The invention relates to an optoelectronic cooking panel controller, the surface of the cooking panel to be heated in each case being determined on the basis of the pot size by optoelectronic sensors. An optoelectronic unit consists of a light transmitter which produces a photon field, a light receiver which records changes in this photon field, a signal conditioner and an evaluation unit. The sensors can be arranged in the hot region and cold region and can be used for switching any desired functions.
