A method of operating a cooking hob, the cooking hob comprising: - a flat cooking surface and heating devices on or under the cooking surface, - an operating device for the cooking hob with operating elements (19, 19b, 20, 35, 35b), the operating elements comprising manually operable rotary knobs (19, 19b, 20), in particular arranged on a vertical control panel in front of and below the level of the hob plate, - cooking field display means (33, 33a, 33b, 35, 35b) on the cooking field plate, which are designed to be transilluminated through the cooking field plate, wherein: - the control device of the cooking field has at least one control element (19, 19b, 20, 35, 35b) or the rotary knobs (19, 19b, 20) on the cooking field plate, - the cooking field has pot recognition means, - the cooking field has a power supply for supplying power to the heating devices, preferably at a power level pre-set by the operating device, - the cooking field has a presence sensor or is connected to a presence sensor assigned to it, - the cooking field has a power supply for the operating device and for the presence sensor, - toggle display means (36, 36b) are provided on at least one rotary toggle (19, 19b, 20), characterized in that the cooking field is operated on the one hand in a standby mode in which all heating devices and the power supply are switched off, preferably also the hob display means (33, 33a, 33b, 35, 35b) are switched off, and on the other hand, in a cooking mode in which the power supply is switched on and at least one heating device can be supplied with power for heating a pot placed on it, - wherein in the standby mode the presence sensor is active and is supplied with power from the power supply, wherein the power supply is switched on and activated, - wherein in the cooking mode the power supply is switched on and activated, wherein, starting from a cooking field operated in standby mode, an operator approaches the presence sensor and, when the distance between the operator and the presence sensor is below a limit distance, the presence sensor activates the toggle display means (36, 36b) in order to output information to the operator or to display the information to the operator, the information relating to the cooking field or the state of the cooking field. - a flat cooking surface and heating devices on or under the cooking surface, - an operating device for the cooking hob with operating elements (19, 19b, 20, 35, 35b), the operating elements comprising manually operable rotary knobs (19, 19b, 20), in particular arranged on a vertical control panel in front of and below the level of the hob plate, - cooking field display means (33, 33a, 33b, 35, 35b) on the cooking field plate, which are designed to be transilluminated through the cooking field plate, - the control device of the cooking field has at least one control element (19, 19b, 20, 35, 35b) or the rotary knobs (19, 19b, 20) on the cooking field plate, - the cooking field has pot recognition means, - the cooking field has a power supply for supplying power to the heating devices, preferably at a power level pre-set by the operating device, - the cooking field has a presence sensor or is connected to a presence sensor assigned to it, - the cooking field has a power supply for the operating device and for the presence sensor, - toggle display means (36, 36b) are provided on at least one rotary toggle (19, 19b, 20), characterized in that the cooking field is operated on the one hand in a standby mode in which all heating devices and the power supply are switched off, preferably also the hob display means (33, 33a, 33b, 35, 35b) are switched off, and on the other hand, in a cooking mode in which the power supply is switched on and at least one heating device can be supplied with power for heating a pot placed on it, - wherein in the standby mode the presence sensor is active and is supplied with power from the power supply, wherein the power supply is switched on and activated, - wherein in the cooking mode the power supply is switched on and activated, wherein, starting from a cooking field operated in standby mode, an operator approaches the presence sensor and, when the distance between the operator and the presence sensor is below a limit distance, the presence sensor activates the toggle display means (36, 36b) in order to output information to the operator or to display the information to the operator, the information relating to the cooking field or the state of the cooking field. - wherein in the standby mode the presence sensor is active and is supplied with power from the power supply, wherein the power supply is switched on and activated, - wherein in the cooking mode the power supply is switched on and activated, wherein, starting from a cooking field operated in standby mode, an operator approaches the presence sensor and, when the distance between the operator and the presence sensor is below a limit distance, the presence sensor activates the toggle display means (36, 36b) in order to output information to the operator or to display the information to the operator, the information relating to the cooking field or the state of the cooking field.