SectionFood & Drink
Tools9 calculators
Last reviewed28 July 2026
Calculator dataRecipes and quantities are not saved

9 food and drink tools, grouped by task

Cooking is full of numbers that nobody explains: why a fan oven wants twenty degrees less, why a cup of flour is not a fixed weight, why a square tin holds more than a round one of the same width, and how long a joint really needs.

These tools answer those questions and explain the reasoning, because a converted number you do not understand is only useful once. Where food safety is involved — roasting, slow cooking, holding food for a buffet — the pages follow Food Standards Agency guidance and say plainly where a time is a guide and a temperature is the test.

If you are not sure where to begin, these tools answer the questions readers ask most often in this section.

Oven Temperature ConverterFan, conventional and gas mark, with the full table. Roasting Time CalculatorHow long, and more importantly what temperature to cook it to. Cups to Grams ConverterFor American recipes, ingredient by ingredient. Meal Timing PlannerEverything ready at the same time, working backwards.

Conversions 4 tools

Oven settings, American measures and tin sizes, converted properly.

Oven Temperature ConverterFan, conventional, gas mark and Fahrenheit, with the full table. Cups to Grams ConverterIngredient by ingredient, because a cup of flour and a cup of honey are not the same. Baking Tin Conversion CalculatorA square tin holds a quarter more than a round one of the same width. Recipe Scaling CalculatorScaling up, and knowing which ingredients not to scale.

Cooking and timing 3 tools

Getting things cooked through, and getting them ready together.

Roasting Time CalculatorTimes by weight, and the core temperatures that actually decide it. Slow Cooker Time ConverterOven times converted, with the liquid adjustment most recipes forget. Meal Timing PlannerWorks backwards from serving time to a running order.

Baking and entertaining 2 tools

Bread by percentage, and feeding a crowd without running out.

Dough Hydration CalculatorBaker's percentages, counting the flour and water in your starter. Party Food Quantity PlannerHow much to buy for a buffet, barbecue or sit-down meal.

Common questions

Are the cooking times on these pages safe to rely on?

Times are a guide; temperature is the test. Roasting times assume a shape, a starting temperature and an accurate oven, and none of those holds reliably. Food Standards Agency guidance is that food should reach a core temperature of 70°C for two minutes, or an equivalent combination, and a probe thermometer is the only dependable way to know. The roasting page sets out where whole cuts of beef and lamb are the exception, and where that exception stops.

Why do these tools use grams rather than cups?

Because weight is unambiguous and volume is not. A cup of flour can hold anywhere from about 110 to 150 grams depending on whether it was scooped or spooned, which is enough to change a cake. British recipes have always given weights for this reason. The cups to grams converter is there for American recipes, and explains the problem rather than pretending it away.

Do the temperatures assume a fan oven?

They are given for a conventional oven unless stated, with the fan equivalent alongside. The standard adjustment is 20°C down for a fan oven, though some manufacturers specify 15 or 25. Domestic ovens are also commonly out by 10 to 20°C, which causes more failed baking than any conversion error — an oven thermometer settles it.

Is anything I enter stored?

No. Every calculation on this site runs in your browser. Nothing you type is transmitted or retained.

Questions rarely sit inside a single subject. These sections cover the calculations most often needed alongside cooking.

Health & WellbeingAlcohol units, caffeine, hydration and everyday nutrition. Everyday LifeAppliance running costs, event budgets and food waste. GardeningGrowing the ingredients, and what a vegetable bed will actually yield. Home & DIYKitchen worktops, splashbacks and storage.
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