A cooking appliance comprising a cooking receptacle comprising a bottom and a continuous sidewall defining a cooking chamber having an open top end a heating element positioned for providing heat to the cooking chamber at least a food manipulator r(FM) operably mounted in the cooking receptacle an appliance drive unit (ADU) operably connected to the FM s and a controller circuit including a programmable controller positioned within the housing and operatively associated with said control panel, said circuit being configured to cause the heating element to operate in a plurality of heating and a plurality of cooking modes and to allow a user to set cooking time and temperature and motion of the FM.
