Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders

What the job really is

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

At a glance

• Sector: Production
• O*NET-SOC code: 51-3091
• O*NET job zone: 2 — some preparation
• Work sample tasks on file: 12
• Tools and technologies listed: 12

What you actually do

Work sample tasks recorded for this occupation:

• 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.
• Signal coworkers to synchronize flow of materials.
• Read work orders to determine quantities and types of products to be baked, dried, or roasted.
• Fill or remove product from trays, carts, hoppers, or equipment, using scoops, peels, or shovels, or by hand.
• Take product samples during or after processing for laboratory analyses.
• Test products for moisture content, using moisture meters.

Tools and technology

Microsoft Excel, Automatic hopper scales, Baking equipment, Box barns, Centrifugal coffee roasters, Char kilns, Conveyor bakers, Conveyor dryers, Conveyor turntables, Cooling machine pans, Curing equipment, Dissolved oxygen sensors

What employers expect you to already be comfortable with.

Where this job leads

Related occupations — the usual moves up and sideways:

• Food Batchmakers
• Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders
• Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
• Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier, and Kettle Operators and Tenders
• Graders and Sorters, Agricultural Products
• Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders
• Cleaning, Washing, and Metal Pickling Equipment Operators and Tenders
• Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders

Getting in

O*NET assigns this occupation job zone 2 (some preparation). The related occupations above are the realistic routes in and out.

Find openings

Browse the verified job sources directory, or explore more occupations.

Check this against the source

O*NET OnLine: Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders — the authoritative public-domain profile this page is derived from, including the full task list, reported skills and the wage estimates for your region.

Derived and rewritten from the public-domain O*NET database (U.S. Department of Labor / Employment and Training Administration). Figures are observations, not promises — always confirm salary, licensing and visa requirements with the employer and the relevant authority.