Best Bundle for Edible Printer, Inks and Sheets this 2020
Prints that are so good, they’re good enough to eat. If you’re curious about edible inks or you’re looking for a way to boost your biz, this is your chance to join the rising trend of personalization.
What’s Edible Ink Printing?
Edible Ink Printing is printing edible ink on edible paper which is then used on pastries such as cakes, biscuits, cupcakes, macaroons and more.
Printer Edible Ink is made of water, glycerin (adds the right viscosity for printer use), ethanol (a solvent), preservatives and FDA-approved food colors.
Printer edible ink must be 1.) FDA-compliant, 2.) certified food-safe and 3.) made by a trusted manufacturer.
The ink must be made from machines that are not contaminated by food allergens.
Edible Ink Cartridges are food-grade. It comes in both refillable and non-refillable. Refillable cartridges have auto-resetting chips that allows for reuse up to 3 times before the outlet port wears out.
Edible Paper can be made of thin layers of icing called Icing Sheets or from potato or rice starches called Wafer Paper.
Icing sheets are usually vanilla flavored and best for prints that need to fuse smoothly with the icing on cake. They are backed with plastic sheets to hold the shape of icing sheets during printing. The plastic sheets are then peeled off to apply the icing sheet on pastry.
Wafer paper is greatly cheaper and firmer than icing sheets. But they have the tendency to blur prints and are best for background images or abstract designs.
A brand new inkjet printer, that has not been used with regular printer ink, can be used as an Edible Printer. Printers that have been used with regular ink have the risk of contaminating edible ink.
What to Consider When Buying Edible Ink Printer
- Removable Components
Removable components allows you to thoroughly clean it after using edible ink. When left alone, the edible ink can risk clogging the printhead with its sugar.
To maintain an edible printer, you can 1.) Print 1–2 pages a week, 2.) increase ink flow with power cycles, or 3.) install cleaning cartridges when not in used.
- Size
Printers that print larger formats come at a higher cost. Please also consider your working space in determining printer size.
- Initial Costs
Most quality inkjet printers for edible printing are $300 or less. But to test out the demand of photo cakes in your customer base and area, buying a bundle (printer plus + edible ink + edible paper) is a practical choice.
Canon Vs Epson
Most Canon Printers have removable parts that allow for cleaning to prevent sugar crystallization clogging. They have also been found easier to set and adjust colors by operating with their LCD screens. Canon printers have a rear-feeding tray that avoids paper jamming incidents. This prevents wasting of Edible Sheets.
Canon has a Photoshop Plug-In that allows to print low-resolution pictures in high quality. The printer components of Canon is more compatible with Chocolate Transfer Sheets. These sheets are more slippery compared to other Edible sheets.
Please remember that Canon officially stated that their printers aren’t created for edible inks. By using edible inks, Canon may void your warranty as they don’t fully endorse the use of edible inks.
The following products to be compared will be Canon printers included in bundles.
2020 Edible Ink, Paper and Printer Bundle Review
The bundles that will be reviewed are within the price range of $200 to $300.
IcingInks
IcingInks Company is based on Santa Maria, Southern California, United States. All of their edible cartridges are refillable. Their edible ink is dairy-free, gluten-free, nut-free and allergen-free as well as FDA compliant.
Most of their printers are of Canon Pixma TS6210 and TS6220 models. The only difference between these two models is that Pixma TS6220 can be voice-activated through Alexa and is supported by IFTTT (If This Then That) platform that harmonizes the printer with other devices such as Facebook, Google Home and Dropbox.
Both models can print, copy and scan. They can be connected through Wi-fi, Bluetooth or US. Both have the print resolution of 48,000 x 12,000 dpi.
IcingInk bundles will be compared by other items included.
Prime Blank Frosting Sheets is IcingInk’s brand of icing sheets. Each piece is a thin flavorless layer of pure white icing.
Flexfrost Edible Fabric Sheets can be folded easily without breaking. These are perfect for custom printed cakes where the print needs to wrap over the walls of the cake.
Ink4Cakes
Ink4Cakes is a company based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They’re not just FDA-compliant. Their edible paper and edible ink is also Halal and Kosher certified.
The Ink4Cakes bundles use a variety of printers. Printer details for each bundle will be given below to help you make better buying choices.
- Canon Edible Printer Elite
- Canon Edible Printer Elite PLUS
- Canon ELITE Edible Printer Cupcake and Cookie Kit
- Wide Format Canon Edible Printer Kit CW8
Supreme Icing Sheets are Ink4Cakes’ best selling ice sheets for its chip-proof thickness.
Frostino Icing Sheets are known for their smooth surface that creates vivid prints.
Conclusion
For us, IcingInk bundles look more appealing with its Refillable Cartridges and free Designing Software.
The IcingInk’s $214 bundle is suited for those exploring inking pastries for the first time by hand and machine (for the artists). But it’s $219 bundle is more practical in the long run with its Edible Cleaning Kit (for those who want to be more efficient).
IcingInk’s $249 bundle rivals Ink4Cakes’ “Canon ELITE Edible Printer Cupcake and Cookie Kit”. IcingInk’s $249 bundle is better for those who prefer to print on smaller pastries besides cake. It is also cheaper with its 100 Wafer Sheets. But Ink4Cakes’ more expensive offer is worth to pay for sweeter-tasting prints with its pre-cut icing sheets.
IcingInk’s $259 bundle is advantageous for those who want to focus on cake printing only. But Ink4Cake’s “Wide Format Canon Edible Printer Kit CW8” is a steal for those who want to start early.
With this information to help you, what’s the perfect match for you?
