One of the most interesting developments in 3D printing today is the art of food printing; printing out your own food. As for today, a lot of food printing developments have passed the radar with food printers able to print, inter alia, chocolate, bread and pasta. Right now, Canadian company Structur3D Printing comes with something new: an extruder, which enables you to print your own soft materials, such as nutella patterns. You can use the extruder on your own 3D printer to make your own chocolate dreams come true.



Personally, I have to admit that I really don’t have any wild chocolate dreams, but as it seems a lot of people have a different view about this particular subject. The Discov3ry Extruder is currently on Kickstarter, and the champaign is very successful. As for today, already more than 82,000 Canadian dollars have been raised from the crowd funding website, while the project will continue until July 15. The initial goal was to raise 30,000 Canadian dollars, which means the company’s staff has a proper day job for the upcoming months. Early birds were able to buy their own extruder for as little as 249 Canadian dollars, after which they will be delivered by this year’s October.

The company states: “There have been 3D printers specifically designed to print different types of food or silicone. Our product is different, because we’re allowing you to make use of the printer you already have at home.”

The extruder enables users to print out a lot more than just nutellas in funny shapes. For instance, they have been printing a “Star Wars” icing sugar cake topper as well as custom silicone orthotics and even a paintable wood filler – a combination of wood and plastics. In other words: a lot is possible with this extruder, and many people are interested in the concept.

However, it’s still a pity that this year’s promising food printer, the Foodini by Natural machines, didn’t reach its Kickstarter goal. The Discov3ry Extruder surely is a nice invention, but once again its a printing device targeting at the production of unhealthy foods. Natural Machines wanted to create a 3D printer able to rapidly produce healthy meals. In other words: to turn healthy foods into healthy fast foods. Does this mean people rather eat something unhealthy, but highly tasty? That might be the inconvenient truth.



Image credits: Structur3D Printing.
Source: 3dprinting.com