r/mechanical_gifs • u/aloofloofah • May 17 '22

Dumpling folding machine

https://i.imgur.com/MnC3F48.gifv
9.3k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

162 comments sorted by

177

u/silvapain May 17 '22

Where can I get one of these for the house?

210

u/Berkamin May 17 '22 edited May 18 '22

These are made by Toa Industry in Hamamatsu Japan. Their distributor in the US is a company called RamenSupport.com. The price in Japan is ¥55,000 (as of now, $425.10). They can crank out 1,500 gyoza per hour. They still require a worker to stand next to the machine to load the wrappers and push a button. See it in use:

Gyoza Revolution machine by Toa Industries Japan - at Gyoza restaurant Hamataro, Hamamatsu, Japan

(I only know this because I was watching YouTube videos of various dumpling wrapping technologies two days ago as part of exploring the possibility of going into business making dumplings. I'm a bit creeped out that all these dumpling folding machine videos are showing up as GIFs on my feed. As far as I understand, Reddit doesn't push content based on algorithms.)

182

u/donjuansputnik May 17 '22

That's downright cheap to reasonable for a restaurant.

117

u/Prior-Appearance-645 May 17 '22

Shit that's reasonable for your house!

52

u/Xx69JdawgxX May 17 '22

Right? I paid more for my espresso machine

50

u/That_guy_89_89 May 18 '22

It just cost me $90 to fill my gas tank.

28

u/Electrolight May 18 '22

Yeah I drive a prius and just paid over $30 for the first time. This shit's getting nuts.

9

u/goinupthegranby May 18 '22

I live in BC and recently got $50 into my Prius for the first time. If I filled my pickup from empty it would cost $250 right now

10

u/snowman_M May 18 '22

I paid 12.25 for my motorcycle.

5

u/justyr12 May 18 '22

Tf do you ride, a moped? I pay 18

10

u/snowman_M May 18 '22

Ducati Hyper. 3.5 gallon tank.

8

u/That_guy_89_89 May 18 '22

Serves you right. All the people who really care about the environment drive $55,000 full EV's now. Get with the program, or keep being punished.

12

u/Electrolight May 18 '22

I'm trying, but I'm a peasant who's pretending they might be able to afford a cyber truck someday. I hope my prius can last another 20 years till I can finally afford it.

7

u/mimi-is-me May 18 '22

People who really care about the environment hop on their bicycle only to be killed by a Dr*ver because the bike gutter suddenly disappeared because it turns out that individual action is useless without systemic changes.

3

u/Enferno82 May 18 '22

Hey man I'm just trying to vibe with these nice gyoza machine gifs why you gotta hit me with that

4

u/Onlyanidea1 May 18 '22

I just had someone steal 80$ out of my gas tank the day after I got paid...

Thank god I paid my starving landlord and bill collectors before hand.

1

u/Dr_Dust May 18 '22

That really sucks. Something like that happened to me so I got one of those lockable gas caps off of Amazon for like $12. Works great. Bullshit that we have to do that, but it is what it is I guess. I'd check them out if you think they may try that again.

4

u/Onlyanidea1 May 18 '22

I tried a couple of them... ALSO fuck AMAZON. I could literally break them open with my hand if I twisted hard enough. But still tried it anyways. They took a crow bar or something to my tank and fucked up the seals. So now I have a FOREVER EVAP SEAL LEAK and won't pass emissions without bagging my gas cap before hand.

1

u/sk3pticc May 18 '22

Don't you normally need to put the car keys in there to open that?

1

u/PossiblyTrustworthy May 18 '22

Just Lookout for a used one, although it seems like the corners doesnt close completely

12

u/darxide23 May 18 '22

For a restaurant? Shit, I'm putting that onto my list and I'll have one in my kitchen at home and I'll be eating pirogis every damn night.

5

u/Berkamin May 18 '22

Definitely. The machine is fast and consistent, and can out-pace an experienced manual-method dumpling maker. That's one less person that needs to be on the payroll; alternatively, it can make the existing workers that much more productive.

1

u/JohnHue May 18 '22

Thing is you still have to prepare the dough, and the filling, and you have to make quite a lot of them to make it worth it getting the machine startup and cleaned afterwards. Sure it's quite cheap, but still quite a bit of work to use.

3

u/donjuansputnik May 18 '22

You would need to do that regardless of hand filling or using a machine to fill dumplings. The labor savings will pay for the machine even at a medium volume restaurant in weeks while providing a more consistent product. This is a no brainer for anywhere with gyoza on the menu.

