National

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

Sample of reported job titles: Coffee Roaster, Roaster, Roaster Operator, Machine Operator, Oven Operator, Roastmaster, Dryer Operator, Roasterman, Bakery Utility Person, Bean Roaster

Tasks

• Observe, feel, taste, or otherwise examine products during and after processing, in order to ensure conformance to standards.
• Observe temperature, humidity, pressure gauges, and product samples, and adjust controls, such as thermostats and valves, in order to maintain prescribed operating conditions for specific stages.
• Operate or tend equipment that roasts, bakes, dries, or cures food items such as cocoa and coffee beans, grains, nuts, and bakery products.
• Set temperature and time controls; light ovens, burners, driers, or roasters; and start equipment, such as conveyors, cylinders, blowers, driers, or pumps.
• 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.
• Read work orders in order to determine quantities and types of products to be baked, dried, or roasted.
• Take product samples during and/or after processing for laboratory analyses.
• Fill or remove product from trays, carts, hoppers, or equipment, using scoops, peels, or shovels, or by hand.