A heating appliance includes a heating structure having a lower surface and a flat upper surface for supporting and imparting heat into an object, such a pot or pan used to cook food. The heating structure includes an array of heating elements arranged on the lower surface of the heating structure in an m×n array having m columns and n rows. Each element is thermally coupled to a region of the structure for heating its respective region of the structure independently of other regions of the structure associated with the other heating elements.