An apparatus for cooking food products, the apparatus comprising: - a first heating plate adapted to support the food products; - a second heating plate adapted to face the food products during a cooking operation; - a first resistive heating element associated with the first heating plate and adapted to generate infrared radiation for heating the food products during the cooking operation; - a second resistive heating element associated with the second heating plate and adapted to generate infrared radiation for heating the food products during the cooking operation, and - at least one microwave generator element configured to selectively generate microwave radiation for heating the food products during the cooking operation, wherein: at least one among the first heating plate and the second heating plate is made of a material that is transparent or at least partially transparent to microwave radiations and at the same time not transparent to infrared radiation, in such a way that said at least one among the first heating plate and the second heating plate is adapted to increase its temperature by infrared radiation absorption to provide heat to the food products by heat conduction, characterized in that said material is a ceramic material for which at least one among the following relationships is fulfilled: - K ic / Eα ≥ 0.3 K√m; - δ f / Eα ≥ 30 K; - kK ic / Eα ≥ 1 W/√m, and - kδ f / Eα ≥ 30 W/m, wherein: - K ic is the fracture toughness resistance coefficient; - δ f is the maximum tensile strength; - E is the Young's modulus; - α is the thermal expansion coefficient, and - k is the thermal conductivity coefficient. - a first heating plate adapted to support the food products; - a second heating plate adapted to face the food products during a cooking operation; - a first resistive heating element associated with the first heating plate and adapted to generate infrared radiation for heating the food products during the cooking operation; - a second resistive heating element associated with the second heating plate and adapted to generate infrared radiation for heating the food products during the cooking operation, and - at least one microwave generator element configured to selectively generate microwave radiation for heating the food products during the cooking operation, wherein: at least one among the first heating plate and the second heating plate is made of a material that is transparent or at least partially transparent to microwave radiations and at the same time not transparent to infrared radiation, in such a way that said at least one among the first heating plate and the second heating plate is adapted to increase its temperature by infrared radiation absorption to provide heat to the food products by heat conduction, characterized in that said material is a ceramic material for which at least one among the following relationships is fulfilled: - K ic / Eα ≥ 0.3 K√m; - δ f / Eα ≥ 30 K; - kK ic / Eα ≥ 1 W/√m, and - kδ f / Eα ≥ 30 W/m, wherein: - K ic is the fracture toughness resistance coefficient; - δ f is the maximum tensile strength; - E is the Young's modulus; - α is the thermal expansion coefficient, and - k is the thermal conductivity coefficient. at least one among the first heating plate and the second heating plate is made of a material that is transparent or at least partially transparent to microwave radiations and at the same time not transparent to infrared radiation, in such a way that said at least one among the first heating plate and the second heating plate is adapted to increase its temperature by infrared radiation absorption to provide heat to the food products by heat conduction, characterized in that said material is a ceramic material for which at least one among the following relationships is fulfilled: - K ic / Eα ≥ 0.3 K√m; - δ f / Eα ≥ 30 K; - kK ic / Eα ≥ 1 W/√m, and - kδ f / Eα ≥ 30 W/m, wherein: - K ic is the fracture toughness resistance coefficient; - δ f is the maximum tensile strength; - E is the Young's modulus; - α is the thermal expansion coefficient, and - k is the thermal conductivity coefficient. - K ic / Eα ≥ 0.3 K√m; - δ f / Eα ≥ 30 K; - kK ic / Eα ≥ 1 W/√m, and - kδ f / Eα ≥ 30 W/m, - K ic is the fracture toughness resistance coefficient; - δ f is the maximum tensile strength; - E is the Young's modulus; - α is the thermal expansion coefficient, and - k is the thermal conductivity coefficient.