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Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders in Texas

Thinking about a career as a Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders in Texas? Here’s what the data says. 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 Texas?

The food cooking machine operators and tenders working in Texas, wages run about $33,150 per year (or about $15.94/hour).Earnings range from $26,770 at the 10th percentile to $43,040 at the 90th percentile.

Wage Statistic	Annual	Hourly
10th percentile	$26,770	$12.87
25th percentile	$28,920	$13.90
Median (50th)	$33,150	$15.94
75th percentile	$37,040	$17.81
90th percentile	$43,040	$20.69

The location quotient — a measure of how concentrated this occupation is in Texas compared to the national average — is 0.96.

National Wage Comparison

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

Employment Outlook

Nationally, total employment in this occupation is 571,613 food cooking machine operators and tenders nationwide. In Texas alone, around 2,390 people work in this role. That’s higher than the typical state, which employs around 580 food cooking machine operators and tenders.

Top Texas Metros for Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders

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

Metro Area	Number Employed	Annual Median Salary
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	530	$37,030
San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX	490	$30,940
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	340	$31,100
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX	200	$35,420
El Paso, TX	40	$27,880

Top States for Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders Employment

The table below shows the states where 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

These states pay the most for 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

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

Knowledge Areas

Key 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

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

Software and systems commonly involved:

• 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