A cooking stove which prevents the quantity of heat generated by a gas burner from increasing continuously contrary to the user's expectations, while allowing the user to easily operate the appliance. A cooking stove includes an operation portion 6 having touch switches provided on a glass top plate 2 covering a top surface of a cooking stove main body 1 accommodating burners 4a and 4b, the touch switches allowing a user to give instruction on activation of the burners 4a and 4b, the touch switches sensing an object that contacts or approaches the top surface of the glass top plate 2, and a controller for determining whether each of the touch switches is on (sensing state) or off (non-sensing state) to control activation of the burners 4a and 4b in accordance with the result of the determination. When a thermal power up switch for the burner 4a in the operation portion 6 is kept on while the burner 4a is in operation, controller increases the thermal power of the burner 4a by only one level. When a thermal power down switch for the burner 4a in the operation portion 6 is kept on while the burner 4a is in operation, the controller continuously reduces the thermal power of the burner 4a by a plurality of levels.