What Do Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders Do

• 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.

Typical day

On a daily basis, Food Cooking Machine Operators read work orders, recipes, or formulas to determine cooking times and temperatures, and ingredient specifications. They 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.

A typical day for a Food Cooking Machine Operator and Tender will also include:

• 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.
• 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.
• Observe gauges, dials, and product characteristics, and adjust controls to maintain appropriate temperature, pressure, and flow of ingredients.

Other responsibilities

Besides their typical day, Food Cooking Machine Operators also operate auxiliary machines and equipment, such as grinders, canners, and molding presses, to prepare or further process products. They may also listen for malfunction alarms, and shut down equipment, and notify supervisors when necessary.

On a weekly to monthly basis, Food Cooking Machine Operators clean, wash, and sterilize equipment and cooking area, using water hoses, cleaning or sterilizing solutions, or rinses. They might also pour, dump, or load prescribed quantities of ingredients or products into cooking equipment, manually or using a hoist.

In addition, they activate agitators and paddles to mix or stir ingredients, stopping machines when ingredients are thoroughly mixed.

Although specific duties may vary, many of them turn valves or start pumps to add ingredients or drain products from equipment and to transfer products for storage, cooling, or further processing.

To some Food Cooking Machine Operators, it is also their responsibility to set temperature, pressure, and time controls, and start conveyers, machines, or pumps.