Abstract: A cooking apparatus disclosed herein includes a vat storing cooking medium for cooking food items placed therein, a heater for heating the cooking medium, and a temperature sensor for sensing cooking medium temperature. A cooking control comprises an interface circuit connected to the heater and the temperature sensor. A programmed processor is connected to the interface circuit for controlling the heater during a cooking cycle in response to sensed temperature in accordance with a programmed algorithm. The algorithm uses a preselected cooking energy profile for a typical batch of a food product to be cooked during the cooking cycle. The profile identifies predetermined times during the cooking cycle at which the heater is turned on or off. The algorithm periodically compares sensed oil temperature to the stored profile and in response to deviations from the stored profile dynamically modifies the cooking energy profile for use during the remainder of the cooking cycle.