there is provided an apparatus for cooking foods such as pasta . the apparatus includes a container which receives an amount of water to be heated . a cooking basket is partially submerged in the water inside the container . a drain pipe having a 90 ° elbow is received in the container . portions of the drain pipe extend through an opening in the side wall of the container so as to continuously drain water from the container . the drain pipe is rotatable so that the water drain rate may be varied . the drain pipe is held in position until it is rotated again .