3D printers make cheese.

Technology has advanced to the point where, with just a 3D printer, you can create delicious cheese slices quickly and easily.

Cheese is a delicious food that pairs well with almost anything – whether with red wine or spread on a slice of toast. But it's not an ideal material for printing – unless you're a member of a team of nutritional scientists.

Recently, a pioneering research team used 3D printing techniques to create a cheese that is softer, smoother, and more liquid than any cheese ever created before.

This type of cheese is an incredibly valuable example for engineers developing materials for 3D printing.

The research team from the School of Food and Nutritional Sciences at University College Cork (UCC) conducted a series of tests to evaluate the texture, elasticity, and meltability of 3D-printed cheese.

The 3D printing material needs to be liquid enough to flow through a nozzle and settle to form a defined shape and structure. After 12 minutes of melting, the cheese reached a temperature of 75°C (167°F). Next, the UCC research team put it into a modified commercial 3D printer. This machine, typically used for printing plastics, was fitted with a syringe to allow for printing melted cheese.

Cheese printed using a 3D printer. (Photo: Shutterstock).

The microstructure of the food used for 3D printing can change under pressure, first when it is heated and then when it is squeezed through a nozzle.

The UCC team used several techniques to test the impact of 3D printing on cheese. They compared the results of 3D-printed cheese with melted processed cheese. The researchers then cooled them in a cylinder, as well as another sample of unprocessed cheese.

After testing, researchers found that 3D-printed cheese was 45-49% softer than unprocessed cheese. They also discovered that the 3D-printed cheese was slightly darker in color, more elastic, and more fluid when melted, even though it melted at the same temperature as unprocessed cheeses. This is due to changes in the cheese's protein network.

The inspiration for the experiment came from a cheese maker. He wondered: Could cheese be used as a raw material in kitchens equipped with 3D printers in the not-too-distant future?

Alan Kelly, a professor at UCC in Ireland and one of the study's authors, told Live Science: "This is a groundbreaking question that excites me. We tried many different methods and types of cheese, but ultimately we found that processed cheese was the best option."

Dr. Kelly and his colleagues are experimenting with different dairy products on 3D printers. Dr. Kelly said, "Currently, we are combining various dairy proteins to create a new product. This could be a high-protein snack. From the basics, we will design recipes that are best suited for 3D printers and that allow them to work most efficiently."

"Although we are only in the early stages of developing different food systems, creating food using 3D printers is truly exciting. This industry has a lot of potential for exploration and improvement. However, we still hope that food processed this way can retain the same flavor as when it is processed conventionally," Kelly added.

According to Khoahoc.tv