Cooking apparatus having display unit and item selection unit

A cooking apparatus having an operation panel including a display unit and a data entry unit, the data entry unit controlling switching of screens displayed on the display unit, the data entry unit comprising:

• data entry keys that are individually operable;
• and
• a transparent touch panel laid over a front surface of the display unit for entering cooking conditions,
• the display unit interactively switching the screens displayed responsive to operation of the touch panel,
• the touch panel including
• transparent substrate having a first transparent electrode formed thereon,
• a flexible transparent film having, a second transparent electrode formed thereon, the transparent film being laid over the transparent substrate and bonded thereto at edges of the transparent substrate, an air layer being formed between the transparent substrate and the transparent film with the first and second transparent electrodes facing each other,
• a connector for connecting to one end of a key cable the key cable, having a second end connected to a control circuit in the touch panel, and
• an air passage near the connector for providing an air flow path into and out of the air layer.

A method of displaying bookmarked screens on a display unit of a cooking apparatus, comprising the steps of:

• a) displaying one screen after another responsive to selection of items on the screens;
• b) attaching a bookmark to specific screens responsive to bookmark requests;
• c) storing data related to the bookmarked screens;
• and
• d) displaying the bookmarked screens in accordance with the stored data responsive to bookmarked screen display requests.

A method of displaying cooking menus on a display unit of a cooking apparatus, comprising the steps of:

• a) displaying one screen after another responsive to selection of items on the screens;
• b) displaying a list of names of groups into which cooking menus are classified by a first letter of the cooking menus, responsive to an index display request;
• and
• c) displaying a list of cooking menus belonging, to a selected group responsive to selection from the list of names of groups.