Food machine

The food machine was a device in TARDISes which produced bars of food. These were engineered to replicate meals in flavour and nutrition.

Features
The food machine dispensed foil-wrapped blocks that looked like blocks of cheese or tofu, but when eaten tasted like whatever food had been programmed into the machine – such as eggs and bacon, for example. (DW: The Daleks)

A food machine also stored water and milk which had to be replenished when empty because they weren't created by the machine. (DW: The Edge of Destruction)

Food machines came with a booklet which had codes for the food they could create. (DW: The Daleks) For example, KD/NB was the code for spaghetti bolognese. (MA: Venusian Lullaby)

The machines became obsolete and were replaced by kitchens. (DW: Shada, WC: Shada)

The food machine was generally kept in the TARDIS kitchen (NA: The Room With No Doors), though it was known to "wander" the corridors (NA: Christmas on a Rational Planet).

History

 * Vicki Pallister spent a long time programming the machine to produce a flavour like brown sauce. (ST: 1963)


 * The Second Doctor got a hay-flavoured nutrient bar from the food machine and fed it to a sheep that had entered the TARDIS. (DWY: Loop the Loup)


 * When Jo Grant brought a Micro Servo Robot into the TARDIS, it connected itself to the computer and began transmitting adverts. One of these adverts had the food machine produce toast with written adverts on it. (ST: Pop-Up)


 * After the TARDIS was stolen by Thomas Brewster, the food machine was one of the items which he removed from the TARDIS and sold to the crew of the Gamma who were marooned on the Time Reef. Although the Fifth Doctor was unable to recover the original food machine, he told Nyssa that he could easily build another. (BFA: Time Reef)


 * Frobisher found the food machine and nearly filled the console room with Mars Bars. (DWM: Voyager)


 * Flip Jackson used the food machine to make popcorn. (BFA: The Fourth Wall)


 * Ace made the food machine produce actual food. (NA: Legacy)


 * Sam Jones tried to order French toast and orange juice from the food machine, though she thought it looked like a Mars Bar and carrot juice. (EDA: War of the Daleks)


 * Sam told Fitz Kreiner that the TARDIS didn't have a kitchen, just a food machine. Fitz, who preferred making meals himself, found a kitchen, but wasn't sure whether Sam simply hadn't known about it, or if it had been created for him. (EDA: Autumn Mist)


 * The Tenth Doctor tried to fix the machine, which had not been used in years. He failed and it produced food with disgusting flavours. He later used these food blocks to kill the Glutonoid. (DWBIT: The Glutonoid Menace)