In one embodiment, a method includes accessing a temperature map of a food item in a cooking apparatus, where the temperature map comprises a plurality of regions of the food item and associates a temperature with each region, and the cooking apparatus cooks according to an initial heating technique. The method includes determining, by a computing device, whether a temperature associated with at least one region of the food item violates a predetermined temperature constraint, and in response to a determination that the temperature associated with at least one region of the food item violates a predetermined temperature constraint, then determining an optimal heating technique and instructing the cooking apparatus to cook according to the optimal heating technique. In response to a determination that the temperature of each region does not violate a predetermined temperature constraint, the method includes determining that the initial heating technique should not be changed.