Tag Archives: Geeky Food + Drink

World’s First 3D Printed Edible Eel: Sushi Ready

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Hot on the heels of 3D-printed salmon comes the world’s first 3D-printed eel, made by Steakholder Foods using its line of 3D meat printers. Its current iteration of eel is plant-based, but it plans to ethically harvested eel cells and cultivate them once “economies of scale allow for price-competitive cell development.” These are fascinating times for the sushi industry!

SteakHolder’s printing process involves printing alternating layers of varied textures to as closely resemble the meat it’s printing as possible. So, it’s not just a solid block of the same texture and flavor. Its printing technology also allows the company to produce meat alternatives using significantly fewer ingredients than others currently on the market.

Above: A filet of grouper being printed.

SteakHolder Foods CEO Arik Kaufman says, “The launch of our printed eel marks a pivotal moment in the seafood industry…This technology is designed to enable partners to generate products on a potential industrial scale of hundreds of tons monthly, not only at lower costs compared to wild eel, but also with the flexibility to create a variety of printed products using the same production line.”

Would you eat 3D-printed eel? I would. As a matter of fact, I want some right now. Ideally, laid atop some rice with wasabi and soy sauce on the side. Great, now I want sushi. But I just had Mexican! I suppose I still have a little room…

[via TechEBlog]

3-Minute Cup Noodles Timer Is Powered by the Noodles’ Weight

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Because trying to count to 180 myself requires patience I don’t have, KARAKURI constructed a 3D printed 3-minute Cup Noodles timer that is powered by the weight of the meal, slowly lowering the cup to the table’s surface over the course of three minutes. That’s ingenious. Me? I usually lose track of counting after a minute and eat my noodles extra al dente.

The video includes the original 3D computer design from which it was made, as well as all the 3D printed pieces being carefully assembled. Careful assembly – that’s important, especially when you’re dealing with such small, fragile pieces. You can’t just smack everything with a hammer and expect it to work. Or at least that’s what my watchmaking mentor told me after several unsuccessful repair attempts.

I haven’t been eating nearly as many Cup Noodles as I used to because I’m trying to watch my sodium intake, but I basically lived on them in college. And after college. Really, right up until my doctor said I needed to watch my sodium intake a few weeks ago.

A Working Gingerbread Instant Camera with a Candy Glass Lens

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The brainchild of Polish photographer Dmitri Tcherbadji, this is a Fujifilm instax SQUARE SQ1 camera that he covered with gingerbread and added a lens made out of candy glass. Could he have actually constructed an entire functional camera out of gingerbread? Don’t be ridiculous. Only Santa’s elves have the skill and dexterity to do that.

According to Dmitri, “the images are very soft, lack contrast, and show lots of other distortions. Still, cranking them out of a piece of bread and sugar never ceases to feel exciting (and a little hilarious). There’s certainly room for improvement. I’ve learned a lot building this, and I will be learning more as I attempt to expose a few more packs of film before breaking it into pieces later with friends.”

He’s going to break and eat the camera when he’s done with it! I mean I was hoping he would, but you never know – some people are wasteful. Me? I eat things. The five-second rule? It’s never been a rule to me!

[via PetaPixel via TechEBlog]

Artist Crafts Entire McDonald’s Out Of Felt: McPlushies

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Felt artist Lucy Sparrow went and constructed an entire McDonald’s restaurant out of felt, complete with a menu board, food items, a drink machine, seating, and wall art. Wow. Would I try to eat the fries? Of course, I’d try to eat the fries; I am a terrible decision-maker, aren’t I?

The McHappiness store was recently on display at the SCOPE Art Show in Miami Beach, Florida, and undoubtedly brought much McHappiness to everyone who got to see it. I only wonder if Lucy’s ice cream machine was out-of-order or not. The last time the ice cream machine at my local McDonald’s wasn’t out-of-order? Late 2018, and I go regularly.

I wonder just how many hours Lucy worked on crafting the store because I imagine it was quite a few. I mean Rome wasn’t built in a day, and this is way crazier than Rome. I mean, at least in my opinion. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a change.org petition to start to make the McRib a permanent menu item.

A hat tip to Rusty of Rusty’s Electric Dreams for the heads up.

Brisket Flavored Candy Canes: Meaty Goodness

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Because nothing quite says Merry Christmas like meat-flavored candy canes (wait, that can’t be right), Archie McPhee has added yet another unusual flavor to its line of unusual candy canes, this time with brisket-flavored sugar sticks. Yum! And by ‘Yum!’ I mean ‘Yum?’

A box of six canes will set you back $6.95. Not into brisket? No worries, Archie McPhee also sells hot dog and pizza-flavored candy canes for those looking for a less traditional holiday meal this year. My typical Christmas Eve meal? The cookies we were supposed to be leaving out for Santa. To my credit, though, I do leave the carrots for his reindeer untouched.

Whatever the flavor, I’m just going to sharpen the end into a point to poke my brother in the leg under the dinner table. It’s a Christmas Eve tradition. Then we get in a huge fight, and there aren’t any presents underneath the tree from Santa the next morning, the end.

