Digital technology has gone one step further into spicing up our lives with the newest breakthrough in tech—laser-cooking!
Recently, a team of engineers from the Creative Machines Laboratory at Columbia University succeeded in laser-cooking a 3D printed thin layer (about 1/8 inch) of chicken meat. Even though it sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie, this real-life experiment was an apparent success.
The cooked chicken was recognized as poultry by blind taste testers, who reported that the served food seemed like traditionally cooked chicken, but a bit juicer.
The unmatched cooking precision observed on the pureed raw chicken meat gave researchers an idea of the commercial potential that printed meat cooked this way can have. What’s more, the meat can be cooked through a plastic film, which is perfect for commercial use.
But the advantages of 3D-printed food don’t end here. Apparently, it can be made to last longer, too, which is why food printing was supported by NASA funds back in 2013 as a part of their long-term space exploring mission prep.
So, given all the creative advertising potential laser-printed food has, there’s a reasonable expectation that the tech will develop further and hit the shelves pretty soon.
So is it too soon to throw our energy-efficient induction cooktops or electric grills out? Not yet!
For the moment, there’s one big thing missing for this to happen: user-friendly software that will allow everybody to express their creativity while preparing meals. But this might change quickly.
Discoveries like these make us believe that we’ll soon be living in a world where we’ll be able to print out our dinner with no fuss. What would you cook on your 3D printer first?