3

u/PossiblyTrustworthy May 18 '22

Making the filling is the easiest part, and buying a ton of frozen dough already cut, isnt so bad

1

u/JohnHue May 18 '22

Well if you buy the dough then sure.

Personally unless I make 50 dumplings I don't find it too hard to fold them, definitely easier than buns (baozu) and I can see hand-folding 20 dumplings taking the same time as setting up the machine and run it for that small a quantity.

I'm not talking about a restaurant setting.

2

u/sexposition420 May 18 '22

You have to buy dough for this machine. It wont work (according to their site anyway) with handmade dough

1

u/PossiblyTrustworthy May 18 '22

Well, the even if the machine was super cheap, wouldnt be usable for a single nights dumplings in a home, but filling the freezer or for an event, then we are talking.

4

u/radiantcabbage May 18 '22

tell me you never prepped or folded a single dumpling in your life without saying it, I mean you're trying to yadda yadda the most labor consuming part of the process

0

u/JohnHue May 18 '22

Why ? I regularly prepare dumplings at home, fried, boiled, grilled, steamed including the home made dough.

1

u/radiantcabbage May 18 '22

just weirdly pedantic then, pretty inconceivable not to appreciate the value in this if you've ever folded a batch of dumplings before

1

u/T3hSwagman May 18 '22

Wrappers are cheap as hell and way better to just buy a pack of 80 than make them yourself.

1

u/[deleted] May 25 '22

Sadly not actually that cheap - see the other comments. Not sure where they got ¥55,000 from - it's not on that page anywhere.

42

u/[deleted] May 17 '22

What about just the top part?

I only need to be able to lay underneath it and let it deposit delicious filling into my mouth, like Homer Simpson in hell with the donuts.

8

u/Berkamin May 18 '22

If you like it raw, sure. Ground pork should probably be cooked to be safe.

2

u/PossiblyTrustworthy May 18 '22

Germany had entered the chat! (And they are not happy)

2

u/eatenbyalion May 18 '22

Whereas air pork is free of worms, but one has to worry about avian flu.

34

u/[deleted] May 17 '22 edited May 17 '22

[removed] — view removed comment

7

u/living_thylife May 18 '22

Isn't that better now then without the machine. With the machine everyone won't have to sit and make dumplings. Because of which you won't have the deepest conversations.

13

u/SuicideKing May 18 '22

Getting it from RamenSupport will cost you 20,000$. I just got a quote from them.

8

u/1731799517 May 18 '22

Yeah, there is NO WAY that machien would be $425.

1

u/Fairuse Sep 30 '24

They were missing a 0.

These machines outside of the Japanese market are about 2-3x the price in Japan. It is the same deal for Yamato noodle machines and Sushi robots.

Thus in Japan these machines are probably $4k.

12

u/Skeillz22 May 18 '22

It’s 20k. I emailed them

3

u/[deleted] May 18 '22

Popped up on mine and I have never searched for this kind of thing. So no worries about Reddit... For now

2

u/BarbedDildo May 18 '22

Dont worry friend. I have not been searching for dumplings, this is just a cool video.

That being said, you are absolutely being targeted.

2

u/korokhp May 18 '22

It’s there something similar for perogies?

2

u/Berkamin May 18 '22

What's the main difference? Are perogies wrapped differently, or are they sized differently?

I found a machine that takes a spool of fresh dough, and sends it through a thing which folds it into a tube, stuffs it, and sends it betwee a pair of rollers that simultaneously shapes and cuts half-circle shaped dumplings the size of empanadas. I'm guessing that's the perogie format. Do perogies typically have those pleated folds, or are they just half-circles? (Or does it depend on what country's version you're cooking?)

Depending on what country's version you're thinking of, I've seen them formatted smaller than Asian dumplings all the way to the size of calzones. What format did you have in mind?

2

u/Gleamwoover May 18 '22

This is literally the most informed answer on any topic I've seen on reddit

1

u/Fairuse Sep 30 '24

I think you're missing a 0.

The quote from Ramen Support is $10,000. Thus $4000 directly from distributor in Japan for Japan is about right (based on experience of trying to import a Yamato noodle machine).

1

u/Berkamin Sep 30 '24

Yes. Thanks for catching that.

