3D food printing

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Introduction

3D food printers can print food, usually through one more syringes. Food 3D printers actually were invented around the same time as low cost filament printers, but did not have much success. The first known open source printers capable of printing food were probably developed at Cornell University around 2005 under the name of fablab@home by Hod Lipson [1] and collaborators.

As of 2017 however, there is renewed interest. 3D food printing can server two purposes according to 3D Food Printing: It can be healthy and good for the environment because it can help to convert alternative ingredients such as proteins from algae, beet leaves, or insects into tasty products. It also opens the door to food customization and therefore tune up with individual needs and preferences.

According to Sun et al (2015),[2] “Three-dimensional (3D) Food Printing, also known as Food Layered Manufacture (Wegrzyn et al. 2012), can be one of the potential ways to bridge this gap. It is a digitally controlled, robotic construction process which can build up complex 3D food products layer by layer (Huang et al. 2013). It has started a revolution in cooking by precisely mixing, depositing, and cooking layers of ingredients, so that users can easily and rapidly experiment with different material combinations. With this technology, food can be designed and fabricated to meet individual needs on health condition and physical activities through controlling the amount of printing material and nutrition content.”

See also: food computer

Technology

Most 3D food printers adopt some kind of fused deposition modeling (FDM), an additive filament deposition technology that works like most 3D hobby printers, except that the plastic filament is replaced by syringue that are filled with some paste.

Other technologies used are hot air sintering (e.g. the CandyFab described below) and Binder jetting.

Fused deposition modeling

Below we first describe a well known commercial printer that seems to used by professional, the Choc Creator V2. It looks and feels like an typical FDM printer and since it does have a somewhat affordable price. E.g. it might be suitable for schools. According to 2007 - 2017: 10 years of 3D chocolate printing (retrieved Feb 2017), ChocALM (2007) from Exeter University was maybe the The World's First 3-D Chocolate Printer. The first model was commercialized in 2012 as Choc Creator V.1. As of 2017 Choc Creator V.20 plus is sold by Choc Edge.

Technical specifications of the Choc Creator V2.0:

  • The printer uses STL files for Additive Layer Manufactoring. The chocolate must be tempered first and then loaded into a specially designed syringe.
  • Build envelope: 180x180x50mm
  • Printhead: Refillable 30ml metal syringe with detachable nozzle for easy cleaning
  • Layer height: 0.4 – 1.5mm
  • Nozzle size: either 0.4 or 0.8 mm (the later is better for extended print time)
  • Substrate: Stainless steel platform
  • Material: Dark Belgian chocolate (Callebaut 811)
  • Weight: 18kg
  • Display interface: LCD touchscreen
  • Software: Choc Art Studio
  • Easy to use software: Android apps
  • Price: about 2800 Euros + about 500 Euros or more for a tempering machine (but one also could use a micro oven)

Another similar technology is made by foodjet, It “has developed a way to digitally print tailor-made edible high-viscosity decorations directly onto mass-produced food products” (FoodJet technology, retr. Feb. 2017). However it is (a) more expensive and (b) limited to 2 D1/2 printing, e.g. patterns on top of food.

As of 2017, a variety of DIY 3D foot printers exists.

For the DYI market, as of 2016, Createbot offered a model that is not available on their home page, but in other places, e.g. here and here. This $2300 model has the following specifications:

  • Print size ( X Y Z ): 150 x 150 x 100 mm
  • Print Speed: 20 to 30 mm/sec
  • Nozzle Diameter: 0.4mm to 1.55mm
  • 3D printing Software: Repetier host (a well known open source software)
  • CAD Input data file format: STL
  • Client Operating System: Windows/MAC/Linux
  • Connectivity (Interface): USB
  • Machine weight: 15 Kg
  • Machine Dimensions: 420*381*400mm

XYZ presented a more traditional design. The 3D Rood Printer costs about 2000 Euros and can print dough (including pasta), tomato sauce and cheese. Technical specifications as seen in the 3ers article:

