So You Can 3D Print A Steak Now—But Why On Earth Would You Want To?

Most of us do not know how our food is made. We don’t know much about what our burger was eating when it was part cow, where that cow lived, or how it died. Ditto for the wheat in our bread, or the leaves in our salad. The food system is a very dark box for us.

This disconnect is why farm-to-table has been so successful—it wants to get us familiar with our food, and consider the water, carbon emissions, jobs and care that goes into our food.

Now, I’m all for this, but there’s one area where I don’t mind hearing a little about how our food is made: Plant-based meats. I’m sure we need plant-based alternatives to animal products, but I suspect that alt-protein companies sometimes get a little caught up in how these animals are made—Fiber-spinning! The fermentation of the spirit! Strange forms of extrusion!—and forget the taste.

I get to focus on food. I am a WIRED reporter after all. But when I hear the buzz of tech buzz at food conferences I have just one question: Is it fun?

That’s why I wasn’t happy when someone asked me to send me a bunch of 3D printed meat from an Israeli company. I also thought that plant-based meat had just gone bad. Maybe it he did we need technological breakthroughs to take it to the next level. Also, 3D-steak printing is pretty cool, and these test kits were apparently “expensive” and not yet available to the public. I asked PR to send them.

Plant-based meat needs more than just talk, says Arik Kaufman, CEO of Steakholder Foods, the Israeli company that sent me the 3D-printed meat. “You need to eat amazing produce,” he says. The contributors sent me a few different plant meats. There were 3D-printed whitefish fillets, 3D-printed filet steak, and 3D-printed marbled steak. There were also burgers and fish kebabs, none of which were 3D printed. In a clear sign that the future of food had arrived, the cuts were packed into a medical supply box filled with dry ice that quickly filled my kitchen with fog.

Floppy Fish

The benefit of 3D printing food is about creating interesting structures, Kaufman said. His company has developed two different printers: One that prints fish, and one that makes cuts of meat—both using a combination of pre-mixed ingredients. A meat printer can produce about 500 pounds of plant meat per hour, while a fish printer can produce up to 100 pounds per hour.

I cooked the whitefish filet as directed on the leaflet inside the box: Brushed with oil, then fried for 10 minutes at 180°C (360°F). The filet still looked a little pale after 10 minutes, so I gave it a little more time until it had some color on it. I suspected searing the filet in the pan would have added a nice crust, but I’m afraid it wouldn’t have the structural integrity to tolerate that flipping. Then, as my filet disintegrated in its journey between the baking tray and the plate, my suspicions were confirmed. To the floppy filet I added (vegan) lemon butter and caper sauce, sprinkled on parsley and served couscous.

Kaufman says the 3D printing of the whitefish recreates the flakey texture of the fish filet. That was not my experience eating it. When cooked, the fish had a thin outer crust, but the inside of the filet had the texture of a mousse, with just a hint of fish flavor.