Operate or tend cooking equipment, such as steam cooking vats, deep fry cookers, pressure cookers, kettles, and boilers, to prepare food products.
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Licensing, certifications and working conditions
State licensing. CareerOneStop's licensing data records no state license for Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders, which usually means it is not a licensed occupation. Requirements can still vary by employer and state.
Sources: CareerOneStop (licenses and certifications), part of the CareerOneStop suite of web products, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (working conditions, wages). MajorPays has reorganized this information; these agencies have not approved or endorsed it. See it interactively, with state-by-state detail →
More data on this career
Where the jobs are, and what they pay by industry. Nationwide, the industries that employ the most food cooking machine operators and tenders are Other Food Manufacturing (22% of the jobs counted, median pay $45,560), Animal Slaughtering and Processing (18% of the jobs counted, median pay $45,120), Fruit and Vegetable Preserving and Specialty Food Manufacturing (18% of the jobs counted, median pay $41,830), Bakeries and Tortilla Manufacturing (14% of the jobs counted, median pay $39,270) (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025). Among large industries, the highest median pay is in Dairy Product Manufacturing ($48,780), Other Food Manufacturing ($45,560), Animal Slaughtering and Processing ($45,120). Pay differs by industry for many reasons, including the mix of jobs and where employers are located.
Injury and illness rates. For the broader group "Food processing workers", which includes this career (BLS did not publish enough cases for this exact occupation), employers reported 155.1 nonfatal injury and illness cases with days away from work per 10,000 full-time workers, compared with 94.6 for all U.S. workers; the median case kept the worker away 7 days (all workers: 8) (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2023-2024). Rates reflect the work setting as well as the occupation.
Union membership. In the broad group "Production", which includes this career, 11.9% of wage and salary workers belong to a union (all U.S. workers: 10.0%); median weekly pay is $1,161 for union members and $945 for workers not in a union (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, 2025). This is a group figure, not specific to food cooking machine operators and tenders.
Employer benefits. In the broad group "Production", which includes this career, 75% of civilian workers had access to an employer retirement plan, 80% had access to employer medical care benefits, and 77% had paid sick leave, 90% paid vacation and 92% paid holidays (all civilian workers: 75%, 74%, 83%, 77% and 79%) (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Compensation Survey, March 2026). This is a group figure, not specific to food cooking machine operators and tenders, and having access to a benefit does not mean every worker uses it. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has not endorsed this presentation. Employers spent about $37.63 per hour worked on total compensation for the occupational group "Production" in June 2026 ($25.21 in wages and salaries and $12.42 in benefits, 33.0% of the total; all civilian workers: $49.46, with 31.6% in benefits) (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation).
Work environment. In O*NET's survey of workers in this occupation, the conditions most often placed at the two highest levels for food cooking machine operators and tenders are: indoors, environmentally controlled (100%), determine tasks, priorities and goals (100%), face-to-face discussions with individuals and within teams (87%), work with or contribute to a work group or team (84%), spend time walking or running (84%), contact with others (84%). Each percentage is the share of respondents choosing the top two levels for that condition (for example 'most of the time' or 'continually'), so it describes how common the condition is in the job, not how a particular workplace is (O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Dept. of Labor, ETA, CC BY 4.0).
Typical preparation. In O*NET's survey of workers in this occupation, for related work experience, the most common answer (27% of 18 respondents) was "over 1 month, up to and including 3 months"; for on-site or in-plant training, the most common answer (39% of 18 respondents) was "up to and including 1 month"; for on-the-job training, the most common answer (41% of 18 respondents) was "anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month". These are what workers report is needed to do the job; employers' requirements and individual paths vary (O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Dept. of Labor, ETA, CC BY 4.0).
Related careers. O*NET lists these occupations as similar to food cooking machine operators and tenders in the work done and the skills used: Food Batchmakers, Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders, Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders, Cleaning, Washing, and Metal Pickling Equipment Operators and Tenders, Bakers, Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier, and Kettle Operators and Tenders (O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Dept. of Labor, ETA, CC BY 4.0).
Compare food cooking machine operators and tenders with other careers (pay, growth, openings and education side by side).
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 PUMS (MajorPays' own estimates from the survey; Census is credited as the source of the original data and has not endorsed them); BLS Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses; BLS Current Population Survey; BLS National Compensation Survey (employee benefits); HRSA National Center for Health Workforce Analysis; U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Foreign Labor Certification (LCA disclosure data, FY2025). MajorPays has selected and reorganized these figures; these agencies have not approved or endorsed them. See it interactively →