American oven dial and 392°F is not. US ovens step in 25°F increments, so conversions get rounded to the nearest usable setting. The 8°F difference is smaller than the error of most domestic ovens.
What gas mark is 200°C?
Gas mark 6. The scale rises about 14°C per mark above mark 1, so gas mark 4 is 180°C and gas mark 7 is 220°C.
What is 200°C in a fan oven?
Set a fan oven to 180°C (356°F). The standard adjustment is to reduce the conventional temperature by 20°C, and to check the food about 10 percent earlier than the recipe time.
What is 392°F in Celsius?
Exactly 200°C. Working backwards: (392 − 32) × 5/9 = 360 × 5/9 = 200.
Is 400°F the same as 200°C?
Not exactly — 400°F is 204.4°C, about 4.4°C hotter than 200°C. The two are treated as interchangeable in recipes because both are standard dial settings on their respective ovens.