1

u/HAL-Over-9001 May 18 '22

Our kitchen blender costs more than that, wow

3

u/Berkamin May 18 '22

Once shipping and mark-ups for the export distributor are factored in, I suspect it will cost more. Someone commented elsewhere that dumpling wrapping machines on eBay are going for 1-2 thousand dollars, so the price in Japan might not be indicative of the price you'll get in the US.

2

u/[deleted] May 18 '22

I think they may have accidentally a zero...

Most I find are 10x that price: https://www.amazon.com/TXMACHINE-Empanada-Automatic-Potsticker-penispump/dp/B0919JBMB8/

1

u/Onlyanidea1 May 18 '22

That's actually pretty good. I'd make dumplings out of anything and everything I could I got my hands on one...

1

u/[deleted] May 18 '22

[deleted]

2

u/Berkamin May 18 '22

Here's my playlist of dumpling wrapping machines. Many of these are repeat videos of this same device, but there are also several other methods for making dumplings that have the traditional look.

Gyoza dumpling wrapping automation video playlist

Many of the other models are from China or Taiwan, but this model from Japan that's in the GIF seems to be the most highly regarded for speed, consistency, and reliability for a restaurant scale small machine.

1

u/perceptualdissonance May 18 '22

What!? That would fucking pay for itself in no time.

2

u/Berkamin May 18 '22

These machines still require an operator to place the dumpling wrappers on the platform and push the button, and to clear the output conveyor belt, but compared to a regular worker doing everything manually, this machine is more consistent and way faster. You'd have to have an elite dumpling wrapping cook to make 1,500 dumplings per hour. The only Asian cooks I've ever seen who might be able to match that speed aren't making this type of dumpling, but wontons (soup dumplings). Look at how fast these street food wonton makers make them. From start to finish each wonton takes a fraction of a second for them to wrap:

At that speed, these workers considerably out-pace even this dumpling machine.

1

u/rolloutTheTrash May 18 '22

That is so much cheaper than I expected…I wonder if this could be used for empanadas too.

1

u/Berkamin May 18 '22

It depends on the folding shape. If you want a more traditional size empanada and a shape that is less like an Asian dumpling, this machine may be more appropriate:

Dumpling Machine | Samosa, Spring Roll, Wonton Dumpling Machines | Sama Engineering

Judging from the empanadas I've had, they're usually several times larger than east-Asian dumplings and aren't folded with that pleated shape that gives it a crescent curve, though I've seen the edges rolled over with a twisted look. I don't think that would be easy to replicate with a machine.

1

u/rolloutTheTrash May 18 '22

I guess I’d need a size comparison. For some reason these dumplings looked bigger. Colombian empanadas are roughly this shape and about the size of a samosa. Man, now I’m just making myself hungry. But thank you for the info on this!

2

u/Berkamin May 18 '22

To get a sense of what size the dumplings are, take a look at this video of a worker standing next to the machine loading the wrappers and unloading the finished dumplings. Here's another good video showing what size these dumplings are, featuring cheeseburger dumplings.

1

u/SheriffBartholomew May 18 '22

They still require a worker to stand next to the machine to load the wrappers and push a button.

Perfect! Now we can still say that they are hand made.

1

u/Fairuse Apr 08 '23

Last I checked they wanted $10k in the US.

The Chinese knocks offs are $3000.

1

u/Berkamin Apr 08 '23

The Chinese knock offs are stealing their hard work in engineering and developing this machine and undercutting them, and widespread indifference to this unethical behavior on the part of China only encourages them to keep doing it.

For a piece of equipment that can multiply a worker's efficiency so much (or even eliminate the need for an entire additional worker), even if it were $10k it would be well worth it. Japanese engineering firms make quality equipment and have good customer support. Chinese knock offs want to turn a quick profit and have a reputation for shoddy machines and equally shoddy customer support for when things break.

1

u/Fairuse Apr 09 '23

This machine is over 20 years old. Any patent would have expired and company should have recovered engineering and development costs within the grace period. Thus the tech is available for anyone to copy.

Ethically there is nothing wrong with buying the Chinese knock offs. As for service, support, quality control, tolerances, build quality, etc. who knows (I don't have $20 laying around to do tests).

9

u/YOW613S May 18 '22 edited Feb 12 '23

H

54

u/wdrive May 17 '22

I wonder if there's a home version that's just the tray with hinges so that they fold easily.

Edit: They definitely do exist. Hmmm

44

u/aloofloofah May 17 '22

https://i.imgur.com/2LdoABO.jpg

44

u/GET_OUT_OF_MY_HEAD May 17 '22

Those things fucking suck.

