Laser cooking: a novel culinary technique for dry heating using a laser cutter and vision technology

Abstract

We propose a novel cooking technology that uses a laser cutter as a dry-heating device. In general, dry-heat cooking heats the whole surface of an ingredient, while a laser cutter heats a small spot of the surface in a very short time. Our approach employs a computer-controlled laser cutter and a video image-processing technique to cook ingredients according to their shape and composition, allowing for new tastes, textures, decorations, and engraving unique identifiers to the ingredients. We introduce some examples of laser cooking. In addition, we propose a multi-layered 3D printing technique using powdered sugar to create edible sculpture.