Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders
Food cooking machine operators and tenders operate or tend cooking equipment, such as steam cooking vats, deep fry cookers, pressure cookers, kettles, and boilers, to prepare food products.
Food cooking machine operators and tender jobs involve cleaning work areas, sterilizing food cooking or processing equipment, reading work orders or other instructions to determine product specifications or materials requirements, reviewing blueprints or other instructions to determine operational methods or sequences and adjusting equipment controls to regulate the flow of production materials or products.
Food cooking machine operators normally need a high school diploma or equivalent. Tender food processing workers learn their skills through on-the-job training.
Many avenues open up in cooking careers for culinary graduates. One can work as a restaurant chef, personal chef, caterer, baking and pastry chef, food service or restaurant owner.
People in cooking careers have expertise of manufacturing and processing, understanding of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods. They know the techniques and types of equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Some skills which are most useful for food cooking machine operators in cooking careers are operation monitoring, operations and control and assessing the performance of themselves and other individuals or organizations to make improvements or take corrective actions.
To succeed in food cooking, machine operators and tenders should possess problem sensitivity with excellent reading, writing and oral comprehension skills.
Qualifications
Every career requires an element of study and academic qualification, and there can be several study routes and pathways you can take. In following any academic pathway you will study subjects that contribute to the specialised knowledge required to achieve your career goals. These qualifications provide a future employer with the evidence that you have the desired knowledge, understanding and experience of their industry, so it’s important to consider the various types of qualifications available to you and to understand how they can boost your career and create opportunities for you.
- NSQF Level 4 Multi-Skill Technician in Food Processing
- NSQF Level 2 Multi-Skill Technician
Tasks
- Record production and test data, such as processing steps, temperature and steam readings, cooking time, batches processed, and test results.
- Listen for malfunction alarms, and shut down equipment and notify supervisors when necessary.
- Collect and examine product samples during production to test them for quality, color, content, consistency, viscosity, acidity, or specific gravity.
- Observe gauges, dials, and product characteristics, and adjust controls to maintain appropriate temperature, pressure, and flow of ingredients.
- Read work orders, recipes, or formulas to determine cooking times and temperatures, and ingredient specifications.
- Clean, wash, and sterilize equipment and cooking area, using water hoses, cleaning or sterilizing solutions, or rinses.
- Set temperature, pressure, and time controls, and start conveyers, machines, or pumps.
- Tend or operate and control equipment, such as kettles, cookers, vats and tanks, and boilers, to cook ingredients or prepare products for further processing.
- Measure or weigh ingredients, using scales or measuring containers.
- 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.
Progression Routes
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