Low-cost 3D food printing

Abstract

In a close future, it will be possible to print any kind of food through a nozzle, with the desired nutritive quantity, originating richer, healthier and more controlled meals. The exponential growth of this new market led to intensive research worldwide; however, dealing with a low cost printer is not an easy task for the general consumer. This paper presents the difficulties that a common user might face using a 3D food printer, and explains the assembly, configuration and modification of a RepRap Prusa I3 3D printer. An extrusion equipment capable of extruding materials in paste form, focused in the cake industry with sugar pastes, was developed. This extruder allowed the deposition of new materials that couldn’t previously be used since they have a solid consistency at low temperatures. The new extruder was tested with two different types of pastes: Nutella® chocolate and sugar pastes. The sugar paste prototypes already produced opened different opportunities to improve the surface quality, use of pastes with different colours, more than one extruder and others that in the limit contribute to the possibility of a small business in the cake design area.