According to Google Analytics, the visitors to this food blog come from 76 different countries. Being able to share ideas and communicate across borders and oceans is a wonderful thing, but at the same time raises a lot of questions caused by different culinary languages. Given that the largest portion (40%) of visitors come from the USA, there are often a lot of questions about Australian terms used in my recipes. So this post is aimed at answering some of the most common questions that crop up on the blog.

FAQ #1: What does “#°C fan-forced” mean?

Fan-forced ovens, also called convection ovens, are much better at equalising temperature than conventional gas ovens. Food is cooked quicker and more evenly than in a conventional oven and therefore requires a lower temperature. I prefer to cook in a normal gas oven as the differential of heat in the oven allows more control by where you position your food, and can be important for some dishes. If using a fan forced oven, the temperature should be reduced by 15-20°C or 25-30°F. I use 20°C as my standard rule.

FAQ #2: What is #°C in Fahrenheit? What does “moderately slow” mean? 

Sometimes I forget to put in the temperature conversion into the recipe, or I opt for a more universal but old fashioned term such as “bake in a moderate oven”. Here’s a conversion chart to clear up confusion.

Oven temperatures
Celsius	Fahrenheit	Gas	Description
90 ᵒC	200 ᵒF		Cool
120 ᵒC	250 ᵒF	1	Very slow
150 – 159 ᵒC	300 – 324 ᵒF	2	Slow
160 – 179 ᵒC	325 – 349 ᵒF	3	Moderately slow
180 – 189 ᵒC	350 – 374 ᵒF	4	Moderate
190 – 199 ᵒC	375 – 399 ᵒF	5	Moderately hot
200 – 229 ᵒC	400 – 449 ᵒF	6	Hot
230 – 260 ᵒC	450 – 500 ᵒF	7 – 9	Fast/Very hot

FAQ #3: What cups are you using?

Living in Australia, I always use Australian cup and spoon measurements. 1 Australian cup = 250ml or 8.5 fl.oz = 1.057 US cups. 1 US cup = 225ml or 8 fl.oz. This is a small discrepancy and so it won’t make much of a difference to most recipes if you are consistently using either US or Australian cups and spoons. Problems usually arise when you mix measurements, or if a recipe is particularly delicate.

I usually include the weight in recipes to give readers a point of reference to convert from if desired. There are plenty of online calculators that can provide you with accurate conversions, and most scales have inbuilt converters for weight and often even liquid measurements. But if you’re not using scales, here’s a quick reference for cup and spoon measurements.

Liquid Measurements
Metric	Cup (AUS)	Imperial
30 ml		1 fl.oz.
60 ml	1/4 cup	2 fl.oz.
80 ml	1/3 cup	3 1/2 fl.oz.
100 ml		2 3/4 fl.oz.
125 ml	1/2 cup	4 fl.oz.
150 ml		5 fl.oz.
180 ml	3/4 cup	6 fl.oz.
200 ml		7 fl.oz.
250 ml	1 cup	8 3/4 fl.oz.
310 ml	1 1/4 cups	10 1/2 fl.oz.
375 ml	1 1/2 cups	13 fl.oz.
430 ml	1 3/4 cups	15 fl.oz.
475 ml		16 fl.oz.
500 ml	2 cups	17 fl.oz.
625 ml	2 1/2 cups	21 fl.oz.
750 ml	3 cups	26 fl.oz.
1 L	4 cups	35 fl.oz.
1.25 L	5 cups	44 fl.oz.
1.5 L	6 cups	52 fl.oz.
2 L	8 cups	70 fl.oz.
2.5 L	10 cups	88 fl.oz.

Spoon measurements across borders represent different weights. 1 Australian tablespoon = 20ml, 1 UK tablespoon = 15ml and 1 American tablespoon = 16ml. The differences are subtle enough when only using a single tablespoon, but become more apparent as the quantities increase. Here’s a quick conversion chart if you don’t want to go by the weight.

Spoon Measurements
Metric	Australian	US	British
Teaspoon	1 [5ml]	1 [5ml]	1 [4ml]
Tablespoon	1 [20ml]	1 [16ml]	1 [15ml]
Tablespoon	2	2 &1/2	2 1/2
Tablespoon	3	3 1/2	4
Tablespoon	3 1/2	4 1/2	4 1/2

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That’s all for today! In the next Back to Basics post, I’ll tackle some of the ingredient questions that are raised as another consequence of language barriers. Until then, happy baking!