Menu driven control system for a cooking appliance

A cooking appliance comprising:

• an oven cavity;
• at least one radiant heating element arranged for producing radiant heat in the oven cavity;
• a rapid cook heating source for the oven cavity;
• a control panel including:
• a display having a plurality of information display zones for conveying information and programming options to a user;
• and
• various selection members for inputting desired cooking operation parameters corresponding to the information and programming options conveyed to the user in the information display zones, said selection members being arranged outside the display and directly juxtapose a respective one of each of the information display zones;
• and
• a controller for presenting a sequence of programming screens and establishing a cooking operation within the oven cavity based on the desired cooking operation parameters, wherein the selection members are arranged in a series of vertically spaced pairs, each of the vertically spaced pairs constituting two selection members arranged on opposing sides of and aligned with a respective one of the plurality of information display zones.

A method of programming a cooking appliance including an oven cavity comprising:

• receiving an initial cooking mode selection inputted by a user;
• presenting a user with a sequence of programming screens in a display having a plurality of vertically spaced information display zones;
• pausing between successive ones of the sequence of programming screens to receive desired input selections from the user through various selection members arranged in a series of vertically spaced pairs, with each of the vertically spaced pairs constituting two selection members arranged on opposing sides of and aligned with a respective one of the plurality of information display zones;
• and
• operating a heating system for the oven cavity based on the initial cooking mode and the desired input selections.