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Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders in Pennsylvania

Want to work as a Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders in Pennsylvania? Below are the key facts. Operate or tend cooking equipment, such as steam cooking vats, deep fry cookers, pressure cookers, kettles, and boilers, to prepare food products. Excludes “Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders” (51-3091).

What do Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders Make in Pennsylvania?

For food cooking machine operators and tenders working in Pennsylvania, the median annual wage is $38,570 per year (or roughly $18.54/hour).Pay can range from $33,380 at the 10th percentile to $52,870 at the 90th percentile.

Wage Statistic	Annual	Hourly
10th percentile	$33,380	$16.05
25th percentile	$35,660	$17.14
Median (50th)	$38,570	$18.54
75th percentile	$47,800	$22.98
90th percentile	$52,870	$25.42

The location quotient — a measure of how concentrated this occupation is in Pennsylvania compared to the national average — is 1.25, suggesting that food cooking machine operators and tenders are more concentrated here than the national average.

National Wage Comparison

Nationally, food cooking machine operators and tenders earn a median of $68,878 per year ($33.11/hour), lower than the Pennsylvania median.

Employment Outlook

There are roughly 571,613 food cooking machine operators and tenders in the U.S.. In Pennsylvania alone, around 1,350 people work in this role. That puts the state above the typical state, which employs around 580 food cooking machine operators and tenders.

Top Pennsylvania Metros for Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders

The metro areas below employ the most food cooking machine operators and tenders in Pennsylvania.

Metro Area	Number Employed	Annual Median Salary
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	560	$37,430
York-Hanover, PA	230	$49,940
Scranton–Wilkes-Barre, PA	130	$47,540
Pittsburgh, PA	110	$36,250
Lancaster, PA	100	$35,730
Altoona, PA	70	$35,960
Erie, PA	40	$38,220
Reading, PA	40	$35,910

Top States for Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders Employment

View the states that employ the most food cooking machine operators and tenders work.

State	Number Employed
Texas	2,390
California	2,340
Tennessee	1,730
Pennsylvania	1,350
Ohio	1,330
Wisconsin	1,050
Iowa	1,000
New York	960
Illinois	920
Florida	880
Idaho	780
Virginia	730
Michigan	720
Kansas	710
Arizona	700
Missouri	700
Indiana	690
New Jersey	650
Oregon	600
North Carolina	580

Highest-Paying States for Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders

Where food cooking machine operators and tenders earn the most: food cooking machine operators and tenders.

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

Skills

Key food cooking machine operators and tenders skills, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:

Knowledge Areas

Core knowledge areas for this occupation, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:

Abilities

Key abilities for food cooking machine operators and tenders, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:

Daily Tasks

Day-to-day, food cooking machine operators and tenders typically:

• 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.
• Collect and examine product samples during production to test them for quality, color, content, consistency, viscosity, acidity, or specific gravity.
• Pour, dump, or load prescribed quantities of ingredients or products into cooking equipment, manually or using a hoist.
• Listen for malfunction alarms, and shut down equipment and notify supervisors when necessary.
• Notify or signal other workers to operate equipment or when processing is complete.

Work Activities

• Documenting/Recording Information
• Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings
• Getting Information
• Controlling Machines and Processes
• Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials
• Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events
• Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates
• Handling and Moving Objects
• Estimating the Quantifiable Characteristics of Products, Events, or Information
• Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards
• Judging the Qualities of Objects, Services, or People
• Making Decisions and Solving Problems

Tools & Technology

Common tools and software used in this occupation include:

• Database software (data base user interface and query software)

Related Careers

Related occupations to food cooking machine operators and tenders include:

• Cooks, Restaurant
• Graders and Sorters, Agricultural Products
• Bakers
• Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders
• Food Batchmakers
• Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders

Also Known As

Bakery Fryer, Blanching Machine Operator, Boiler, Brine Maker, Casing Cooker, Chip Fryer, Chocolate Temperer, Coconut Boiler, Confectionery Cooker, Cook Box Filler, Cook-Box Filler, Cooker, Cooker Operator, Cooker Tender, Corn Cooker.

References

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics — https://www.bls.gov/oes/
• O*NET Online — https://www.onetonline.org/
• BLS Employment Projections — https://www.bls.gov/emp/
• O*NET-SOC code: 51-3093.00