This is about what I thought. If it needs effectively the same prep work as a normal meal, plus cooking, there's basically no reason for anybody to go to the ex

This is about what I thought. If it needs effectively the same prep work as a normal meal, plus cooking, there's basically no reason for anybody to go to the extra hassle of shuffling stuff in and out of the machine versus just doing the middle step themselves. The only actual draw I can see here is for professional chefs making artistic or experimental dishes (for example, complicated multilevel cakes), and even then, since it's just extruding raw ingredients, I'd be surprised if there's much if anything complicated that it can "build" out of anything softer than cookie dough or decorative icing.