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Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders: Career Overview
Operate or tend cooking equipment, such as steam cooking vats, deep fry cookers, pressure cookers, kettles, and boilers, to prepare food products.
What Tasks Do Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders Take On?
The day-to-day responsibilities of food cooking machine operators and tenders include:
- Clean, wash, and sterilize equipment and cooking area, using water hoses, cleaning or sterilizing solutions, or rinses.
- Read work orders, recipes, or formulas to determine cooking times and temperatures, and ingredient specifications.
- Observe gauges, dials, and product characteristics, and adjust controls to maintain appropriate temperature, pressure, and flow of ingredients.
- Measure or weigh ingredients, using scales or measuring containers.
- Tend or operate and control equipment, such as kettles, cookers, vats and tanks, and boilers, to cook ingredients or prepare products for further processing.
- Record production and test data, such as processing steps, temperature and steam readings, cooking time, batches processed, and test results.
- Set temperature, pressure, and time controls, and start conveyers, machines, or pumps.
- Remove cooked material or products from equipment.
Key Skills and Knowledge
Effective food cooking machine operators and tenders rely on a mix of skills and domain knowledge.
Most Important Skills
These are the skills most central to this role, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:
Knowledge Areas
Other Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders Job Titles
This career also goes by job titles like:
- Bakery Fryer
- Blanching Machine Operator
- Boiler
- Brine Maker
- Casing Cooker
- Chip Fryer
- Chocolate Temperer
- Coconut Boiler
Job Outlook
The U.S. employs around 571,613 food cooking machine operators and tenders working in the United States today. This occupation is expected to grow by +5.9% over the projection horizon.
Salary for Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders
| Statistic | Value |
|---|---|
| Annual median | $68,878 |
| Hourly median | $33.11 |
| 10th percentile | $45,397 |
| 25th percentile | $57,138 |
| 75th percentile | $80,619 |
| 90th percentile | $92,359 |
Compensation varies based on experience, location, and industry.
Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders Salary by State
| State | Annual median salary |
|---|---|
| Nebraska | $50,020 |
| Colorado | $49,830 |
| Michigan | $48,070 |
| Washington | $48,020 |
| Minnesota | $47,890 |
| New Mexico | $47,250 |
| Idaho | $46,470 |
| New York | $46,360 |
| Iowa | $45,910 |
| Kansas | $45,580 |
| Tennessee | $45,040 |
| California | $44,720 |
| Massachusetts | $43,090 |
| Illinois | $42,890 |
| Oregon | $42,430 |
| Connecticut | $42,390 |
| Indiana | $41,600 |
| Wisconsin | $40,360 |
| Kentucky | $39,770 |
| Ohio | $38,740 |
| Pennsylvania | $38,570 |
| Georgia | $38,260 |
| Maryland | $38,190 |
| South Dakota | $38,070 |
| Arkansas | $37,770 |
| Utah | $37,610 |
| Louisiana | $37,570 |
| North Carolina | $37,440 |
| South Carolina | $36,870 |
| Virginia | $36,860 |
| Maine | $36,710 |
| New Jersey | $36,100 |
| Missouri | $35,940 |
| New Hampshire | $35,250 |
| Arizona | $33,560 |
| Florida | $33,280 |
| Texas | $33,150 |
| Mississippi | $32,260 |
| Alabama | $26,200 |
| Puerto Rico | $22,670 |
Top-Paying U.S. Regions
Pay for food cooking machine operators and tenders vary by region. These regions lead on median pay:
| Region | Median annual wage | Share of U.S. jobs | Location quotient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plains States | $44,189 | 12.5% | 2.35 |
| Rocky Mountains | $44,001 | 5.8% | 3.26 |
| Far Western US | $43,294 | 12.7% | 0.86 |
| Great Lakes | $41,756 | 17.9% | 1.31 |
| New England | $40,761 | 3.1% | 1.11 |
| Middle Atlantic | $40,363 | 12.2% | 0.91 |
| Southeast | $38,386 | 22.7% | 1.44 |
| Southwest | $34,444 | 12.8% | 1.10 |
Where the Jobs Cluster
| Metro area | State | Median annual wage | Employment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Modesto, CA | CA | $80,310 | 150 |
| Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY | NY | $55,870 | 90 |
| Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO | CO | $55,630 | 100 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | WA | $52,850 | 70 |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | MN | $51,490 | 200 |
| Ogden, UT | UT | $50,980 | 80 |
| Appleton, WI | WI | $50,860 | 60 |
| Sioux City, IA-NE-SD | IA | $50,020 | 190 |
Which Industries Hire Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders
The bulk of food cooking machine operators and tenders are concentrated in the following sectors:
| Industry | Employment | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 22,480 | $42,080 |
| Accommodation and Food Services | 1,990 | $39,670 |
| Wholesale Trade | 1,620 | $33,570 |
| Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services | 640 | $36,120 |
| Retail Trade | 580 | $31,470 |
| Transportation and Warehousing | 310 | $35,080 |
Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders work in the following industries:
Software Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders Use
- Data base user interface and query software: Database software
What the Workplace Is Like
Daily working conditions for food cooking machine operators and tenders is shaped by the following characteristics:
- Determine Tasks, Priorities and Goals
- Indoors, Environmentally Controlled
- Spend Time Using Your Hands to Handle, Control, or Feel Objects, Tools, or Controls
- Freedom to Make Decisions
- Work With or Contribute to a Work Group or Team
Getting Started in This Career
Typical food cooking machine operators and tenders positions require a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical entry-level education. This occupation sits in Some Preparation Needed (Job Zone 2), indicating the level of preparation typically expected.
Similar Occupations
Similar Occupations
- Cooks, Restaurant (Primary-Long)
- Graders and Sorters, Agricultural Products (Supplemental)
- Bakers (Primary-Long)
- Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders (Primary-Short)
- Food Batchmakers (Primary-Short)
- Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders (Supplemental)
- Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic (Supplemental)
- Textile Bleaching and Dyeing Machine Operators and Tenders (Supplemental)
About the Data
Statistics shown above are sourced from the following authoritative sources:
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) for employment and wage data by state and industry.
- BLS Employment Projections for total employment and growth forecasts.
- O*NET (Occupational Information Network) for skills, knowledge, tasks, work activities, work context, technology, and education-zone data.
SOC code: 51-3093.00 (Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders).
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