About This Career

Mixes and bakes ingredients to produce breads, rolls, cookies, cakes, pies, pastries, or other baked goods.

This career is part of the Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources cluster Food Products and Processing Systems pathway.

A person in this career:

• Checks products for quality, and identifies damaged or expired goods.
• Sets oven temperatures, and places items into hot ovens for baking.
• Combines measured ingredients in bowls of mixing, blending, or cooking machinery.
• Sets time and speed controls for mixing machines, blending machines, or steam kettles so that ingredients will be mixed or cooked according to instructions.
• Places dough in pans, molds, or on sheets, and bakes in production ovens or on grills.
• Measures or weighs flour or other ingredients to prepare batters, doughs, fillings, or icings, using scales or graduated containers.
• Observes color of products being baked, and adjusts oven temperatures, humidity, or conveyor speeds accordingly.
• Checks the quality of raw materials to ensure that standards and specifications are met.
• Checks equipment to ensure that it meets health and safety regulations, and performs maintenance or cleaning, as necessary.
• Adapts the quantity of ingredients to match the amount of items to be baked.

Working Conditions and Physical Demands

People who do this job report that:

• You would often handle loads up to 20 lbs., sometimes up to 50 lbs. You might do a lot of lifting, carrying, pushing or pulling.
• Work in this occupation involves use of protective items such as safety shoes, glasses, gloves, hearing protection, a hard hat, or personal flotation devices
• Conditions are very hot (above 90 F) or very cold (under 32 F)
• Work in this occupation involves using your hands to hold, control, and feel objects more than one-third of the time
• Work in this occupation requires being inside most of the time
• Work in this occupation involves making repetitive motions more than one-third of the time
• Work in this occupation involves standing more than one-third of the time

Working in this career involves (physical activities):

• Identifying color and seeing differences in color, including shades and brightness
• Seeing clearly up close
• Speaking clearly enough to be able to be understood by others
• Identifying and understanding the speech of another person

Work Hours and Travel

• Rotating shift work
• Weekend work