History Main / AutoKitchen

%% Needs Context * Most common use for "[[MatterReplicator makers]]" in ''ComicBook/{{Transmetropolitan}}''.
* In one [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'' [[{{Elseworld}} Imaginary Story]], asking "[[WhatIf What if Krypton had never exploded?]]", the fast pace of Kryptonian science is illustrated by a scene of the Els getting a food slot installed that sends meals from a central kitchen. (The slower pace of Kryptonian social science is illustrated by specifying that this saves ''Lara'' having to cook.)

[[caption-width-right:250:Uhh... does this count as defecating?]]

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[[caption-width-right:250:Uhh... does this count as defecating?]]

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Usually comes in one of two varieties: "any food imaginable" or "SoylentSoy only".

[[folder:Anime]]
* Onabe from ''Anime/DoraemonNobitaAndTheRobotKingdom'' is a robot oven who cooks up a delicious meal by eating the ingredients first. Introduced in Chapek's kitchen, Onabe swallows a large pile of vegetables and voila, instant salad. Applies only for the manga though, in the anime adaptation Onabe's a generic robot cook.

* In one [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] ''Comicbook/{{Superman}}'' [[{{Elseworld}} Imaginary Story]], asking "What if Krypton had never exploded?", the fast pace of Kryptonian science is illustrated by a scene of the Els getting a food slot installed that sends meals from a central kitchen. (The slower pace of Kryptonian social science is illustrated by specifying that this saves ''Lara'' having to cook.)

* In ''Fanfic/TheKeysStandAlone: The Soft World'', the Infinity chain of restaurants serves as a fast-food Auto Kitchen wherever one appears; you can literally go in and order anything you want and get it in minutes. The four, with their various dietary preferences and restrictions, rely on these restaurants in most of the cities they visit.
** The Anything store is an “Auto Kitchen” for ordinary items.
* ''Fanfic/RocketshipVoyager''. In Voyager's messdeck Tom Paris plants his [[StickyShoes magheel boots]] before a row of galley slots, activates a VideoPhone and speaks to the ship's cook, who informs him that SoylentSoy is the only thing available. A few minutes later a food container emerges along with a squeeze-tube of illicit moonshine; Paris surreptitiously drops a tenner into the slot in payment for the booze before it closes.

* In the short film ''Film/DesignForDreaming'' (basically an extended advertisement for Frigdidaire's "Kitchen of the Future" and General Motors' Motorama), the female model demonstrates the features of the Kitchen of the Future by telling it to automatically mix and bake a birthday cake. Amusingly, the cake already has candles in it when the woman removes it from the oven.
* The film ''Film/EasyLiving'' shows the then-popular automats. They were basically human-run vending machines with hot or cold food ready in automated slots, and would open when customers put in money. See the Real Life entry below.
* ''Flight to Mars'' (1951): When the Martians offer a tour of their UndergroundCity, what does the sole girl demand to see first? [[StayInTheKitchen The kitchen of course!]] She's informed that Martians don't have kitchens, only food laboratories where food is prepared ready to serve. She promptly declares Mars a woman's paradise.

* In Disney Channel Original Movie ''Film/SmartHouse'', the titular SmartHouse has fully prepared food items brought up from somewhere within or under the kitchen. When a malfunction affects the kitchen, the house's designer shuts down the AI, and the owner uses regular kitchen appliances (which are still present) to cook.

* Creator/LarryNiven's ''Literature/KnownSpace'' series had "autokitchens" that could convert vegetation into layered bricks of "food".

