Production · Holland code RC

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.

Also called: Fryer Operator, Kettle Fry Cook Operator, Machine Operator, Retort Operator, Cooker Operator, Food Production Worker, Mogul Operator, Oven Operator.

O*NET 51-3093.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $41,590; Middle half earn $36,190 to $47,380. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED); 86% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 2 of 5; Some preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Clean, wash, and sterilize equipment and cooking area, using water hoses, cleaning or sterilizing solutions, or rinses.
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.
Activate agitators and paddles to mix or stir ingredients, stopping machines when ingredients are thoroughly mixed.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Reading Comprehension3.1 / 5
Monitoring3.1 / 5
Active Listening3.0 / 5
Critical Thinking3.0 / 5
Writing2.8 / 5
Speaking2.6 / 5

Knowledge areas

Production and Processing4.3 / 5
Food Production3.8 / 5
Administration and Management3.3 / 5
Education and Training3.1 / 5
Mechanical3.1 / 5
English Language2.8 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic97
Investigative16
Artistic2
Social6
Enterprising11
Conventional61

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

pasta maker · DE Nudelhersteller/Nudelherstellerin · FR fabricant de pâtes/fabricante de pâtes
fruit and vegetable preserver · DE Obst- und Gemüsesafthersteller/Obst- und Gemüsesaftherstellerin · FR opérateur de conservation des fruits et légumes/opératrice de conservation des fruits et légumes
chilling operator · DE Tiefkühlkosthersteller/Tiefkühlkostherstellerin · FR opérateur congélation en industrie agroalimentaire/opératrice congélation en industrie agroalimentaire
baking operator · DE Backofenbediener/Backofenbedienerin · FR opérateur de boulangerie/opératrice de boulangerie
fish canning operator · DE Fischkonservenabfüllanlagenbediener/Fischkonservenabfüllanlagenbedienerin · FR opérateur de mise en conserve du poisson/opératrice de mise en conserve du poisson
flour purifier operator · DE Grießputzmaschinenbediener/Grießputzmaschinenbedienerin · FR opérateur de purification de la farine/opératrice de purification de la farine

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Bakers and flour confectioners (5432)26,800 employed
Food, drink and tobacco process operatives (8111)129,900 employed
Cooks (5435)47,500 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Plant and machine operators and assemblers”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Plant and machine operators and assemblers, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€39,630
Netherlands	€37,567
Austria	€37,304
Sweden	€36,005
Germany	€34,433
Ireland	€32,617
France	€28,550
Italy	€28,330
Spain	€24,409
Portugal	€11,309
Poland	€10,259

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the middle third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of -0.56. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (51-3093).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test