Autonomous Fruit-Picking Drones: Harvesting the Future

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Developed by Tevel Aerobotics, the Flying Autonomous Robot harvester is a collection of tethered drones that can pick ripe fruit from trees. The robots can analyze a piece of fruit for color and ripeness before picking it with its suction arm, being able to identify fruit from leaves or other objects. That’s good because the last thing you want is your fruit-harvesting robots to come back with a bunch of squirrels instead of apples.

The robots have already successfully been used to harvest peaches, apples, nectarines, and plums, with California-based HMC Farms, which is pleased with the results. According to HMS vice president Drew Ketelsen, “The years of work we’ve put into cultivating high-density orchards are paying off as we implement technology like Flying Autonomous Robot harvesting. This project is still in an early stage, but the future potential is very exciting.” Exciting being relative to just how thrilling you find robotic fruit harvesting to begin with, of course.

First, harvesting fruit to power the humans; next, harvesting humans to power the Matrix. It’s only a matter of time. And I don’t want to be here when it happens, just for the record. And it will happen. I’ve read a lot of robot fan fiction, and 9 out of 10 ends poorly for us fleshbags.

[via TechEBlog]

Make Your Own CBD Gummy Candies

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CBD: it’s all the rage. With numerous health benefits like pain relief and helping to reduce anxiety, it’s the latest miracle cure. And now you can make your own CBD gummy candies at home using the Nostalgia Electric Giant Gummy Bear, Fish, and Worm Maker (affiliate link). The unit features a gelatin melting pot in the middle, surrounded by candy molds on ice for forming your candies. Plus, it comes with a giant gummy bear mold if you REALLY need a strong dose.

Add the CBD oil of your choice to the candy mix before cooling, and you’ll be pain-free and as cool as a cucumber before you know it. Just make sure to follow the dosage suggestions with the oil you’re using when making them because one time, I ate these brownies before a concert and never made it to the concert. Granted, they weren’t CBD, but the lesson is the same: proper dosage is important.

Of course, you don’t have to make CBD gummies; you can use it to make regular gummy candies. Or you could make gummies with other medicinal oils. Hey, I’m not here to tell you what to do; I’m just here to demand a handful of whatever you do make.

NASA Astronaut Space Suit Can Koozie

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Because there are few things more enjoyable in life than sipping a cold one and playing space rangers, maker of outerwear-inspired koozies Puffin Drinkwear is selling this insulated Space Suit koozie. The can cover fits standard 12- and 16-ounce cans and includes a tiny closable backpack for storing other goodies like… actually, I’m not sure what. Glitterstim? Freeze-dried ice cream?

This is easily one of the top five koozies I’ve ever seen, and I will be buying one. Or rather, I’ll be putting it on my Christmas list and purchasing one myself after everybody lets me down like they have every other year. My family always asks what I want, I show them my list, and I still get a yearly membership to the Jelly of the Month Club instead.

Do you think this is what the real astronauts aboard the International Space Station drink out of? Of course not. They drink out of pouches, just like kangaroos would if they were smarter. There’s a good reason kangaroos haven’t been to the moon, you know. Granted, I don’t know what it is, but there definitely is one.

[via The Awesomer]

Countertop Saltwater Taffy Puller: Candy for Days

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Saltwater taffy: it’s the sort of candy most people can have a few pieces of at the beach, then be perfectly content until their next beach trip. But maybe you’re one of the few who can’t get enough of it. Maybe you love it so much you need to make it at home. Well, for you, there’s the countertop Chef’n Sweet Spot Saltwater Taffy Maker (affiliate link). Just please, if you are going to buy one, make sure your health insurance includes comprehensive dental coverage.

The tabletop taffy maker features two rotating hooks for pulling the taffy after you’ve made the soft candy. Of course, you don’t need a taffy puller to pull taffy, you can do it by hand like I did when I was a kid, but you do risk dropping it on the floor and making a whole batch of dog hair candy like I did.

The hooks are removable for cleaning and storage, and the whole thing folds down to just the width of the gearbox, so it takes up very little space when not in use. Certainly a handy feature for storing the unit after the one time most people will ever use it.

[via DudeIWantThat]

3D Printed Meat Is Coming to a Supermarket Near You

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3D printed meat: just the thought alone probably has your mouth watering right now. I know mine is, but I’ve eaten nothing but saltines for the better part of a week because I’m too lazy to go to the grocery store and too poor to order delivery. But enough about my stomach eating itself; food company Redefine Meat is hard at work making 3D-printed meat a reality.

Redefine Meat’s New-Meat product is supposed to be delicious, good for the environment, and kinder to animals. The last two are almost certainly the case considering it’s lab-grown and 3D printed, leaving only its deliciousness in question. Send some my way for a taste test! Just let me know when it’s supposed to arrive, so it doesn’t sit on my front porch for a week and start to rot (I always enter the house through the garage).

The first video, compared to the second, shows a drastic improvement in the technology already. If companies can nail the taste and price, I’m really curious to see how all this lab-grown pans out. Hopefully medium-rare, with a nice sear and topped with herb butter!

[via Reddit]