The quick answer: low grill heat is about 250 to 300°F, medium is 350 to 450°F, and high is 450 to 550°F, with searing above that. The grill temperature converter turns any of those into Fahrenheit, Celsius, gas mark and a named heat level at once, and the chart below covers each level.
Grill temperature chart
| Heat level | Fahrenheit | Celsius | Gas mark | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low | 250–300°F | 120–150°C | 1–2 | Smoking, ribs, brisket and pulled pork over a long, slow cook |
| Medium | 350–450°F | 175–230°C | 4–8 | Whole chicken, thicker cuts, sausages and vegetables cooked through |
| High | 450–550°F | 230–290°C | above 9 | Burgers, steaks, kebabs and quick-cooking cuts you want marked |
| Searing | 550°F and up | 290°C and up | above 9 | A hard crust on a steak and a fast char on vegetables |
The gas-mark column runs out at the top, because a home oven does not reach searing grill heat. Low and medium heat line up with normal oven settings, so 350°F is gas mark 4 and 400°F is gas mark 6.
How to hit each heat level
Grill heat is set differently depending on the equipment, even though the target temperatures are the same.
- Gas grill. Turn the burners up or down and watch the lid gauge. For a two-zone setup, leave one side on high and one side off, so you can sear over the flame and finish over the cool side.
- Charcoal grill. Heat comes from the coal bed and the vents. A full chimney of coals spread flat gives high heat; a smaller bed banked to one side gives a hot zone and a gentle zone. Open vents feed the fire, closed vents cool it.
- Smoker. The whole point is low, steady heat over hours. Aim for the low band, around 225 to 275°F, and hold it with small vent adjustments rather than big swings.
Read the temperature at the grate
The lid gauge on a grill measures the air near the top of the dome, which can read cooler or hotter than the grate where the food sits. For anything where heat matters, a probe thermometer at grate level is more honest. For barbecue, a leave-in probe lets you track a low temperature over a long cook without lifting the lid and losing heat.
Direct and indirect heat
Direct heat means cooking right over the flame or coals, which is fast and good for thin cuts. Indirect heat means the food sits beside the heat, not over it, with the lid down so the grill works like an oven. Thicker cuts and whole birds do better with indirect heat at a medium temperature, then a short spell over direct high heat to finish with a crust.
Convert any grill temperature
Enter a temperature or pick a heat level in the grill temperature converter to read it across every scale, and download the chart as an image to keep by the grill. For oven settings, see the gas mark conversion chart and the oven temperature conversion chart.
