In a method for operating a cooking zone of a cook top, wherein the cooking zone is formed by at least two cooking sub-zones and each cooking sub-zone can be heated by at least one heating unit, with the heating units arranged adjacent to each other without overlapping such that a cohesive heatable surface is formed during a joint operation of the cooking sub-zones, the cooking sub-zones are operated as a single cooking zone in a first operating mode, and occupancy of a cooking sub-zone by at least one food preparation vessel is detected in the first operating mode, with an occupancy detection phase being started in a user-defined manner.