Hi dean, welcome to the forum. How long have you had your machine, you're from USA aren't you? We wouldn't know about the alarm turning off after 15 minutes because we would never let it go that long. Depending on what you are cooking, even though the heat wouldn't be on during this extra time, the blade action would most certainly cause the food to turn to mush I would think. Can you explain why you would not be close enough to turn the machine off when the beeping starts?