front wall of the housing with the upwardly opening u shaped bracket 18 being fixedly secured to the distal forwardly projecting end of said arm 44 at its inner or rear end bracket 44 is pivotally connected to a link 46 which is pivotally connected to the peripheral portion of a disk 48 rotated by a variable speed motor 50 the speed of the motor can be readily controlled by means of the speed control means 40 previously described herein in use of the disclosed cooking apparatus let is be assumed that one is cooking an omelet an omelet is preferably cooked in a fry pan of the type illustrated having a bottom wall merging smoothly along gently curving lines into the side wall when the omelet mixture is poured into the fry pan and heat is applied thereto it is necessary to almost continuously gently shake the fry pay back and forth to keep the omelet mixture from sticking to the fry pan while it cooks even so it is often not possible to form the omelet to the exact consistency desired as for example if one happens to turn off the heating element too soon or reciprocate the fry pan too close or perhaps too far from the heating element in such circumstances the omelet might be either too soft or too hard or may be burned or undercooked the present invention obviates the problems heretofore encountered and assures that the omelet will be cooked not only without constant attendance but also with uniformity if directions are followed as to the speed of reciprocation total cooking time and proper temperatures for the upper and lower heating elements for a particular kind of omelet of.