Food Batchmakers

Record production and test data for each food product batch, such as the ingredients used, temperature, test results, and time cycle.

Follow recipes to produce food products of specified flavor, texture, clarity, bouquet, or color.

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.

Clean and sterilize vats and factory processing areas.

Select and measure or weigh ingredients, using English or metric measures and balance scales.

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.

Turn valve controls to start equipment and to adjust operation to maintain product quality.

Grade food products according to government regulations or according to type, color, bouquet, and moisture content.

Press switches and turn knobs to start, adjust, and regulate equipment, such as beaters, extruders, discharge pipes, and salt pumps.

Test food product samples for moisture content, acidity level, specific gravity, or butter-fat content, and continue processing until desired levels are reached.

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.

Observe gauges and thermometers to determine if the mixing chamber temperature is within specified limits, and turn valves to control the temperature.

Inspect vats after cleaning to ensure that fermentable residue has been removed.

Observe and listen to equipment to detect possible malfunctions, such as leaks or plugging, and report malfunctions or undesirable tastes to supervisors.

Examine, feel, and taste product samples during production to evaluate quality, color, texture, flavor, and bouquet, and document the results.

Determine mixing sequences, based on knowledge of temperature effects and of the solubility of specific ingredients.

Inspect and pack the final product.

Manipulate products, by hand or using machines, to separate, spread, knead, spin, cast, cut, pull, or roll products.

Give directions to other workers who are assisting in the batchmaking process.

Operate refining machines to reduce the particle size of cooked batches.

Formulate or modify recipes for specific kinds of food products.

Place products on carts or conveyors to transfer them to the next stage of processing.

Cool food product batches on slabs or in water-cooled kettles.

Homogenize or pasteurize material to prevent separation or to obtain prescribed butterfat content, using a homogenizing device.