a temperature controller for a deep fat fryer including a temperature sensing circuit that determines the temperature of cooking oil in the deep fat fryer and which is connected to a temperature control circuit that controls the deep fat fryer heat source in providing heat to the cooking oil in response to a set temperature from an external input device . the control circuit also includes an anticipation circuit that variably modulates the heating source before the cooking oil temperature approaches the set temperature . the temperature control circuit further includes a resistor divider network that provides selected voltages representing reference temperatures and which are input to several operational amplifiers for controlling the heat source .