Sure, 3D printing chocolate in your kitchen may not be practical, but it’s certainly cool, right?
At least that’s what I’ll try to convince my wife if and when the mycusini, a new chocolate 3D printer for the home, ever makes its way stateside. The mycusini, which is currently on sale as part of a new Kickstarter campaign from German startup called Print2Taste for €198 (about $225), is expected to start shipping to backers by the end of year.
Like many, I’m a bit skeptical when it comes to crowdfunded hardware projects nowadays, but the folks behind the mcusini have already proven they can deliver. Print2Taste got its start with the Bocusini, a food 3D printer that launched on Kickstarter back in 2015 and shipped to backers pretty much on time. Since that time, what was essentially a group of food researchers from the University of Weihenstephan-Triesdorf has established themselves as a legit 3D food printing startup, taking their original Bocusini and making a professional edition called the Procusini.
All that experience finally led them to think about creating a true home 3D printer.
“With our many years of experience in the professional field of 3D food printing, we want to make the benefits of this amazing technology available to everybody,” said Print2Taste’s Eva Schlosser. “With mycusini, consumers will get access to the creative world of 3D Choco printing at a very attractive price.”
So how does the mycusini work? Basically like all 3D food printers: by extruding small amounts of material (chocolate in this case) layer by layer. The major downside to the mycusini is it, at least initially, requires the use of custom-made “Choco refills” as the printing material, which are essentially crayon-shaped chocolate cylinders that fit into a stainless steel dispensing cartridge. A single-source supplier is never ideal, and being reliant on a small startup out of Germany for chocolate refills likely means potentially long wait times before you can start printing your next confection.
In case you’re wondering why you can’t just use your own chocolate, it’s because the “Choco” is designed specifically by the company for printing and, according to the company, isn’t technically chocolate. From the Kickstarter:
“mycusini® 3D Choco is a chocolate grease glaze. This means that instead of cocoa butter, other vegetable fats, such as coconut fat, are used so that curing takes place more quickly and thus higher objects can be produced.
This recipe seemed to make more sense for practical use compared to a chocolate that first had to be tempered in a tempering device and then does not cure quickly enough when working with the mycusini.”
The company indicated they are working on a true chocolate refill (presumably using cocoa butter), but they have not given a specific timeline.
You can see mycusini in action below:
The company promises to start shipping the mycusini to backers before Christmas, but if you’re like me and live in the States, you’ll have to wait. That’s because the mycusini is initially only available in Europe, New Zealand and Australia. No word yet on if and when the it will ship stateside, but I’ve reached out to Print2Taste and will update this when I learn more.
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