Food Batchmakers

Set up and operate equipment that mixes or blends ingredients used in the manufacturing of food products. Includes candy makers and cheese makers.

Job Task

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

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