Food cooking machine operators and tenders: Salary, career path, job outlook, education and more
Food cooking machine operators and tenders operate or tend cooking equipment to prepare food products. For example, potato and corn chip manufacturing workers operate baking and frying equipment.
Other workers operate machines that mix spices, mill grains, or extract oil from seeds.
- Education Required
- Food batchmakers and food cooking machine operators typically need a high school diploma or equivalent.
- Training Required
- Food and tobacco processing workers learn on the job. Training may last from a few weeks to a few months. During training, workers learn health and safety rules related to the type of food or tobacco that they process. Training also involves learning how to operate specific equipment, following safety procedures, and reporting equipment malfunctions.
- Job Outlook
-
The projected percent change in employment from 2016 to 2026: 2% (Slower than average)
(The average growth rate for all occupations is 7 percent.) - Median pay: How much do Food and Tobacco Processing Workers make?
- $27,110 Annual Salary
- $13.04 per hour
Careers for Food and Tobacco Processing Workers
- Almond paste mixers
- Bean roasters
- Candy makers
- Candy pullers
- Cheese processors
- Coffee roasters
- Cottage cheese makers
- Dough scaler and mixers
- Doughnut machine operators
- Dumpling machine operators
- Fish fryers
- Fish smokers
- Food and tobacco roasting, baking, and drying machine operators and tenders
- Food batchmakers
- Food cooking machine operators
- Food dehydrator operators
- Food processing workers
- Frozen yogurt makers
- Grain roasters
- Honey blenders
- Ice cream makers
- Kettle fry cook operators
- Liquid sugar fortifiers
- Malt house kiln operators
- Meat curers
- Meat smokers
- Olive pitters
- Pasta press operators
- Peanut butter makers
- Pickle makers
- Pierogi makers
- Potato chip friers
- Poultry hangers
- Relish makers
- Sausage smokers
- Smokehouse workers
- Taffy pullers
- Tobacco drier operators
- Tripe cookers
- Yeast makers