What Challenges Lie Ahead in 3D Food Printing? My First Prototype Sprint in Switzerland

This prototype is a partnership with my amazing husband and friend Fadri Pestalozzi 🫀

Challenges of Food Printing (at home)

Embarking on the fascinating journey of developing a 3D bioprinter at home, my focus is on culinary applications rather than the more conventional uses in healthcare or biomaterials. While 3D bioprinting technology often involves working with human cells for medical purposes or creating hydrogels, biocomposites, and bioplastics, my compact home studio steers me towards an innovative yet practical niche: food printing.

Although many associate food 3D printing with sweet treats like chocolate or sugar due to their ease of manipulation when heated, my interest lies in crafting savory dishes. This venture poses unique challenges but also promises exciting possibilities. In this blog post, I will share my initial experiences in developing a printhead designed specifically for creating savory foods, exploring the potential and intricacies of this cutting-edge culinary technology.

My journey into 3D food printing began with a robust metal framework, presenting the challenge of developing a printhead capable of handling pasty or gelled foods rather than plastics. This research quest started back in 2019 with the help of Janaína and Leandro from BioEdTech, who designed the initial printhead that we adapted to include a syringe. You can check the experience in this other post.

What do food and ceramics have in common?

While this small syringe was perfect for medical applications, such as printing cells or bacteria, it proved inadequate for my culinary ambitions. Food, especially in Brazilian culture, means abundance, and I needed a printhead that could handle larger quantities. This need led me to explore 3D ceramic printers… what?!?!

3D ceramic printers face similar challenges to food printers, handling large volumes of pasty materials that must be air-bubble-free to avoid deformation. I discovered a fascinating project by Polish ceramic artist Piotr Waśniowski , who uses a compressed air system and a helical extruder to keep the material bubble-free.

The most exciting part? His printhead uses cake decorating tips with varying cone-shaped diameters, perfect for preventing material shear during printing. This discovery inspired my own adaptation: a printhead that ensures a homogenous, air-free food material for my culinary creations.

I am grateful for Piotr Waśniowski’s open innovation approach. He developed this printhead for his ceramic work and shared it as open-source on Thingiverse, allowing others to use, modify, and test their own versions. I am a strong advocate for open innovation and thorough documentation.

So, let’s go! Piotr’s design features a large cartridge for material feeding and compressed air pumping, with a motor driving the helical extruder. This versatile design can be adapted for various 3D printers, making it an excellent starting point. In prototyping, I’ve learned the value of quick, iterative testing—building a rapid, “dirty” prototype to understand volumes and functionality. I printed Piotr’s design as-is to get a tangible feel and learn through hands-on experience.

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Pause for personal reflection

One of the highlights of this project was what felt like my first experience with a true sprint in Switzerland. On a Wednesday morning, we listed the materials we needed, checked what we had in the home studio, and set out to acquire the rest from local shops—a bike store and a construction supply store.

By the end of the day, after some improvisation, like drilling a larger hole for a thicker tube, we had a rough prototype in our hands. This was a personal milestone for me, demonstrating my ability to execute an agile project in my new context of living in Switzerland, where access to materials and tools differs significantly from São Paulo.

It was a reaffirmation that I can adapt and still achieve quick, tangible results, gaining a deeper understanding of the local culture and resources. This experience was a personal victory, marking a successful day where I ended with a working prototype and a renewed sense of capability.

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Future Directions and Adaptations

From our current setup, I’ve learned that we’ll need to modify the attachment axis between the printhead and the printer’s X-axis. The weight of the printhead, loaded with material, creates a lever effect, so we’ll adapt the structure to metal and secure it with screws. Given that we’re working with food and various recipes, the ideal solution is a detachable system for easy cleaning.

I plan to create two pieces: one for attaching to the X-axis and another for the removable printhead, ensuring it’s easy to wash. This involves considering the electronics and designing an interchangeable system, accommodating future heads for different materials like bacteria or human cells.

This design challenge is exciting because it allows for versatile use—whether for food, biomaterials, or cells—while maintaining a hygienic and easily cleanable setup. Ultimately, I’ll design a robust engagement system that supports easy cleaning and adaptability for different purposes, aiming for a future-proof, versatile printer.

Clique on the image to see the gallery on Flickr