* In the novelisation of ''Film/{{Moonraker}}'', while on Drax's space station James Bond and Holly Goodhead witness an automated gallery which has lasers that carve meat and a conveyor that delivers it to their seats.
* Creator/AndreNorton:
** ''No Night Without Stars''. Sander lives in a PostApocalyptic world. During the novel, he finds an underground installation from the Before Days, the civilization that existed before the Dark Time. While exploring it, he finds a box with knobs on it. When he presses certain knobs, the box produces food.
** ''Literature/UnchartedStars''. Murdoc Jern has solar powered food converters he uses as trade goods. They can process vegetation into highly nutritious food bars that can keep a human going for five days.
* ''[[Literature/JohnCarterOfMars A Princess of Mars]]'' had one of the earlier examples. Restaurants in Zodanga dispensed meals through a hole in the table, no "human" contact involved.
* The Nutri Matic Drinks Dispenser in ''Literature/TheRestaurantAtTheEndOfTheUniverse'' analyzes the nutritional needs and taste preferences of the user and produces a "suitable" liquid which always ends up being almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea. In fact, when Arthur tells it to make real tea ("The taste of dried-up leaves boiled in water"), it essentially hijacks the circuits of the rest of the ship and freezes it for several hours (in the midst of an attack) before it finishes with what Arthur describes as "the best tea [he's] ever tasted."
* The ''Literature/InDeath'' series has the [=AutoChef=], which many people rely on to cook for them and which can be programmed for all kinds of meals. Even multi-billionaire Roarke, despite his preference for having such things done the old-fashioned way, has one for convenience.
* Similar to ''Franchise/StarTrek'', ''Literature/StarCarrier'' has food items being built molecule-by-molecule by nanites extremely quickly.
* In ''[[Literature/TheStainlessSteelRat A Stainless Steel Rat Is Born]]'', Jim diGriz's home planet has a fast food chain called Macswiney's. One night he breaks into a Macswiney's, looking for a place to hide from the cops, and discovers that the restaurant is completely automated. Customers place their order via a computer screen or a microphone. By the time they finish, the entire order has been retrieved from deep-freeze and microwaved to serving temperature - although the customer doesn't actually get the food until they pay. The only human staff is the guy who comes by once a month to restock the freezers and collect the money.
* ''Literature/HomerPrice'' features a story about an automated donut machine that his uncle acquires for his diner, which, once turned on, is unable to stop until it exhausts its seemingly-limitless supply of dough.
* The Cornucopia which Tiffany acquires in ''Literature/{{Wintersmith}}'' can miraculously produce anything harvested during the growing season, including all sorts of fruits, vegetables, nuts, or beverages such as milk or juice. You have to be careful what you say, as edible animals like chickens are provided while still raw, intact and living (''werk''), unless you specify how you want them prepared (Nanny Ogg's ham sandwiches) and even then, it will still produce far too much.
* ''Literature/TheCavesOfSteel''. People in the megacities of Earth are fed in section kitchens--large halls where food and cutlery appears from a slot in their table. However it's made clear that this is not an automatic process; there's a large staff working behind the scenes, and the protagonist annoys them by using his police permit to order a meal instead of his ration tag (too many people using special permits causes auditing problems).

* Creator/IsaacAsimov and Creator/JanetAsimov: ''Literature/NorbyTheMixedUpRobot'': Space Academy (and even apartments on Manhattan's 5th avenue) are equipped with computers/robots that perform most of the duties for cooking. It leads to problems for Jeff that he's so bad at learning Martian Colony Swahili that when he programmed a sleep-learning device, it accidentally hooked into the kitchen computer and downloaded classified information from Space Command and translated them into Martian while downloading the recipes into his head (without any help at translate, so the only reason he knows they're recipes is that he's eaten Martian cooking before). Admiral Yobo, in charge of the Space Academy, won't be able to get a decent meal until this can be fixed.
* Naturally, every ship in Literature/TheCulture is capable of this. In ''Literature/ThePlayerOfGames'', Gurgeh and his guest order snacks and drinks from a ship the size of a large room:
-->''"Module," Za said, sprawling out over the seat and looking thoughtful, "I'd like a double standard measure of staol and chilled Shungusteriaung warp-wing liver wine bottoming a mouth of white Eflyre-Spin cruchen-spirit in a slush of medium cascalo, topped with roasted weirdberries and served in a number three strength Tipprawlic osmosis-bowl, or your best approximation thereof."''
-->''"Male or female warp-wing?" the module said.''

* ''Series/BuckRogersInThe25thCentury'' episode "Cruise Ship to the Stars''. Buck Rogers' room has a set of controls and machinery in the wall that allow him to create food.

