What the work involves, what it pays, and real lines you can start from. Answer a few small questions and leave with a resume.
Also called cooker tender, kettle tender, steam box tender and steam tender.
$41,590
Median pay a year
31,250
People do this work
6
Resume lines ready for you
Pay and headcount are from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The lines are written from what the US Department of Labor records about this work.
An example
A Food Cooking Machine Operator and Tender resume, filled in
Every line below comes from the same public record as the rest of this page. The greyed parts are the ones only you can answer.
Food Cooking Machine Operator and Tender
Summary
Food cooking machine operator tending cooking equipment like kettles and boilers to prepare food products, measure ingredients, clean work areas, and monitor cooking times and temperatures
Experience
Food Cooking Machine Operator and Tender
Where you worked
Month Year to Month Year
Tended and operated cooking equipment, such as kettles and boilers, to prepare food products
Cleaned and sterilized cooking area and equipment using water hoses and cleaning solutions
Measured and weighed ingredients using scales and measuring containers
Read work orders and recipes to know cooking times and temperatures
Recorded production data, including cooking times and temperature readings
Activated machines and adjusted controls to maintain proper temperature and pressure
Collected and examined product samples during production to check for quality
Skills
Hands-On Work
Adjusting equipment controls, Cleaning work areas
Core Skills
Operating food preparation equipment, Reviewing blueprints and instructions, Reading work orders or instructions, Monitoring instruments, Watching operating equipment, Measuring substances, Sterilizing food equipment, Inspecting food products
Education
High School Diploma Your school, Year
Yours will not say this. It will say what you did, in your own words, and Rung writes it with you one question at a time.
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What to put on a Food Cooking Machine Operator and Tender resume
Real duties for this job, already written the way a resume reads. Inside Rung you choose the ones that were yours.
What did you do each day?
Choose what fits, or say your own.
Cleaned cooking area and equipmentRead recipes and work ordersAdjusted controls for cookingMeasured ingredients with scalesOperated cooking machines and kettlesRecorded cooking times and data
becomes
On your resume
Cleaned and sterilized cooking area and equipment to maintain a safe food preparation environment
Adjusted controls for cooking machines to ensure proper cooking times and temperatures
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The line that could show more, and the fact that lands it.
Make it stronger
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Show what improved once the area was cleaned and sterilized
The line
Cleaned and sterilized cooking area and equipment, reducing the risk of foodborne illness
Show what improved once the area was cleaned and sterilized
Pick one that fits
Reduced risk of foodborne illnessImproved overall kitchen hygieneIncreased efficiency in food prep
Or add your own.
In your wordsAdd it
Adding it to the line…
Added to your resume
Mention if you were trusted to operate any specific machines
The line
Adjusted controls for cooking machines to ensure proper cooking times and temperatures
Mention if you were trusted to operate any specific machines
Pick one that fits
Operated the main cooking kettleHandled multiple cooking machinesManaged the temperature control system
Or add your own.
In your wordsAdd it
Adding it to the line…
Added to your resume
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What it is made of
Skills for a Food Cooking Machine Operator and Tender resume
What this work is made of. Rung offers these and keeps the ones you claim.
What are you good at?
Adjusting equipment controls
Operating food preparation equipment
Reviewing blueprints and instructions
Reading work orders or instructions
Monitoring instruments
Watching operating equipment
Inspecting food products
Measuring substances
Cleaning work areas
Sterilizing food equipment
Loading materials into production equipment
Moving equipment between areas
The work itself
What a Food Cooking Machine Operator and Tender does
The public record of what this job is, in one paragraph.
Operate or tend cooking equipment, such as steam cooking vats, deep fry cookers, pressure cookers, kettles, and boilers, to prepare food products.
What it pays
How much does a Food Cooking Machine Operator and Tender make?
Annual pay across the United States. The middle figure is the median: half earn less than that, and half earn more.
25th percentile
$36,190
Median
$41,590
75th percentile
$47,380
About 31,250 people do this work in the United States.
This page is about the occupation Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders. What this job involves and what it is made of come from O*NET 30.3, the US Department of Labor's occupation database, refreshed July 2026; Rung writes those records into the plain sentences you see. Pay comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS release for 2025. Rung is an independent service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by either agency. How Rung handles accuracy is on the accuracy page, and the full data credits are on the credits page.