Food 3D printing is on the rise! Check out our buyer’s guide to the best food 3D printers on the market right now. Includes chocolate 3D printers.
Imagining a food 3D printer probably conjures thoughts of complex dishes created instantaneously with pinpoint perfection. And while this sci-fi future – uttering “tea, Earl Grey, hot” or “Fish!” – is still a ways off, we are certainly heading in the right direction.
The food printer of today works similarly to an FDM 3D printer, extruding edible pastes into precision shapes as determined by both a 3D model and slicing software. As a result, the food printer can pump out custom three-dimensional designs faster and more accurately than human hands.
Although there are many limitations to what these machines can do (especially in terms of materials), food printers have earned a place in the kitchens of top restaurants for their ability to deliver extravagantly designed edibles.
The higher prices (starting at around $500) rule them out as something practical for most hobbyists. Yet, pastry chefs, catering companies, and even hospitals are making use of these machines to differentiate their food from the competition.
With all of that said, let’s look at what’s cooking in new food 3D printers.
OVERVIEW
| Printer | Prints | Print Volume (mm) | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Print2Taste Mycusini | Chocolate | 90 x 90 x 45 | ~$590 |
| byFlow Focus | Thick pastes | 208 x 228 x 150 | $4,000 |
| Choc Edge Choc Creator V2 Plus | Chocolate | 180 x 180 x 40 | $2,880 |
| Felix Food 3D Printer | Pastes, Chocolate, Purées, Meats | 220 x 195 x 170 | starting from $3,600 |
| Natural Machines Foodini | Pastes | 257 (diameter) x 110 (height) | $6,000 |
| Print4Taste Procusini 5.0 | Pasta, Chocolate, Marzipan, Cassis, Fondant | 250 x 150 x 100 | $3,600 |
| Wiiboox Sweetin | Pastes | 100 x 100 x 75 | $1,999 |
| La Pâtisserie Numérique Patiss3 | Paste | rent from $510 a month |
Print2Taste Mycusini
The Mycusini 2.0 food 3D printer is the latest from German startup Print2Taste. When it originally launched its first version on Kickstarter in 2019, it surpassed its funding goal. More significantly, however, it’s still the cheapest model on the market. Version 2.0 is now available for purchase on its website.
The Mycusini 2.0 is compact enough to fit on a kitchen countertop or be stored in a cupboard. It uses a stainless steel cartridge that’s refilled with chocolate provided by the manufacturer. The new model comes in 5 colors with rounded corners and a removable platform for easy cleaning. The template library has been updated as well, with more than 1,000 objects as well as free access to the Mycusini Club to help you easily create your own designs.
byFlow Focus
A special case, in that it comes in… well, a case! The Focus by byFlow is a portable food printer that uses user-filled syringes to extrude designs onto a static plate.
In use in professional kitchens and 3D printing-focused popup restaurants, the Focus is a slick machine that allows chefs, patissiers, chocolatiers, and others to customize their wares, printing edible objects in forms not possible by hand or mold.
With the purchase of the Focus, you get a 3-year license of byFlow Studio, design software for creating and sharing your food designs with fellow users. Along with several recipes for 3D printable food, byFlow Studio displays a collection of more than 100 different shapes.
A few accessories are available from byFlow, such as additional print heads, nozzles, and extra cartridges. The not-so-great news is that they only deliver in Europe, for ordering elsewhere you must contact their sales support team.
Choc Edge Choc Creator V2 Plus
Desktop-sized and designed to be as user-friendly as possible, the Choc Creator V2 Plus takes tempered chocolate provided by the user, keeps it warm, and extrudes it through a food-grade stainless steel nozzle.
Choc Edge offers a wide range of software and apps to further enhance the printer’s capabilities. For designing, the mobile app Choc Draw enables freehand doodling of 2D designs which can be sent directly to the printer. Mix & Match, on the other hand, is a web-based app where users can generate simple text models or even customize other designs available on the platform. Last but not least, Choc Print, their own slicer software, allows the printing of other models from outside their digital ecosystem.
