and if the bit is set high then power did fail while cooking as described below in more detail in connection with power failure detection and if power fails while cooking processor 12 sets the bit high otherwise the bit is low if power did fail while cooking then processor 12 displays messages on user interface a first message 34 displayed is u201c check food u201d a second message 36 displayed is u201c power went off while cooking u201d a third message 38 displayed is u201c please press clock u201d if a valid function key is not pressed 40 the messages will continue to scroll on display until a valid key is pressed once a valid key is pressed main processing operations continue 42 e g the user then sets the clock in accordance with standard operations as described below in more detail if power did not fail when cooking then it may be possible for the clock operations to be restored without requiring that the user reset the clock particularly processor 12 measures 44 the magnitude of the voltage of capacitor c 1 by determining the magnitude of the voltage at port p 2 processor 12 obtains this information from the on board analog to digital converter 15 coupled to port p 2 using the determined magnitude processor 12 determines whether the power outage duration was less than a predetermined time period 46 e g twenty seconds for example and to make such determination microprocessor 12 compares the determined signal magnitude with a predetermined value which is equal to the charge expected to be at port.