Retail
Food Cooking Machine Operator and Tender
Operate or tend cooking equipment, such as steam cooking vats, deep fry cookers, pressure cookers, kettles, and boilers, to prepare food products.
Annual openings
59
BLS median wage
$46,900
Typical education
Flexible / varies by employer
10-year growth
+7%
Career requirements
What does this career require?
The education, credentials, and on-the-job competencies Colorado employers expect for this role.
Typical education
Flexible / varies by employer
Credential requirement
No specific credential listed yet
Is this work a fit?
What the work actually feels like
How people in this career tend to spend their time, the interests it draws on, and a look at a typical day.
Work style
- With kids/peopleOccasionally
- On a computerOccasionally
- Outdoors / on-siteOccasionally
- With your handsOccasionally
Interests it draws on
- Manufacturing
Automation exposure
High exposure
Many tasks are repeatable, so technology could reshape the day-to-day over time.
A typical day
- 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.
- Pour, dump, or load prescribed quantities of ingredients or products into cooking equipment, manually or using a hoist.
- 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.
- Measure or weigh ingredients, using scales or measuring containers.