Food cooking machine operators and tenders operate or tend cooking equipment, such as steam cooking vats, deep fry cookers, pressure cookers, kettles, and boilers, to prepare food products.

  • Tend or operate and control equipment, such as kettles, cookers, vats and tanks, and boilers, to cook ingredients or prepare products for further processing.
  • Set temperature, pressure, and time controls, and start conveyers, machines, or pumps.
  • Clean, wash, and sterilize equipment and cooking area, using water hoses, cleaning or sterilizing solutions, or rinses.
  • Observe gauges, dials, and product characteristics, and adjust controls to maintain appropriate temperature, pressure, and flow of ingredients.
  • Listen for malfunction alarms, and shut down equipment and notify supervisors when necessary.
  • Remove cooked material or products from equipment.
  • Turn valves or start pumps to add ingredients or drain products from equipment and to transfer products for storage, cooling, or further processing.
  • Measure or weigh ingredients, using scales or measuring containers.
  • Read work orders, recipes, or formulas to determine cooking times and temperatures, and ingredient specifications.
  • Collect and examine product samples during production to test them for quality, color, content, consistency, viscosity, acidity, or specific gravity.
  • Notify or signal other workers to operate equipment or when processing is complete.
  • Record production and test data, such as processing steps, temperature and steam readings, cooking time, batches processed, and test results.
  • Admit required amounts of water, steam, cooking oils, or compressed air into equipment, such as by opening water valves to cool mixtures to the desired consistency.
  • Pour, dump, or load prescribed quantities of ingredients or products into cooking equipment, manually or using a hoist.
  • Place products on conveyors or carts, and monitor product flow.
  • Activate agitators and paddles to mix or stir ingredients, stopping machines when ingredients are thoroughly mixed.
  • Operate auxiliary machines and equipment, such as grinders, canners, and molding presses, to prepare or further process products.
Work Context

Work Context information for this career will be available soon.

Work Activities
  • Getting Information — Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
  • Controlling Machines and Processes — Using either control mechanisms or direct physical activity to operate machines or processes (not including computers or vehicles).
  • Performing General Physical Activities — Performing physical activities that require considerable use of your arms and legs and moving your whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling of materials.
  • Handling and Moving Objects — Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things.
  • Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates — Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
  • Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events — Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
  • Monitor Processes, Materials, or Surroundings — Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems.
  • Documenting/Recording Information — Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.
  • Read More
Detailed Work Activities
  • Record operational or production data.
  • Watch operating equipment to detect malfunctions.
  • Operate cooking, baking, or other food preparation equipment.
  • Notify others of equipment repair or maintenance needs.
  • Inspect food products.
  • Collect samples of materials or products for testing.
  • Read More

Knowledge

Food Production
  • Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
English Language
  • Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Production and Processing
  • Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Read More

Skills

Operation Monitoring
  • Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
Operation and Control
  • Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
Monitoring
  • Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Reading Comprehension
  • Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
Read More

Abilities

Problem Sensitivity
  • The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
Oral Comprehension
  • The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Near Vision
  • The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Written Comprehension
  • The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Read More

Personality

People interested in this work like activities that include ideas, thinking, and figuring things out.
They do well at jobs that need:
  • Achievement/Effort
  • Persistence
  • Initiative
  • Leadership
  • Cooperation
  • Concern for Others
  • Social Orientation
  • Self Control
Read More

Technology

You might use software like this on the job:

Data base user interface and query software
  • Database software