Production
Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders
Also called: Cooker Operator, Food Production Worker, Fryer Operator, Kettle Fry Cook Operator
US median pay
$41,590
per year, 2025
Job growth 2025–35
-0.3%
declining
Openings a year (US)
3,700
31,200 employed
Typical entry education
High school diploma or equivalent
Preparation 2/5 · Some preparation
What this job is
Operate or tend cooking equipment, such as steam cooking vats, deep fry cookers, pressure cookers, kettles, and boilers, to prepare food products.
What they do day to day
- 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.
Skills and knowledge that matter most
Skills
- Operations Monitoring3.5/5
- Operation and Control3.1/5
- Coordination2.9/5
- Complex Problem Solving2.9/5
- Quality Control Analysis2.8/5
- Judgment and Decision Making2.8/5
- Time Management2.6/5
- Social Perceptiveness2.6/5
Knowledge
- Production and Processing4.3/5
- Food Production3.8/5
- Administration and Management3.3/5
- Education and Training3.1/5
- Mechanical3.1/5
- English Language2.8/5
Importance rated by people working in the job (1 = not important, 5 = extremely important).
Education and preparation
Preparation level 2 of 5 — Some preparation. Usually a high school diploma; some previous work experience or training helps.
Typical entry education (BLS): High school diploma or equivalent.
Highest education of people in this job:
- High school diploma86%
- Post-secondary certificate14%
Who this job suits
Mostly Realistic
Hands-on work with tools, machines, plants or animals
Conventional
Organising data, details and procedures
Based on the Holland (RIASEC) interest profile for this occupation.