Fresh pizza, without spending even a minute in the kitchen? It may sound like a dream, but this is no longer the case. It is in fact reality nowadays. The future is here, in the form of a 3D food printer! Today it is possible to use 3D printing online in order to create food. Even though this may sound very weird to you, it is actually possible to 3D print food. Of course, it is not an option to use machining services in order to do this, but a 3D printer can be used. In this blog you can read more about 3D printed food and its future.
3D printing food
A food 3D printer in essence works exactly the same as a regular printer. The cartridge, which normally contains the ink, has been replaced by several syringes. These syringes can be filled with all kinds of food: cookie dough, melted chocolate or fruit puree. It is even possible to fill it with meat. The most complicated designs can subsequently be printed with the food printer, which is done by applying the filling layer by layer. But it is also possible to 3D print simple dishes, such as pizza bases with tomato sauce. You can also customize and personalize your food with the help of a 3D printer. Because of this, it is for example possible to create the perfect pizza in your eyes.
Reducing food waste
One of the reasons several companies have started using 3D food printers in recent years is to reduce food waste. Since purees are often used for printing, it does not matter what the ingredients looked like in the first place. Curved cucumbers and other misshapen vegetables, which are normally not sold because they are not attractive to the eye, are mashed before printing and can still be used this way. Of course, they can also be used without having to be mashed and printed as they still taste good, even though they are misshapen. However, this is of course rarely done today. The possibility to reduce food wastage is therefore a big benefit of the 3D food printers.
Creating designs
At the moment, food 3D printers are not really widely used. Hopefully this changes in the future and everyone has one of the machines sitting on their kitchen countertop, but today that is not the case unfortunately. However, some companies have already started employing these 3D printers. This is especially the case for restaurants, pastry shops, and chocolatiers. These businesses utilize food printers to create extremely original and impressive dishes. Hereby they mostly focus on the design of the dish, as you can create the most beautiful designs with the help of a 3D food printer. This is another advantage of these machines, which will mostly be used by chefs in order to make their food look even better and more creative.
The future
Food 3D printing is expected to become the number one innovation in the food industry and can be used in a lot of different areas. For example, it can be utilized for airplane food or it can even be employed in healthcare. Some hospitals have already started using 3D printers to create food for their patients. Ultimately, everyone should have a food printer at home, which would definitely be the best-case scenario. And then the food becomes what the printer creates, which you will have to eat of course. It is highly likely that there are many more possibilities when it comes to the potential dishes you can 3D print in the future.