Abstract: A cooking control unit for a kitchen-countertop appliance is configured to selectively engage the body of the appliance in operation and to selectively disengage from the appliance body for cleaning. The control unit includes an ejection mechanism that is operable to force the control unit away from the appliance body to cause the disengagement. The ejection mechanism can be related to a cooking selector configured to select a cooking parameter of the food to be prepared. For example, the ejection mechanism can include displacement members such as pins or cams and the cooking selector can include an ejection position. As the cooking selector is adjusted to the ejection position, the control unit is forced away from the body of the countertop appliance by the displacement members.