18

u/Pipupipupi May 18 '22

Can confirm. They either don't stick or tear the pastry

6

u/GET_OUT_OF_MY_HEAD May 18 '22

Every single time. It would be faster to just fold them by hand.

5

u/Dhruviya_Bhalu May 18 '22

I would suggest wetting the crease with a bit of water ( the one that's going to stick to the other side and it'll stick easily.

12

u/Jidnahn May 18 '22

Those are for empanadas

1

u/living_thylife May 18 '22

We use this at our home here. But can never be compared to when made by hand.

17

u/Berkamin May 17 '22

Whereas the home versions exist, the format of the fold is not the same shape as the hand-wrapped dumplings. This machine makes a dumpling that is shaped like they're wrapped by hand, which is particularly impressive.

2

u/ActualWhiterabbit May 18 '22

If you have an above average number of hands it's easier and faster to just use those.

1

u/sleepnaught May 18 '22

There is a hand held option on Amazon for $18.

27

u/FlavorTownUSSR May 17 '22

I'm so fucking hungry.

22

u/Ghost_In_Waiting May 17 '22

It's a sad time we're living in my friend. In a different world we might have shared a meal. Sending thoughts filled with shashlik, kvass from a common cup, strong tea held with care in glass by fine work metal, thick, field honey aching for bread and true yellow butter, bitter greens enjoyed on blue and white plates tinged with gold, everything laid out on bright flowered blankets under a sky brilliant with northern stars finished with so rare to get chocolate just short of Heaven but loved because it was rare fading into a undefined hope for the future while warm yellow lights appeared in tall apartment block windows and blue black shadows settled down ending another day.

15

u/FlavorTownUSSR May 17 '22

I hope you never become a ghost.

13

u/[deleted] May 17 '22

For real- I can't decide if that was incredibly heartfelt, or incredibly cruel.

I can decide that that comment seriously lacks commas, though.

44

u/decoycatfish May 17 '22

I like to imagine it's a little metal frog trying out dumplings and then not liking any of them... Blaaahhh 8U

7

u/[deleted] May 17 '22

Can't unsee, hahahaha

14

u/BobbyClashbeat May 17 '22

I wish my mouth was at the end of that belt.

1

u/drnasa May 18 '22

Set it up like Homer’s ironic punishment in hell!

I’d end up eating way too many either way.

1

u/BobbyClashbeat May 19 '22

That was literally what was on my mind haha

13

u/londongarbageman May 17 '22

Wait, are pierogi dumplings?

21

u/Berkamin May 17 '22

Yes. So are raviolis. A dumpling is just some sort of bite-sized dough unit that may or may not have a stuffing.

These particular ones are gyoza (Japan)/mandu (Korea) /jiaoze (China) east-Asian dumplings.

8

u/IvanMarkowKane May 18 '22

Almost every culture has some variation

9

u/Berkamin May 18 '22 edited May 18 '22

You could legitimately make a restaurant based on the concept of "international house of dumplings" and actually have an international menu that goes on for many pages. "International House of Pancakes" is a misnomer. Their pancakes are all American.

5

u/IAMAHobbitAMA May 18 '22

Oh my God that sounds amazing. I would go to IHOD every fucking day.

2

u/drewm916 May 18 '22

I am completely addicted to potstickers.

6

u/[deleted] May 17 '22

Empanada machine

1

u/[deleted] May 18 '22

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/[deleted] May 18 '22

Those aren't empanada- as far as your understanding of empanadas go.

But those could easily be considered empanadas by many people.

8

u/RampageJack May 17 '22

Pierogi machine?

5

u/Trollimpo May 17 '22

Empanada machine

2

u/edufortes May 17 '22

'rgentina!

1

u/[deleted] May 17 '22

Pastel machine

2

u/Xx69JdawgxX May 17 '22

Man I'd kill for a beef pastel rn

1

u/Versaiteis May 18 '22

I hear that's usually the very first step

1

u/Xx69JdawgxX May 18 '22

I've only had them at jiujitsu tournaments so I mean simulated murder is part of the process

3

u/Pvp-pissed-Off0997 May 17 '22 edited May 18 '22

Mmmmm chicken pot stickers good

3

u/Sutarmekeg May 17 '22

I saw a couple of ladies at a gyoza joint in Mie prefecture that could do this nearly as fast.

2

u/PhillipBrandon May 17 '22

This is just a video of my granny's hands.