  • Printer Dimension: 420 x 427 x 605 mm
  • Platform/max creation size: 200 x 150 x 150 mm
  • Print jets: multiple (50-100 cc*3)
  • Nozzle diameter: 1/2/4/8 mm (optional)
  • Display: 5″ touch screen
  • Connectivity: USB
  • Layer thickness: 0.8-6.4 mm
  • Software: XYZware
  • Operating System: Win 7/Win 8/Mac OSX 10.8
  • File Types: STL and XYZ format
Muse Pancake Printer

Massretailers like aliexpress.com sell several models in the 1000-1500$ range named "pancake printers". The delta food 3D printer (also here) from Muse has the following specifications:

  • price (same model) $899 - $1200
  • usage: food printing,cake decoration
  • build size: 100*100*100mm
  • thickness: adjustable
  • precision: N/A
  • nozzle: 0.4mm
  • printing material: sauce(pancake/tomoto/chocolate/salad)
  • speed: 150-300mm/s
  • voltage: VAC 50/60HZ 100-220V
  • power: 250W
  • machine size(L*W*H): 275*150*180mm
  • machine weight: 5kg
chocolate printer (Jennyprinter)

The same company also sells two $4000 and $5000 chocolate printers. The $5000 model, probably sold under the "Mmuse" brand name, can directely print from chocolate beans. It has the following specifications:

  • Color Print Speed: 30-60mm/s
  • Model Number: QK
  • name: chocolate 3d printer
  • extruder: single
  • nozzle size : 0.8mm
  • build size (L*W*H): 160*120*150mm
  • thickness: 0.7-0.9mm
  • power : 110V/220V 60HZ 600W
  • working temp: 15-30 degree
  • machine size : 723*380*554 mm
  • file format: gcode
  • connection: WIFI, USB, SD card

At the very low end, one can find Inkjet printers that print edible ink. Several models from Canon can do that. E.g. the Edible Printer Bundle- Canon MG5520 with Edible Inks and Frosting Sheets was sold $150 by Amazon USA.

The BotBQ is an open source project where the goal is creating a BBQ that 3D prints your burgers.

Truly open source designs and retrofitting old 3D printers.

3D Drag CHOCO, 450 Euro kit

A fully open source model is the 3D Drag from openelectronics.org. All electronics and schematics are public and available under a GPL license. It can be expanded to 3DRAG CHOCO (Chocolate 3d printer) or even a two color one. A full system (printer plus chocolate extruder costs 650 Euros. As of Feb 2017, the open source DIY model to buy.

Existing 3D printers can be retrofitted to print food. E.g. strucure3D's $400 Discov3ry paste extruder “was designed to be widely compatible with most filament 3D printers.” Printers that use a RAMPS/Arduino control system will very likely work well, i.e. we could use our older Felix. The syringue sits in a box next to the printer and the material is pushed trough a tube into the moving print head. The latter can be added with some printable accessory. While retrofitting may not be cheaper than buying a new model, it certainly is more ecological.

Sintering

CandyFab 6000

Candyfab were “able to print very large objects out of pure sugar, very inexpensively, by melting sugar grains together with hot air, using a novel process called selective hot air sintering and melting (SHASAM). The general idea of the build process, that of stacking solid two-dimensional printed layers, is common to all 3D printing methods. CandyFab, like other powder-based printers, begins with a bed of granular printing media — typically granulated sugar.” (retrieved Feb 2007).

The hot air sintering process is described as follows: “Using a narrow, directed, low-velocity beam of hot air, the CandyFab selectively fuses together the print media grains, forming a two-dimensional image out of fused media. We then lower the bed by a small amount, add a thin flat layer of media to the top of the bed, and selectively fuse the media in the new layer, forming a two dimensional image that is also fused to any overlapping fused areas in the layer below. By repeating this process, a three-dimensional object is slowly built up. At the end of the build, the bed is raised up to its original position, disinterring the fabricated model, while unused media is reclaimed for use in building the next object.” (Candyfab wiki, retrieved Feb 2017).

Binder jetting

According to Sun (2015)[2], “in binder jetting [..] each powder layer is distributed evenly across the fabrication platform, and a liquid binder sprays to bind two consecutive powder layers (Sachs et al. 1992). Before fabrication, a layer of water mist is sprayed to stabilize powder material and minimize disturbance caused by binder dispensing.”

Southerland [3] used an expensive Z Corp printer. 3D systems, after acquiring SugarLab seems to continue exploring this technology under its 3D Systems Culinary Lab and it sells a model called ChefJet.

