A temperature controller for a deep fat fryer including a temperature sensing circuit that determines the temperature of cooking oil in the deep fat fryer and which is connected to a temperature control circuit that controls the deep fat fryer heat source in providing heat to the cooking oil in response to a set temperature from an external input device. The control circuit also includes an anticipation circuit that variably modulates the heating source before the cooking oil temperature approaches the set temperature. The temperature control circuit further includes a resistor divider network that provides selected voltages representing reference temperatures and which are input to several operational amplifiers for controlling the heat source.