A method of controlling a cooking apparatus includes identifying an initial thickness of a food product on a lower heating plate of the cooking apparatus and calculating a difference between an initial gap value corresponding to the initial thickness of the food product and a predefined final gap value. The method includes controlling at least one of a pressure of at least one of an upper heating plate and a lower heating plate on the food product, a rate of descent of the upper heating plate toward the lower heating plate, and a rate of ascent of the lower heating plate toward the upper heating plate based on the calculated difference between the initial gap value and the predefined final gap value.