pen_grunt | Kosher stove?

Last night, my Dad brought over a bunch of stove pamphlets for us to look through. Not because WE are getting a stove, but because Mom and Dad are getting a stove, and all style-related decisions (apparently) must be passed through "the kids".

While browsing through the pretty, pretty stoves (and yes, this is where I am a "typical" woman, I'll look at a stack of appliance pictures and squeal, "Ooh, that one is pretty" about a favored model), I came across an interesting stove spec....

Sabbath Mode: Y/N

So my Methodist-raised self knows enough about Judaism to know that one is not supposed to light a fire on the Sabbath (nor, as my want-to-be-Jewish sister points out, turn on light switches, etc.) but I'm a little confused.

So how does a Sabbath Mode stove work? Does it turn itself on at some point? Does that really count as not turning on the stove yourself if you PROGRAM it to come on? And what if it comes on automatically and you're late/early putting the food in? Are you allowed to modify it, or does that negate the not turning it on yourself thing?

And a few of these stoves are Star-K certified--Kosher stoves.

Does that mean that if you try to auto-cook pork on the Sabbath that it will incinerate your meal to prevent you from violating Kosher/Sabbath standards? Or will it just spit non-kosher food back out at you?