362°F equals 183.3°C. Use the formula (362 - 32) × 5/9 to get there. This temperature lands squarely in moderate-high oven territory — common in European baking recipes calling for 180–185°C. If you're converting a British or Australian recipe, 362°F is essentially your target.
The formula is straightforward: subtract 32 from your Fahrenheit number, then multiply by 5/9. For 362°F, that's (362 - 32) × 5/9, which gives you 183.3°C. Simple enough once you've done it a couple of times. Where this actually matters is when you're cooking from recipes written outside the US. British, European, and Australian recipes almost always use Celsius, so if you're baking from a BBC Food recipe or a Nigella Lawson cookbook, you'll hit these conversions constantly. A recipe calling for 183°C? That's your 362°F oven. One thing worth knowing: the gap between 362°F and 365°F is only about 1.7°C. Your oven won't behave any differently between those two settings. So don't stress about landing on the exact number — close is close enough here.
This temperature comes up in three main cooking situations. First, delicate baking. Cookies, shortbread, and lighter pastries do well here because the heat is steady without scorching the edges before the center finishes. Classic Scottish shortbread, for instance, is traditionally baked at exactly 180°C — which is 356°F, just a nudge below 362°F — and that few-degree difference is basically invisible in the final result. Second, roasting meat at a controlled pace. Chicken thighs or a small beef roast cooked around 362°F will cook through evenly without drying out the outside while the inside catches up. It's not a high-blast roast — it's a steady, patient one. Third, certain candy and chocolate work. Tempering chocolate or making soft caramel requires careful temperature control, and this range comes up when you need sustained warmth without tipping into scorching territory. If you watch cooking shows filmed in the UK or follow recipe blogs from Australia, you'll convert 180–185°C instructions to this Fahrenheit range more than you might expect.
People tend to think 362°F sounds dangerously hot, but it's actually mild by industrial standards and safe to stand near for a few seconds. Another common mistake: assuming all ovens heat evenly at the same temperature. Your actual oven probably swings 10-25 degrees depending on how old it is, whether it's been calibrated, and which rack you're using. Many home cooks obsess over converting to the exact degree, but honestly, a 5-degree swing rarely changes your final result in most recipes. Here's what they're not considering: most oven thermometers themselves have a built-in accuracy range of about 15 degrees, so precision beyond that is kind of pointless.
Practically speaking, yes. There's only a 3°F difference between them, which works out to about 1.7°C. Your home oven won't behave any differently at one versus the other. Professional bakeries track these tiny variations carefully, but at home, you'd never taste the difference.
Set it to 356°F, or just round to 360°F — either works. The exact conversion of 180°C is 356°F, but given that most home ovens swing 10–25 degrees anyway, the difference between 356°F and 362°F is essentially noise. Pick a number in that range and you're good.
Get an oven thermometer — they cost $10 to $20 and are genuinely useful. Place it in the center of your oven, let the oven preheat fully and then sit for another 10–15 minutes to stabilize, then check the reading. Most ovens run hotter or cooler than the dial suggests, and now you'll actually know by how much.