Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders
Also called: Automatic Oven Operator, Bakery Production Associate, Bakery Production Worker, Bakery Worker, Baking Assistant, Bean Roaster, Belt Conveyor Drier, Bone Char Kiln Operator
Operate or tend food or tobacco roasting, baking, or drying equipment, including hearth ovens, kiln driers, roasters, char kilns, and vacuum drying equipment.
What Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders do
Typical tasks
- 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.
Typical path into the job (BLS)
Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders salary
The median annual wage for Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders is $44,810 (BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025–35, national). The lowest 10 percent earn less than $33,250 and the highest 10 percent earn more than $62,680. The mean annual wage is $45,930.
The mean hourly wage of $22.00 is 3.0× the federal minimum wage of $7.25. State minimums are higher in most large states. Minimum wage by state →
How does your pay compare with people your age?
Your numbers are not sent or stored. The comparison uses this occupation's BLS wage percentiles, adjusted for age with BLS median weekly earnings by age group (Q3 2026).
Pay by percentile
Annual wage percentiles from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS). Percentiles are a good proxy for pay by experience.
Projected pay for Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders (3, 5 and 10 years)est.
Today $44,810 → in 3 years $48,800 → in 5 years $51,600 → in 10 years $59,300 (10-year range $51,000–$68,900). The model assumes pay growth of +2.9% per year.
What drives the annual growth rate
Projected pay = current pay × (1 + annual growth)^years. The annual growth rate starts from a base wage-growth rate and adds or subtracts labor demand (BLS projected employment growth), wage momentum and AI replacement risk for each occupation. Projections are not guarantees. How it is calculated →
Outlook score for Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders
Each component is a percentile rank among all occupations in the same country (0–100). Weights: labor demand 25, wage momentum / openings 15, pay level 15, AI resistance 25, aging workforce 10 (Japan only), entry barrier 10.
Will AI replace Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders? AI replacement risk
How AI is changing this job
A written analysis for this occupation is being prepared.
AI replacement risk compares the parts of a job that are easy to hand to AI or software (processing information, documentation, repetitive computer work) with the parts that are hard to automate (physical work, working closely with people, judgment in unpredictable settings), using O*NET work activities, work context, skills and knowledge. The result is a relative position among all occupations in the country, scaled to 0–100%. Methodology →
Labor demand for Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders
Employment projections are from the BLS Employment Projections program (2025–35). Annual openings include both new jobs and replacement of workers who leave the occupation.
Skills, education and requirements for Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders
Key skills
O*NET skill level ratings (0–7).
Key knowledge areas
What the work involves
Important abilities
Education of workers
Training before entry
Related work experience
Job Zone 2 — some preparation needed (O*NET)
Difficulty of entry: ★☆☆☆☆ Easy to enter (from education, training, experience and Job Zone)
How to become Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders
A step-by-step guide for this occupation is being prepared. The education, training and experience data above show the typical path.
Career path and how to earn more as Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders
Career-path guidance is being prepared. Pay by percentile is shown in the Pay section.