A fryer comprising: a fry pot configured to receive a cooking medium ; a controller ; and a plurality of heating elements (44-47) each configured to provide heat to the cooking medium in response to being activated by the controller , wherein the controller is configured to: control an amount of heat provided to the cooking medium based on a setpoint temperature (T SP ), the setpoint temperature (T SP ) being set to a target cooking temperature (T TCT ) during a cook cycle; determine a cooking load; select a set of setpoint bias temperatures based on the cooking load, each setpoint bias temperature defining a threshold temperature (T TH1 -T TH4 ) below the target cooking temperature (T TCT ); in response to a sensed temperature (T SENSE ) of the cooking medium being below a first threshold temperature of the threshold temperatures (T TH1 -T TH4 ) but above a second threshold temperature of the threshold temperatures (T TH1 -T TH4 ), activate a first heating element (44-47) of the plurality of heating elements (44-47); and in response to the sensed temperature (T SENSE ) of the cooking medium being below the second threshold temperature of the threshold temperatures (T TH1 -T TH4 ), activate a second heating element (44-47) of the plurality of heating elements (44-47). a fry pot configured to receive a cooking medium ; a controller ; and a plurality of heating elements (44-47) each configured to provide heat to the cooking medium in response to being activated by the controller , wherein the controller is configured to: control an amount of heat provided to the cooking medium based on a setpoint temperature (T SP ), the setpoint temperature (T SP ) being set to a target cooking temperature (T TCT ) during a cook cycle; determine a cooking load; select a set of setpoint bias temperatures based on the cooking load, each setpoint bias temperature defining a threshold temperature (T TH1 -T TH4 ) below the target cooking temperature (T TCT ); in response to a sensed temperature (T SENSE ) of the cooking medium being below a first threshold temperature of the threshold temperatures (T TH1 -T TH4 ) but above a second threshold temperature of the threshold temperatures (T TH1 -T TH4 ), activate a first heating element (44-47) of the plurality of heating elements (44-47); and in response to the sensed temperature (T SENSE ) of the cooking medium being below the second threshold temperature of the threshold temperatures (T TH1 -T TH4 ), activate a second heating element (44-47) of the plurality of heating elements (44-47). control an amount of heat provided to the cooking medium based on a setpoint temperature (T SP ), the setpoint temperature (T SP ) being set to a target cooking temperature (T TCT ) during a cook cycle; determine a cooking load; select a set of setpoint bias temperatures based on the cooking load, each setpoint bias temperature defining a threshold temperature (T TH1 -T TH4 ) below the target cooking temperature (T TCT ); in response to a sensed temperature (T SENSE ) of the cooking medium being below a first threshold temperature of the threshold temperatures (T TH1 -T TH4 ) but above a second threshold temperature of the threshold temperatures (T TH1 -T TH4 ), activate a first heating element (44-47) of the plurality of heating elements (44-47); and in response to the sensed temperature (T SENSE ) of the cooking medium being below the second threshold temperature of the threshold temperatures (T TH1 -T TH4 ), activate a second heating element (44-47) of the plurality of heating elements (44-47). <EOS>