** One episode had this in a case of EarlyInstallmentWeirdness. It split the difference between "any food imaginable" and "Soylent Soy" by producing food bars that tasted like actual food.
** The TARDIS had a food dispenser in a room near the control room. The food it provided resembled the concentrated rations used by 20th century Earth astronauts (a VisualPun on the phrase "a square meal"). It also issued water and milk in small plastic bags.

* ''Series/HowItsMade'' did a segment on the construction of a pizza vending machine (see Real Life section).
* The ''Series/{{Lexx}}'' had phallic appendages that dripped a tasteless grey paste which becomes more watery when the [[LivingShip Lexx]] itself is hungry.
* ''Series/LostInSpace'' episode "Wild Adventure". When the Robinsons (and Dr. Smith) sit down to eat, the Environmental Computer sends their meals out of a slot on the wall.
* ''Series/UFO1970'': In the first episode, "Identified", the break room in Moonbase has what appears to be an automat-style setup on one wall, with six different sets of meal slots divided by nationality (French, Italian, Russian, American, English and Chinese). They apparently didn't foresee fusion cuisine.
* In the '70s sitcom ''Series/ComeBackMrsNoah'', a "[[FoodPills nutrition pill]]" is inserted into a robot chicken, which after much clucking produces a string of eggs. There's also the dispenser that squirts out raspberry jam at unpredictable intervals, forcing Mrs. Noah to run back and forth trying to catch it.

* ''Franchise/StarTrek''
** ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' had slots in the wall which could produce any food desired by inserting the correct computer tape.
** ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' and all later series in the timeline had replicators.
** ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' had the "protein resequencer", presumably an early-stage predecessor of TOS's food-slots. Members of the crew in this era sometimes complained that everything it generated tasted the same, unlike the more advanced systems to follow.

* Most food in ''TabletopGame/EclipsePhase'' is produced by nanofabricators. Ones specialized for production of edibles are called "makers", the cheapest ones only make beverages, ration bars and nutrient paste, more expensive ones can fab anything from yoghurt to fugu testes.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}''
** 2nd Edition main rules. In the section "Lifesyles of the Rich and Shadowy", the Average lifestyle description says that "the autocook has a full selection of flavor faucets". Statements in the other sections indicate that the autocook prepares a substance called "nutrisoy" that has flavors added to it.
** Supplement ''The Neo-Anarchists' Guide to Real Life''. [[BlandNameProduct McHugh's]] restaurants have computer-controlled food preparation equipment. When the customer makes his selection, the food items are automatically moved to the appropriate preparation equipment, defrosted/heated as needed and delivered to the customer.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}''
** In the adventure ''Send in the Clones'', the NBD sector Commissary is set up like a 1950s automat. Individual food items are behind little glass windows in the walls - just open a window and take the item.
** In the ''Twilightcycle 2000'' adventure, one of the {{PC}}s' items of equipment is the Port-O-Vat. Just put in any kind of organic material and the Port-O-Vat will process it into a bizarre food combination, such as Proto-Algae a la king.
** XP edition supplement ''The Underplex''. Just put a cupful of organic ingredients (mushrooms, tree bark, cockroaches), water and an enzyme cocktail into the [=QuikFun=] Enzyme Kit's hopper and let it autostir. In a few minutes you'll have delicious Hot Fun!
* Classic ''TabletopGame/{{Traveller}}''
** Game ''Azhanti High Lightning'', booklet Supplement 5 "Lightning Class Cruisers''. The Crew Quarters Deck galley has automatic equipment that prepares the food.
** Adventure 2 ''Research Station Gamma''. The station's kitchen is fully automated and can prepare food on command.
** Judges Guild adventure ''Darthanon Queen''. The title starship has a galley with fully automatic food preparation equipment.
** Classic Adventure "Disappearance on Aramat". The old Vilani base on Aramat has "food synthesizing units" that can create nutritious and edible food for human visitors.
* ''Man, Myth & Magic'' Adventure 1 ''The Glastonbury Labyrinth''. Inside the Atlantean vimana (spaceship) are metal cabinets that dispense food and drink when the correct buttons are pressed. Food is limited to synthetic T-bone steaks, bananas, vegetables, salt and fish or other seafood. Drinks include water, wine and beer.

