Skip to content

← Occupation guides

51-3093.00 · Task explorer

Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders: reported tasks and exploration worksheet

Operate or tend cooking equipment, such as steam cooking vats, deep fry cookers, pressure cookers, kettles, and boilers, to prepare food products.

Use the skill profile to plan your next practice →

Read the task inventory

This source lists 17 tasks, including 14 marked Core and 3 marked Supplemental. Labels and dates are retained below. Employers can combine or divide these responsibilities differently; explore the task itself before assuming it belongs in every version of the role.

Task source dates: 08/2021.

Find a task in this inventory

17 tasks shown

Core · Task 4949 · 08/2021 · Incumbent

Clean, wash, and sterilize equipment and cooking area, using water hoses, cleaning or sterilizing solutions, or rinses.

Add to my exploration shortlist

My example, evidence or question

Core · Task 4948 · 08/2021 · Incumbent

Read work orders, recipes, or formulas to determine cooking times and temperatures, and ingredient specifications.

Add to my exploration shortlist

My example, evidence or question

Core · Task 4947 · 08/2021 · Incumbent

Observe gauges, dials, and product characteristics, and adjust controls to maintain appropriate temperature, pressure, and flow of ingredients.

Add to my exploration shortlist

My example, evidence or question

Core · Task 4952 · 08/2021 · Incumbent

Measure or weigh ingredients, using scales or measuring containers.

Add to my exploration shortlist

My example, evidence or question

Core · Task 4951 · 08/2021 · Incumbent

Tend or operate and control equipment, such as kettles, cookers, vats and tanks, and boilers, to cook ingredients or prepare products for further processing.

Add to my exploration shortlist

My example, evidence or question

Core · Task 4944 · 08/2021 · Incumbent

Record production and test data, such as processing steps, temperature and steam readings, cooking time, batches processed, and test results.

Add to my exploration shortlist

My example, evidence or question

Core · Task 4950 · 08/2021 · Incumbent

Set temperature, pressure, and time controls, and start conveyers, machines, or pumps.

Add to my exploration shortlist

My example, evidence or question

Core · Task 4954 · 08/2021 · Incumbent

Remove cooked material or products from equipment.

Add to my exploration shortlist

My example, evidence or question

Core · Task 4946 · 08/2021 · Incumbent

Collect and examine product samples during production to test them for quality, color, content, consistency, viscosity, acidity, or specific gravity.

Add to my exploration shortlist

My example, evidence or question

Core · Task 4958 · 08/2021 · Incumbent

Pour, dump, or load prescribed quantities of ingredients or products into cooking equipment, manually or using a hoist.

Add to my exploration shortlist

My example, evidence or question

Core · Task 4945 · 08/2021 · Incumbent

Listen for malfunction alarms, and shut down equipment and notify supervisors when necessary.

Add to my exploration shortlist

My example, evidence or question

Core · Task 4955 · 08/2021 · Incumbent

Notify or signal other workers to operate equipment or when processing is complete.

Add to my exploration shortlist

My example, evidence or question

Core · Task 4956 · 08/2021 · Incumbent

Turn valves or start pumps to add ingredients or drain products from equipment and to transfer products for storage, cooling, or further processing.

Add to my exploration shortlist

My example, evidence or question

Core · Task 4953 · 08/2021 · Incumbent

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.

Add to my exploration shortlist

My example, evidence or question

Supplemental · Task 4959 · 08/2021 · Incumbent

Activate agitators and paddles to mix or stir ingredients, stopping machines when ingredients are thoroughly mixed.

Add to my exploration shortlist

My example, evidence or question

Supplemental · Task 4960 · 08/2021 · Incumbent

Operate auxiliary machines and equipment, such as grinders, canners, and molding presses, to prepare or further process products.

Add to my exploration shortlist

My example, evidence or question

Supplemental · Task 4957 · 08/2021 · Incumbent

Place products on conveyors or carts, and monitor product flow.

Add to my exploration shortlist

My example, evidence or question

Make the shortlist useful

Choose one to three activities that tell you something different about the work. Avoid selecting several ways of describing the same interest.
For each, write an example you can discuss or a question that would change your understanding of the role.
Keep source task IDs with your notes so you can return to the same description. Do not include private employer or customer information.

The exported worksheet distinguishes the reported task from your own notes. It supports exploration, not a hiring decision or a validated assessment.

Keep your worksheet

Download before leaving this page. Unsaved writing remains only in the page and is cleared on refresh. Notes and learning actions are not sent to a server. This guide describes an occupation and supports study planning; it does not provide clinical, legal or equipment-operating procedures.

Source and practice material

Occupational context uses the O*NET® 31.0 Database from the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, under CC BY 4.0. View the occupation.

Skill Workbench selected and adapted the occupational information and added its own fictional cases, calculations, guidance and worksheets. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed or tested these additions. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.