Amongst the 30 or so 3D printing technologies recently unveiled at CES 2014, 3D systems’ 3D food printers are capturing the center stage. The devices, known as Chefjet and Chefjet Pro, are able to sculpt decadent desserts into complex shapes with moving parts, shapes that are otherwise impossible to make using traditional culinary methods.
3D printed desserts are edible and feature a variety of flavors: chocolate, vanilla, mint, watermelon, etc.
The confectionary delights are crafted through additive methods, where fine layers of chocolate or sugar imbued with flavors such as cherry and mint are carefully stacked atop of each other one layer at a time, before being sprayed with water to harden the substances.
Sugar sculptures
The standard ChefJet is limited to monochrome creations and an 8x8x6” print volume, while the Pro edition can make full color, photorealistic edible creations with a massive 10x14x8” volume.
Of course, equipping your kitchen with these tools will not be cheap; ChefJet will cost approximately $5,000 while the Pro is double that. Accompanying the two printers is an app called Digital Cookbook, designed to help customers create three dimensional schematics of sweets without any 3D modeling expertise, making the printer as accessible to chefs as possible.
Other food printers
3D systems is not the only company building 3D food printers. A Spanish start-up called Natural Machines already revealed a printer able to fabricate pasta along with chocolate. English start-up Choc Edge was in 3D printer chocolate business prior to the either two.
NASA itself funded a $125,000 grant to a mechanical engineer at SMRC, Systems and Materials Research Corporation, to develop a machine that can print pizza and other tastier foods in zero gravity.
But as it stands, 3D Systems’ ChefJet machines are the most advanced food printers commercially available; none of its competitors have access to the same sort of massive R&D teams or similar resources ― at least not yet. The patent on the stereolithography process of additive manufacturing, used in most 3D printers, held by 3D Systems’ and Stratasy has finally expired, giving other organizations a chance to enter the market and innovate.
What market?
With such a steep price ChefJet and ChefJet Pro are more likely to fall into the possession of luxury hotels, high-end restaurants and bakeries with an interest in sculpting personalized desserts. Or Japanese game-shows.
Regularly appearing on Japanese game shows are “sokkuri sweets,” desserts and confectionaries designed to look like other things such as door handles, plants, shoes, and even hats. Show participants are tasked with making closely deducing whether the object is a desert or not before examining first hand via bite.
Story via BBC
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