* ''[[TabletopGame/BattlelordsOfTheTwentyThirdCentury Battlelords of the 23rd Century]]'' supplement ''Lock-N-Load: The Battlelord's War Manual''. The Food Synthesizer unit can produce any kind of food on demand, including meat, fruit, and juices. It comes with enough food powder to create 500 units of food, and more food powder can be purchased.
* ''TabletopGame/MetamorphosisAlpha'', ''Magazine/{{Gygax}}'' magazine #3 adventure "They All Died at the International Space Station". One room of the space station is a luxury apartment for a wealthy person on holiday. It has an automated kitchen that can create meals for the guest.

* The Printing Pod in ''VideoGame/OxygenNotIncluded'' was originally supposed to 3D print foodstuffs. [[NotTheIntendedUse It was repurposed to create]] [[ArtificialHuman Duplicants]] AfterTheEnd.
* In '' VideoGame/TotalDistortion'', Your [[PlayerHeadquarters Personal Media Tower]] comes with an automated kitchen that can create sandwiches and drinks on demand using [[FutureFoodIsArtificial Food Goo]]. Since you paid to be teleported into [[AnotherDimension a grunge rock dimension]], this kitchen is your only food source.

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* In ''Webcomic/{{Vexxarr}}'' the Bleen apparently figured out how to use a Cesium reactor to produce [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=030907 cake]]

* ''WesternAnimation/WallaceAndGromit'' have {{Robinson Goldberg Contraption}}s to do all their cooking for them, which get progressively more complex over the course of the series. One of the "Crackling Contraptions" shorts has a robot chef that predictably goes haywire.
* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''. In a CutawayGag, Peter is seen with a similar breakfast-making machine like Pee-Wee Herman's, which just shoots him.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': The second segment of "Thanksgiving of Horror" has an A.I. copy of Marge as the OS of the Simpson kitchen with control over robot arms to create food.
* ''WesternAnimation/SuperFriends'' 1973/74 episode "Professor Goodfellow's G.E.E.C.". Every kitchen in the world becomes one of these while under control of the G.E.E.C. supercomputer, including the one in the G.E.E.C. building itself.

* In the novelisation of ''Film/Moonraker'', while on Drax's space station James Bond and Holly Goodhead witness an automated gallery which has lasers that carve meat and a conveyor that delivers it to their seats.

!!Examples

* Most common use for [[MatterReplicator "makers"]] in ''ComicBook/{{Transmetropolitan}}''.

* ''Film/{{Aliens}}''. After the Colonial Marines wake up aboard the starship Sulaco, they eat a meal in a mess hall. They take their food from slots in a machine on the wall. The food is presumably stored and prepared by the machine.

* In the short film "Film/DesignForDreaming" (basically an extended advertisement for Frigdidaire's "Kitchen of the Future" and General Motors' Motorama), the female model demonstrates the features of the Kitchen of the Future by telling it to automatically mix and bake a birthday cake. Amusingly, the cake already has candles in it when the woman removes it from the oven.

* In the {{Literature/Slingshot}} universe, most smaller ships have a food dispenser in lieu of or in addition to a proper galley. Everybody agrees that the food that comes out of them barely deserves the name. One of the main characters is on a never-ending quest to teach one of them how to make good scrambled eggs.

* ''Series/DoctorWho''

* The ''{{Series/Lexx}}'' had phallic appendages that dripped a tasteless grey paste (which becomes more watery when the [[LivingShip Lexx]] itself is hungry)

* ''Series/RedDwarf''

[[folder:Webcomics]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheJetsons'' have one, naturally.

* Doc Brown's machine seen in the opening credits of ''Film/BackToTheFuture'' is a somewhat Rube Goldberg-esque device that comes on at 7:54, activates the coffee machine, turns on the TV, pops down the toaster, and opens a can of dog food into Einstein's dish. It's essentially a spoof of the trope, since the point is to show that Doc has been gone for a few days and [[AbsentMindedProfessor had forgotten to turn it off]]. In ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartIII'' he's built a more steampunky version in 1885 that makes bacon and eggs.

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