World’s First Kitchen-Ready 3D Food Printer Is Coming

Back in May 2013, we brought news of NASA's US$125,000 3D pizza printer to your cyber-doorstep. Now, we've got something cheaper, sweeter and much more personal for you. At the 2014 CES (Consumer Electronics Show), held January 7-10 in Las Vegas, US company 3D Systems unveiled the world's first kitchen-ready 3D food printers, the Chefjet and the Chefjet Pro.

Designed with pastry chefs as the target market, the Willy Wonka-esque contraptions can print sugar in three different flavours (cherry, sour apple and mint), as well as milk chocolate. The Chefjet, which will retail for less than US$5,000, can conjure up single-colour goodies, such as cake decorations and fancy sugar cubes. The Chefjet Pro will carry the heftier price tag of US$10,000 but will offer the creative flexibility of full-colour printing and the ability to handle larger volumes. A digital cookbook will take over the role of the likes of Jamie's 30-Minute Meals and Nigella Express.

"The machine uses an ink jet print head that's just like the one you would find in your desktop 2D printer," said Liz von Hasseln of 3D Systems. "It spreads a very fine layer of sugar then paints water onto the surface of the sugar, and that water allows the sugar to recrystalise and harden to form these complex geometries."

The Chefjet and the Chefjet Pro will hit the commercial market sometime later this year.

Via dezeen magazine.