A cooking instrument comprising: a power supply electrically connectable to an external power source having an upper power draw limit; a heating system electrically coupled to the power supply, wherein the heating system comprises one or more heating elements (218A, 218B) capable of generating electromagnetic emission within an infrared spectrum to cook; a cooking chamber adapted to store food at least when the heating system is operational; the cooking instrument being characterised by: a computer readable memory (210, 214) storing a mapping function specifying one or more parameters associated with driving the heating system to achieve a quantifiable cooking result, wherein the mapping function provides a mapping between power applied to a first heating element of the one or more heating elements and an emission surface area of the first heating element; and a control system configured to select the quantifiable cooking result and control, based on the mapping function, driving signals provided to the heating system to achieve the quantifiable cooking result, wherein controlling the driving signals thereby increases power density of the electromagnetic emission that the food is exposed to in a first mode of operation while the heating system consumes substantially equivalent power from the external power source as compared to another mode of operation of the heating system. a power supply electrically connectable to an external power source having an upper power draw limit; a heating system electrically coupled to the power supply, wherein the heating system comprises one or more heating elements (218A, 218B) capable of generating electromagnetic emission within an infrared spectrum to cook; a cooking chamber adapted to store food at least when the heating system is operational; the cooking instrument being characterised by: a computer readable memory (210, 214) storing a mapping function specifying one or more parameters associated with driving the heating system to achieve a quantifiable cooking result, wherein the mapping function provides a mapping between power applied to a first heating element of the one or more heating elements and an emission surface area of the first heating element; and a control system configured to select the quantifiable cooking result and control, based on the mapping function, driving signals provided to the heating system to achieve the quantifiable cooking result, wherein controlling the driving signals thereby increases power density of the electromagnetic emission that the food is exposed to in a first mode of operation while the heating system consumes substantially equivalent power from the external power source as compared to another mode of operation of the heating system. a computer readable memory (210, 214) storing a mapping function specifying one or more parameters associated with driving the heating system to achieve a quantifiable cooking result, wherein the mapping function provides a mapping between power applied to a first heating element of the one or more heating elements and an emission surface area of the first heating element; and a control system configured to select the quantifiable cooking result and control, based on the mapping function, driving signals provided to the heating system to achieve the quantifiable cooking result, wherein controlling the driving signals thereby increases power density of the electromagnetic emission that the food is exposed to in a first mode of operation while the heating system consumes substantially equivalent power from the external power source as compared to another mode of operation of the heating system.