The future of software-controlled cooking.

To date, analog methods of cooking such as by grills, cooktops, stoves and microwaves have remained the world's predominant cooking modalities. With the continual evolution of digital technologies, however, laser cooking and 3D food printing may present nutritious, convenient and cost-effective cooking opportunities. Food printing is an application of additive manufacturing that utilizes user-generated models to construct 3D shapes from edible food inks and laser cooking uses high-energy targeted light for high-resolution tailored heating. Using software to combine and cook ingredients allows a chef to more easily control the nutrient content of a meal, which could lead to healthier and more customized meals. With more emphasis on food safety following COVID-19, food prepared with less human handling may lower the risk of foodborne illness and disease transmission. Digital cooking technologies allow an end consumer to take more control of the macro and micro nutrients that they consume on a per meal basis and due to the rapid growth and potential benefits of 3D technology advancements, a 3D printer may become a staple home and industrial cooking device.

Precision cooking for printed foods via multiwavelength lasers.

Additive manufacturing of food is a method of creating three-dimensional edible products layer-by-layer. While food printers have been in use since 2007, commercial cooking appliances to simultaneously cook and print food layers do not yet exist. A key challenge has been the spatially controlled delivery of cooking energy. Here, we explore precision laser cooking which offers precise temporal and spatial control over heat delivery and the ability to cook, broil, cut and otherwise transform food products via customized software-driven patterns, including through packaging. Using chicken as a model food, we combine the cooking capabilities of a blue laser (λ = 445 nm), a near-infrared (NIR) laser (λ = 980 nm), and a mid-infrared (MIR) laser (λ = 10.6 µm) to broil printed chicken and find that IR light browns more efficiently than blue light, NIR light can brown and cook foods through packaging, laser-cooked foods experience about 50% less cooking loss than foods broiled in an oven, and calculate the cooking resolution of a laser to be ~1 mm. Infusing software into the cooking process will enable more creative food design, allow individuals to more precisely customize their meals, disintermediate food supply chains, streamline at-home food production, and generate horizontal markets for this burgeoning industry.

Selective laser broiling of Atlantic salmon.

Selective laser broiling is a novel food processing technique that utilizes a 2-axis mirror galvanometer system to direct laser power to cook raw food. Unlike conventional cooking processes, laser cooking benefits from the high spatial and temporal precision of power delivery. In this investigation, we use a trochoidal scanning pattern to optimize the cooking of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), which is used as a model food system. We vary geometry of the trochoidal cooking pattern (circle diameter, circle density, and period) as well as the heat flux (2.71 MW/m2 and 0.73 MW/m2) and power (2 W and 5 W) of the blue laser and measure the internal temperature and depth of heat penetration via color analysis. Heat generated by blue laser operating at 445 nm has a thermal penetration depth nearing 2 mm in salmon and provide sufficient protein denaturation for cooking thin food layers. We achieve food safe cooking temperatures (>62.8 °C) in the salmon fillets and desirable color and textural changes through the use of high speeds and repetitive exposure. Ultimately, the goal of this study is to explore laser cooking of meat with an eye to applications both in food printing as well as an augmentation of conventional oven cooking.