3D Printed Food 

Even at the beginning of the 21st century, few people heard about 3D printing, but today this technology is used in a wide variety of industries and fields of activity. It also got into cooking. Moreover, 3d printed food has gone far beyond the classical production of three-dimensional food products. The technology has even begun to be used by NASA to create food for astronauts.

The popularity of 3D printing can be explained, because today new methods and types of technology are constantly appearing in this area, which provide great opportunities for any business, as well as growth prospects.

Let’s look at the information about the 3D printing food printer in more detail, let’s talk about its functions and capabilities, as well as the raw materials that are used as consumables for obtaining culinary volumetric masterpieces.

3d printing device in food industry

The food 3D printer operates on the principle of a classic inkjet printing device. But there are also key differences between them. So, 3d printer making food is a technique that uses not ink cartridges that are used in standard printers, but food coloring. They are filled with cartridges. In the memory of the equipment, many recipes are stored according to which future objects are produced. To get a particular product, you just need to select the appropriate button with the desired recipe and clicking on it, starting the printing process.

Once the printer is up and running, the printer will lay out the ingredients layer by layer on a dish or other work surface.

The finished product is sent to the oven for baking or to the freezer / refrigerator for cooling and hardening. It all depends on the production method that will be used in the manufacture of certain items in a three-dimensional format in the future.

3d printed edible food: classification of printing devices

The technology of creating three-dimensional food products using a printer has become in demand among confectionery factories, food factories, chefs and entrepreneurs. The industry is actively developing and provides users with more and more new types of equipment. All 3D food equipment can be divided into the following main types:

1. Extrusion printers. The devices are distinguished by layer-by-layer extrusion of the food mass onto a plate until a full-fledged dish is created. The equipment is connected to a computer, in whose memory there are recipes and a digital model of the product. The design of the printer is simple: print head and table. So, the answer to the question of can you 3d print food on this type of printing press is ‘yes’. Moreover, the finished dish will be made exactly with the model and very quickly. The only disadvantage of this type of printing is the need to frequently replace the contents of the syringe if a product is created that is complex in color diversity and composition. This group of equipment includes the Chokola 3D model, which is designed to work with chocolate and paste-like components.
2. Carousel printers. This type of device is also suitable for anyone who wonders can we 3d print food. Its name depends on the type of raw material supply. Here’s how this technique works: the printer moves over the working container with materials, selects the desired types of raw materials, and then squeezes it out at the dosage indicated in the recipe. The printer even outwardly looks like a carousel. Any number of recipes can be stored in the memory of such a device. The number of containers varies from 4 to 16, depending on the type of equipment.

And an equally important question that is asked not only by confectioners, but also by consumers is, can you eat 3d printed food? Once the product model has been baked, chilled, or otherwise processed, it is ready to be eaten or used in the culinary process to create a more complex dish. For example, decorations for it and partitions between tiers can be created on a printing device for making multilayer cakes.

Which raw materials are used: food grade 3d printer filament

The main issue of using a food printer is the safety of the raw materials used and the final product. The modern consumer knows how manufacturers can embellish the usefulness of their products. What can be said about three-dimensional dishes and the “materials” that are used in their creation. Experts assure that food safe 3d printer filament, as it does not contain harmful elements, is environmentally friendly, harmless to both nature and human health.

To make sure that manufacturers use 3d printing food safe filament, you can only get acquainted with the types of raw materials that are used in the work, namely:

• confectionery mastic;
• flour;
• natural dyes;
• vegetable and fruit pastes;
• chocolate chips and natural chocolate without additives;
• fish, meat and liver pates;
• sugar;
• mass of natural cottage cheese;
• cheese.

So, we can say with confidence that this is food safe 3d printing and as a result of printing you can get high-quality, natural dishes.

What can be created: how does a 3d food printer work?

Due to the wide variety of ingredients that can be used with the device for creating food 3D objects, it is possible to create objects of different levels of complexity. Take, for example, the confectionery industry: a bride and groom made of chocolate for a cake, company logos, voluminous bouquets, letters and numbers.

The creation of exclusive figures from chocolate in the circles of hand-made masters is becoming very popular.

You can also make pancakes, sugar structures, drawings on the surface of hot drinks, cookies, pasta, donuts with icing, hamburgers and much more.Before starting work, the foreman selects food grade filament for 3d printing and sets the recipe, which is entered into the memory of the printer itself or the computer to which it is connected. All that remains for him is to follow the work and, if necessary, refill the container with raw materials. Automation of a significant part of the work in the food industry allows you to optimize work, make life easier for workers, save their time and speed up the production process.