Materials

Most popular materials seem to be chocolate or dough for cookies.

However, according to [2], “Alternative ingredients extracted from algae, fungi, seaweed, lupine, and insects are novel sources for protein and fiber. In the “Insects Au Gratin” project, insect powders mixed with extrudable icing and soft cheese were used as printing materials to shape food structures and make tasty pieces (Walters et al. 2011). Residues from the current agricultural and food processing can be transformed to biologically active metabolites, enzymes, and food flavor compounds (Silva et al. 2007; Nikitina et al. 2007), as sustainable and eco-friendly printing material sources.”. In other words, this technology does have potential to develop healthier food, improve environmental impact and help feed an ever growing population.

3D food printers in education

In general education there may be some potential for food 3D printing, e.g. for teaching design (and related soft skills), plus some technical skills. We wonder if some field trials have been made in China and the UK, currently two leading food printer makers.

Links

Introductions etc.

  • 3DigitalCooks.com. Maybe the best blog to keep in touch with the growing commercial 3D food printing community. This site also includes an extensive list of 3D food printers and software.
Organizations and events
Printer models
  • Firstly, see the models presented above in the text ...
  • food at 3dprintersonlinstore
  • Fab@Home from Cornell (no longer availabe)
  • Choc Edge

Rather high end:

Bibliography

Cited with foot notes

  1. ↑ Lipton, J., Cohen, D., Heinz, M., Lobovsky, M. (2009). Fab@Home Model 2: towards ubiquitous personal fabrication devices. In: Solid freeform fabrication symposium (SFF’09), Aug 3–5 2009, Austin, TX, USA
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Sun, J., Zhou, W., Huang, D., Fuh, J. Y., & Hong, G. S. (2015). An overview of 3D printing technologies for food fabrication. Food and bioprocess technology, 8(8), 1605-1615. Abstract
  3. ↑ Southerland, D., Walters, P., & Huson, D. (2011). Edible 3D printing, In Proceeding of NIP & digital fabrication conference. Society for Imaging Science and Technology, 2, 819–822. Abstract

Other

  • Cohen, D. L., Jeffrey, I. L., Cutler, M., Coulter, D., Vesco, A., & Lipson, H. (2009). Hydrocolloid printing: a novel platform for customized food production. In: Proceedings of solid freeform fabrication symposium (SFF'09), 3–5 August 2009, Austin, TX, USA.
  • Huang, S. H., Liu, P., & Mokasdar, A. (2013). Additive manufacturing and its societal impact: a literature review. The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 67(5–8), 1191–1203.
  • Lipton, J.I., Arnold, D. Nigl, F., Lopez, N., Cohen, D.L., Noren, N., Lipson, H. (2010) “Multi-Material Food Printing with Complex Internal Structure Suitable for Conventional Post-Processing”, 21st Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium (SFF ’10), Austin, TX.
  • Lipson, H., & Kurman, M. (2013). Fabricated: The new world of 3D printing. John Wiley & Sons.
  • Lipton, J., Arnold, D., Nigl, F., Lopez, N., Cohen, D. L., Norén, N., & Lipson, H. (2010, August). Multi-material food printing with complex internal structure suitable for conventional post-processing. In Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium (pp. 809-815). PDF
  • Nikitina, V. E., Tsivileva, O. M., & Pankratov, A. N. (2007). Lentinula edodes biotechnology - from lentinan to lectins. Food and Bioprocess Technology, 45, 230–237.
  • Sachs, E., Cima, M., Williams, P., Brancazio, D., & Cornie, J. (1992). Three dimensional printing: rapid tooling and prototypes directly from a CAD model. Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering, 114(4), 481–488.
  • Silva, É. S., Cavallazzi, J. R. P., & Muller, G. (2007). Biotechnological applications of Lentinus edodes. Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment, 5, 403–407.
  • Walters, P., Huson, D., & Southerland, D. (2011). Edible 3D printing, In: Proceedings of 27th international conference on digital printing technologies, October 2011, Minnesota, USA
  • Wegrzyn, T. F., Golding, M., & Archer, R. H. (2012). Food layered manufacture: a new process for constructing solid foods. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 27(2), 66–72.
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