Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders Career, Salary and Skills

Occupation description

Operate or tend food or tobacco roasting, baking, or drying equipment, including hearth ovens, kiln driers, roasters, char kilns, and vacuum drying equipment.

National salary and employment

Top skills

Typical tasks

• Observe, feel, taste, or otherwise examine products during and after processing to ensure conformance to standards.
• Set temperature and time controls, light ovens, burners, driers, or roasters, and start equipment, such as conveyors, cylinders, blowers, driers, or pumps.
• Observe temperature, humidity, pressure gauges, and product samples and adjust controls, such as thermostats and valves, to maintain prescribed operating conditions for specific stages.
• Observe flow of materials and listen for machine malfunctions, such as jamming or spillage, and notify supervisors if corrective actions fail.
• Record production data, such as weight and amount of product processed, type of product, and time and temperature of processing.
• Weigh or measure products, using scale hoppers or scale conveyors.
• Operate or tend equipment that roasts, bakes, dries, or cures food items such as cocoa and coffee beans, grains, nuts, and bakery products.
• Fill or remove product from trays, carts, hoppers, or equipment, using scoops, peels, or shovels, or by hand.

Technology

• Email software
• Microsoft Excel

Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders salary by location

Areas with the highest reported employment for this occupation.

• Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders Salary in TX
  Median $37,140 · Employment 1,800
• Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders Salary in CA
  Median $45,600 · Employment 1,630
• Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders Salary in NC
  Median $35,980 · Employment 1,510
• Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders Salary in NY
  Median $49,020 · Employment 1,370
• Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders Salary in New York, NY
  Median $47,110 · Employment 1,190
• Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders Salary in MN
  Median $50,340 · Employment 1,120
• Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders Salary in MO
  Median $43,460 · Employment 1,030
• Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders Salary in OH
  Median $44,190 · Employment 910
• Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders Salary in WA
  Median $50,590 · Employment 720
• Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders Salary in MI
  Median $48,240 · Employment 700
• Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders Salary in IA
  Median $47,960 · Employment 660
• Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders Salary in NJ
  Median $37,140 · Employment 630

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