Salary and Outlook

According to the US Department of Labor, there are 159,900 people employed as food batchmakers in the United States. The median annual salary is $35,780. Entry level employees earn approximately $23,590 per year and senior employees earn approximately $47,760 per year.

Estimates do not include other potential benefits such as health insurance, overtime pay, or retirement benefits that may be offered by employers.

Job Duties

• Determine mixing sequences, based on knowledge of temperature effects and of the solubility of specific ingredients.
• Observe and listen to equipment to detect possible malfunctions, such as leaks or plugging, and report malfunctions or undesirable tastes to supervisors.
• Observe gauges and thermometers to determine if the mixing chamber temperature is within specified limits, and turn valves to control the temperature.
• Turn valve controls to start equipment and to adjust operation to maintain product quality.
• Modify cooking and forming operations based on the results of sampling processes, adjusting time cycles and ingredients to achieve desired qualities, such as firmness or texture.
• Record production and test data for each food product batch, such as the ingredients used, temperature, test results, and time cycle.
• Clean and sterilize vats and factory processing areas.
• Set up, operate, and tend equipment that cooks, mixes, blends, or processes ingredients in the manufacturing of food products, according to formulas or recipes.
• Mix or blend ingredients, according to recipes, using a paddle or an agitator, or by controlling vats that heat and mix ingredients.
• Follow recipes to produce food products of specified flavor, texture, clarity, bouquet, or color.
• Give directions to other workers who are assisting in the batchmaking process.
• Select and measure or weigh ingredients, using English or metric measures and balance scales.
• Press switches and turn knobs to start, adjust, and regulate equipment, such as beaters, extruders, discharge pipes, and salt pumps.
• Examine, feel, and taste product samples during production to evaluate quality, color, texture, flavor, and bouquet, and document the results.
• Test food product samples for moisture content, acidity level, specific gravity, or butter-fat content, and continue processing until desired levels are reached.
• Inspect vats after cleaning to ensure that fermentable residue has been removed.
• Fill processing or cooking containers, such as kettles, rotating cookers, pressure cookers, or vats, with ingredients, by opening valves, by starting pumps or injectors, or by hand.
• Manipulate products, by hand or using machines, to separate, spread, knead, spin, cast, cut, pull, or roll products.
• Cool food product batches on slabs or in water-cooled kettles.
• Place products on carts or conveyors to transfer them to the next stage of processing.
• Homogenize or pasteurize material to prevent separation or to obtain prescribed butterfat content, using a homogenizing device.
• Grade food products according to government regulations or according to type, color, bouquet, and moisture content.
• Operate refining machines to reduce the particle size of cooked batches.
• Formulate or modify recipes for specific kinds of food products.
• Inspect and pack the final product.

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