A control system for a cooking appliance enables a consumer to selectively program a cooking appliance through a control panel in a conventional mode based on established cooking times and temperatures, as well as in a simplified mode incorporating a minimal number of programming steps. In the simplified mode, the consumer selects a first, non-temperature related special features button and inputs a cook time. Immediately following input of the cook time, the control system starts a cooking operation. If the selected time is greater than a predetermined value, the control system automatically operates the cooking appliance in a cold start mode. An override is provided to disable the cold start mode if so desired. In addition, the control system allows a consumer to input both minimum and maximum cook times for the cooking operation.