With that said, with a maximum Z-axis travel distance of 40 mm, this machine is best suited to 2D and small decorative prints rather than oversize pieces of structural complexity. It’s available for purchase in the US and Canada.
Felix Food 3D Printer
After more than a decade of developing 3D printers, FelixPrinters has finally entered the food printing market. It is one of the only companies on our list that also makes 3D printers for plastics and also biomaterial, but you can’t use the same machines for food.
Three versions of their 3D food printer have been released this year under their spin-off company Felix Food. All models print numerous kinds of pastes, from vegetable purees to doughs to chocolates, each with precision and speed. Felix Food printers enable beautiful food creations, whether in your home, in a restaurant, or as a research tool.
The Felix Single, with one nozzle, prints a single material; the Felix Twin has two nozzles for printing the same material at double the speed; and the Felix Switch also with two nozzles, prints two different materials simultaneously. These mid-range priced printers are designed for professionals and gastronomes wanting to raise their level of food creations to the next level and are available for purchase from the company website.
Natural Machines Foodini
Capable of handling more than just thick pastes, the Foodini – thanks to a generous array of wide nozzle sizes and wide cartridges – can even print out chunky burgers laced with cranberries, walnuts, and the like.
Designed with the goal of promoting healthy eating and the inventive (and convenient) forming of all-natural foodstuffs, the Foodini sees use in rehabilitation centers and professional kitchens alike.
Rather than a rectangular plate, the Foodini has a round build plate made of Pyrex glass – the same oven-proof glass usually found in microwave dishes. The printing chamber is temperature-controlled and the printer can contain up to five food-grade stainless steel capsules that are automatically exchanged.
The washable parts are all dishwasher safe too. Great idea!
Print4Taste Procusini 5.0
Possibly the most polished and “plug-and-play” food printer to feature in this roundup, the Procusini features an effortless cartridge system for its feedstock. This means that the contact between food and machine itself is limited to the nozzle, which is removable and dishwasher-safe. Simple!
Specially formulated foods cartridges are available for the Procusini, including marzipan and four different types of chocolate (dark, white, pink, and blue). During printing, these refill cartridges can be heated up to 60 °C.
The newer 5.0 version boasts an LCD display for the faster and simpler operation often required in professional kitchens. A dual extrusion machine is also available, allowing for the simultaneous printing of two edible materials.
With the purchase of a Procusini printer, the user receives total access to their online platform – the Procusini Club. It’s said to have thousands of ready-to-print templates, objects, text, and hollow models. The platform also provides video tutorials and tips for getting the most out of this incredible printer.
Note that the Procusini is only available through resellers in Europe.
Wiiboox Sweetin
Positioned as a chocolate 3D printer, the Wiiboox Sweetin is actually more of a general food printer, allowing for the extrusion of a variety of edibles from its thick paste extruder. Think jams, mashed potato, bean pastes and, naturally, chocolate.
A touchscreen interface should make for easy operation, and Wiiboox claims anyone that knows how to use a computer can operate the Sweetin. It features an auto-leveling mechanism, freeing the user of tedious bed-leveling operations.
Wiiboox keeps a huge amount of ready-to-print chocolate models available for download. There’s also their web-based design software that focuses on text, pictures, and simple model design.
La Pâtisserie Numérique Patiss3
With the eagerly anticipated arrival of the Patiss3 in September 2022, chefs can use their own recipes without having to make compromises for extrude-ability. The new printer by Paris-based The Digital Patisserie (La Patisserie Numerique) uses a powder-based process that enables you to work with French classic pastry recipes, without any additives, says Marine Coré Baillais, the company’s founder, who left her position as deputy CEO of 3D printing service bureau Sculpteo in 2019 to pursue her passion of the culinary arts.
Patiss3 can work with a wide range of edible raw materials. Only 25 machines are currently in production. Aimed at professionals, the printer can be rented for €500 a month only in Europe.