Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders Career, Salary and Skills
Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders have a BLS-reported national median annual wage of $41,590 based on the 2025 OEWS dataset, with reported national employment of 31,250. Wage data is published for 128 locations.
Occupation description
Operate or tend cooking equipment, such as steam cooking vats, deep fry cookers, pressure cookers, kettles, and boilers, to prepare food products.
O*NET code
51-3093.00
Job zone
2
Typical education
High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)
Experience
Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months
National salary and employment
Median annual
$41,590
Hourly median
$20.00
Employment
31,250
Data year
2025
National salary distribution
Top skills
| Skill | Importance | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Operations Monitoring | 3.50 | 3.12 |
| Operation and Control | 3.12 | 2.88 |
| Reading Comprehension | 3.12 | 2.75 |
| Monitoring | 3.12 | 2.88 |
| Active Listening | 3.00 | 3.00 |
| Critical Thinking | 3.00 | 2.38 |
| Coordination | 2.88 | 2.75 |
| Complex Problem Solving | 2.88 | 2.38 |
| Writing | 2.75 | 2.62 |
| Quality Control Analysis | 2.75 | 2.12 |
Typical tasks
- 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.
- Remove cooked material or products from equipment.
- Clean, wash, and sterilize equipment and cooking area, using water hoses, cleaning or sterilizing solutions, or rinses.
Technology
- Database software
Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders salary by location
Areas with the highest reported employment for this occupation.
- Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders Salary in TXMedian $33,980 · Employment 3,180
- Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders Salary in ILMedian $42,670 · Employment 2,460
- Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders Salary in CAMedian $44,740 · Employment 2,010
- Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders Salary in Chicago, ILMedian $44,280 · Employment 1,900
- Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders Salary in TNMedian $45,620 · Employment 1,820
- Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders Salary in PAMedian $42,710 · Employment 1,580
- Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders Salary in MNMedian $47,250 · Employment 1,410
- Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders Salary in NYMedian $45,680 · Employment 1,300
- Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders Salary in OKMedian $36,030 · Employment 1,140
- Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders Salary in OHMedian $41,160 · Employment 980
- Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders Salary in FLMedian $36,450 · Employment 970
- Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders Salary in New York, NYMedian $41,590 · Employment 880
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Career and skills data: O*NET 31.0 (onetcenter.org). Salary and employment data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, 2025 (bls.gov/oes). Figures are published survey estimates, not real-time market data.