A cooking device and method that conserves power consumption. The cooking device includes a controller that runs a program that controls the cooking device to changeover from a cook mode to an idle mode when food products are being cooked. The cooking device has a conveyor that conveys food products along a cooking passageway between an inlet and an outlet. A sensing device provides an output indicative of the presence and/or absence of food products on the conveyor. The controller responds to the output to lower the power consumption of the cooking device during the idle mode by operating heating devices and/or fans with lower power.