Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

Operate auxiliary machines and equipment, such as grinders, canners, and molding presses, to prepare or further process products.