Career Overview
Operate or tend cooking equipment, such as steam cooking vats, deep fry cookers, pressure cookers, kettles, and boilers, to prepare food products.
Also Known As
- Fryer Operator
- Kettle Fry Cook Operator
- Machine Operator
- Retort Operator
Alternate Job Titles
- Bakery Fryer
- Blanching Machine Operator
- Boiler
- Brine Maker
- Casing Cooker
- Chip Fryer
- Chocolate Temperer
- Coconut Boiler
- Confectionery Cooker
- Cook Box Filler
- Cook-Box Filler
- Cooker
- Cooker Operator
- Cooker Tender
- Corn Cooker
What You'll Do
In this role, your typical responsibilities include:
- 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.
Knowledge You'll Use
You'll need solid knowledge in these areas:
- Production and Processing
- Food Production
Key Abilities
This career requires key abilities in:
- Problem Sensitivity
- Oral Comprehension
- Written Comprehension
- Near Vision
- Selective Attention
- Control Precision
- Information Ordering
- Reaction Time
- Finger Dexterity
- Manual Dexterity
Work Style
People who excel in this career typically demonstrate:
- Dependability
- Attention to Detail
- Cautiousness
- Stress Tolerance
- Self-Control
What Matters in This Career
This career tends to satisfy these work values:
- Support
- Relationships
- Independence
- Achievement
- Working Conditions
Education & Preparation
Typical Education: High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)
Related Work Experience Needed: Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months
On-the-Job Training: Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month
Education Details: Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
Experience Required: Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.
Technology You'll Use
Tools & Equipment
- Boilers
- Bucket belt conveyors
- Canners
- Chain hoists
- Combination feeders
- Continuous baking ovens
- Cooking vats
- Corn cooking systems
- Direct-fired fryers
- Electromagnetic vibratory feeders
- Grinders
- Hand trucks
- Hot air impingement ovens
- Hot oil cookers
- Hot oil roasting equipment
Work Environment
- Determine Tasks, Priorities and Goals
- Indoors, Environmentally Controlled
- Spend Time Using Your Hands to Handle, Control, or Feel Objects, Tools, or Controls
- Freedom to Make Decisions
- Work With or Contribute to a Work Group or Team
Salary & Job Market
| Salary Percentile | Annual Wage |
|---|---|
| Entry-Level (10th percentile) | $30,540 |
| Median | $40,550 |
| Top Earners (90th percentile) | $54,170 |
Workers Employed Nationally: 27,660
Related Careers
If you're interested in this career, you might also consider:
Food Batchmakers
Education: High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)
Median Salary: $40,790
Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders
Education: High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)
Median Salary: $42,730
Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
Education: High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)
Median Salary: $49,500
Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders
Education: Less than a High School Diploma
Median Salary: $40,160
Cleaning, Washing, and Metal Pickling Equipment Operators and Tenders
Education: High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)
Median Salary: $41,460
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Occupational data sourced from the O*NET OnLine database, developed by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration. Wage data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), 2024.