A cooker hotplate control system, to heat to and maintain a foodstuff at a preset temperature the system comprising an electric hotplate; a power input to provide electricity to heat the hot plate and a controller to govern said power input; a temperature sensor to determine the temperature of the hotplate; an infrared sensor spatially separated from and to detect infrared radiation emitted by a foodstuff or a vessel containing a foodstuff on the hotplate; a first processor to determine the temperature of a foodstuff or a vessel from the detected infrared radiation and a first data storage means to store said data; a second processor, the second processor calculating the first and second time derivatives of the temperature data; a first fuzzy logic controller receiving as input the first and second time-derivative data from the second processor and producing an output to the controller, said output governing the amount of power supplied to the hotplate, the first fuzzy logic controller being active to bring a foodstuff temperature up to the pre-set temperature and to hold a foodstuff at the pre-set temperature for a defined time period; a second fuzzy logic controller to maintain the temperature within a defined temperature range about the pre-set temperature.