What Do Food Cooking Machine Operators Do (including Their Typical Day At Work)

Job Description

Food Cooking Machine Operators operate or tend cooking equipment, such as steam cooking vats, deep fry cookers, pressure cookers, kettles, and boilers, to prepare food products. They also tend or operate and control equipment, such as kettles, cookers, vats and tanks, and boilers, to cook ingredients or prepare products for further processing.

Other tasks include:

• 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.
• Pour, dump, or load prescribed quantities of ingredients or products into cooking equipment, manually or using a hoist.

We asked Food Cooking Machine Operators how satisfied they are with their job. Here is what they said.

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61% of them said they were satisfied with their job and 46% said they find that their job makes the world a better place or helps to make someone else’s life better.

Typical Day At Work

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.

We asked some Food Cooking Machine Operators a few questions to find out what else does their work day look like. Here is what we found.

	Do you have telephone conversations everyday in this job?	32% said yes
	How important is it to work in a team in this job?	62% said very important
	Do you have group discussions everyday in this job?	67% said yes
	Do you talk or work with customers everyday in this job?	33% said yes
	Do you have to deal with angry customers everyday in this job?	39% said yes
	Do you have to make decisions everyday in this job?	63% said yes

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.

Working life

Standard 40 hour work week

Regular schedule like a 9 to 5

In a typical work week as a Food Cooking Machine Operator and Tender, you can expect to work 40 hour work week.

Is this right for me

People who are suitable for this job tends to like work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They like working with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery..

They also like following set procedures and routines. They like working with data and details more than with ideas.

You can read more about these career personality types here.

Explore other careers

http://www.bls.gov/OOH/production/food-and-tobacco-processing-workers.htm

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/

http://www.fda.gov/

http://www.gmaonline.org/