ChocaByte went about it with the goal of trimming everything down to a mechanism that’s as simple as possible.  And after all the unnecessary functionality has been stripped, they ended up with an affordable $99 machine that can adequately perform the job.

Using a syringe-based design, the extrusion printer can build small, edible chocolate shapes that measure up to 2 x 2 x 1 inches (l x w x h).  Granted, that is nowhere near as awe-inducing as the large forms you can render with the ChefJet, but little chocolate trinkets clad in an assortment of custom shapes sound pretty exciting all the same.

Made by Solid Idea, the ChocaByte looks more like a larger coffee press than a 3D printer, with the mechanism for the X, Y, Z axis installed at the bottom and a syringe extruding the chocolate mounted on top.  It prints at a resolution of 1.5mm per layer and is recommended only for simple designs.  You can, of course, experiment with complex structures like overhangs, although it’s been rigged as a purely starter tool, so there’s no guarantee those can work.

You can pre-order directly from their website which they are planning to launch in couple of months, Chocolate cartridges selling at $10 for a set of four.