Conversion Therapy

In an effort to assist my fellow cooks, I am sharing a handy chart given to me by the "local liason" at a military base where I was stationed in the 90s. With this chart, you can look up any British recipe and quickly transform it into American measurements.

In England and Europe, many gas ovens are temped out in "marks," with 1/2 mark being a low-heat slow roast and 9 being "baked to a crisp." They also use obscure measurements like "dessert spoon" and strange ingredients like aubergines and sterilised milk.

For the record, a dessert spoon is "the big spoon" that comes in a traditional place setting of two spoons, two forks, and a butter knife. An aubergine is an eggplant, a courgette is a zucchini, and sterilised milk is nothing more than homogenized and pasteurized milk. The British don't do this as a rule, so, if you're in England you'll want to shake your milk bottle a little to mix the cream back in before you chug it straight.

Gas Mark   Degree F   Degree C

9                     475            250
8                     450            225
7                     425            "Hot"
6                     400            200
5                     375            "moderate"
4                     350             175
3                     325             "moderately slow"
2                     300            150
1                     275             "slow"
1/2                  225            125

Substitutions:

Plain Flour = All-Purpose Flour
Icing Sugar = Powdered Sugar
Demerera Sugar = Light Brown Sugar
Castor Sugar = Granulated Sugar

Things to note:

UK Pint = 20 ounces!!
1 lb of flour = 4 cups of flour
1/2 ounce of butter = 1 tablespoon
1 ounce flour = 1 heaped tablespoon or 2 level tablespoons