Skilled Trades
Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders
Operate or tend food or tobacco roasting, baking, or drying equipment, including hearth ovens, kiln driers, roasters, char kilns, and vacuum drying equipment.
Median salary
$42,730
Typical range
$32k – $60k
Job outlook
+1% (about average)
AI exposure
Plan a path to Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders
Education
Typical entry: No degree required
Plan my path to this →Typical progression
Junior Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders
Entry / Junior
$32,390
~2 yrs to advance
Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders
Established
$42,730
~3 yrs to advance
Senior Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders
Senior
$51,400
Key skills
A typical day
- •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.
Fields of study
Any field
Top colleges for Skilled Trades
Explore all- Purdue University50% admit · $78,000 grad pay
- Ohio State University53% admit · $68,000 grad pay
- Pennsylvania State University55% admit · $70,000 grad pay
Reputation-based selection; stats shown are outcome data per school.