Large valves for steam turbines of fossil power plants are exposed to a severe mechanical and thermal loading resulting from steam with high pressure and high temperature. Valve casings are designed to withstand such a loading. During the operation of a plant, temperatures at inner and outer surface of the casings are measured and steam flow is controlled so that the measured difference is lower than the maximum allowable value determined in the design stage. In this paper, a method is presented to calculate the maximum allowable temperature difference at the inner and outer surface of valve casings for steam turbines of fossil power plants. The finite element method is used to analyze distribution of temperature and stresses of a casing under the operating condition. Low cycle fatigue and creep rupture are taken into consideration to determine the maximum allowable temperature difference. The method can be usefully applied in the design stage of the large valves for the steam turbines, contributing to safe and reliable operation of the fossil power plants.