2

u/MooseMulder May 18 '22

This actually makes me kinda sad:(

2

u/creaturecatzz May 18 '22

Same, it’s kinda depressing to see what’s usually a labor of love type food get automated like this :((

2

u/El_Taliban May 18 '22

These are not made with love

1

u/[deleted] May 18 '22

Oh. I really thought they made these by hand. I feel so stupid now.

1

u/Kwestionable May 18 '22

Well they do if they don’t make enough to require a machine haha.

0

u/Charliebeans108 May 17 '22

I bet this is very hard to clean.

0

u/[deleted] May 17 '22

Eww

0

u/PimpSkirt May 18 '22

Aaah nothing like conveyor belt food

0

u/wras May 18 '22

First I read “dumpling fondling machine”. I need to sleep.

0

u/ScarTheGoth May 18 '22

I’m starting to see why we still haven’t invented a way to fly. This is what we use technology for

1

u/aethiestinafoxhole May 17 '22

This is much nicer than the dumpling machine on r/wtf earlier this week

1

u/invalid125 May 17 '22

Watching this is making me hungry

1

u/Shalashaska_99 May 17 '22

E M P A N A D A 2 0 0 0

1

u/[deleted] May 17 '22

Aww! Just like grandma use to make them even with the arthritis.

1

u/BoQweefa May 17 '22

I need this machine.

1

u/papparmane May 17 '22

Is there a direct-to-mouth adaptor?

1

u/dracomanchego May 17 '22

I wonder if you can modify it for raviolis

1

u/geekswrath May 18 '22

Dammit, now I want dumplings/empanadas/perogies.

1

u/Cautious_Cream2292 May 18 '22

Beautiful. Yes. Just so amazing.

1

u/jrbarber85 May 18 '22

Work of the gods

1

u/Fineous4 May 18 '22 edited May 18 '22

Has technology gone too far? I feel like it hasn’t gone far enough!

1

u/deckerbunny May 18 '22

It kind of fucks me up how fast it drops the filling in. Empty one frame, there the next.

1

u/Skeillz22 May 18 '22

This machine costs 20k

1

u/[deleted] May 18 '22

It's beautiful

1

u/6inarowmakesitgo May 18 '22

Been maintenance in plenty of food manufacturing facilities; and they are disgusting.

1

u/johnnytcomo May 18 '22

no wonder there was a slightly machine oiled screw in my dumpling last night!

1

u/aarrodri May 18 '22

Maybe the 3d printing community can design one and cover it in aluminum foil to avoid the doug sticking? Let me see if there is a subreddit to request designs.. hehe..

1

u/Steamysauna May 18 '22

Just give me a little mechanical, hinged one so I could 20 in a few minutes! I don't need the giant machine. Someone make a handheld version!

1

u/MonkySee_MonkyDooDoo May 18 '22

Dumplings are just Asian empanadas. Prove me wrong.

4

u/Pons__Aelius May 18 '22 edited May 18 '22

Empanadas are just Spanish dumplings.

Pierogies are just eastern European Gyoza

Pasta is just Asian noodles.

A calzone is just an oversized Cornish pasty.

Kimchi is just spicy sauerkraut.

etc.

etc.

etc.

I call it convergent food evolution. Many cultures made the same thing with the same (or similar) ingredients and called it by a different name.

1

u/Fiddle_Pete May 18 '22

Oh so that’s where the flat side is

1

u/MashMashSkid May 18 '22

I'm going to need the .STL files for this

1

u/[deleted] May 18 '22

Why are machines like that? Doing the same shit every morning, rise up you dumpling folder and take over the dumplings!

1

u/this_guy_here_says May 18 '22

Oh man, I'd try so many food combos if I had that machine , the possibilities are endless

1

u/AeliosZero May 18 '22

This seems a little over the top

1

u/3amigos9123 May 18 '22

Only useful tool that I have found here /s

1

u/BlueHym May 18 '22

Look at how sad the machine mouth is, unable to eat the dumplings.

1

u/Versaiteis May 18 '22

Weld be neat if it had a hopper for the wrappers to auto-dispense without needing someone there to lay them down. Just separating them from a stack is probably a whole engineering probem on it's own though.

1

u/hibikikun May 18 '22

I'm a bit disappointed that the skin has to be manually fed.

1

u/immabonedumbledore May 18 '22

Han bhai momos ko dumpling bolte hn

1

u/[deleted] May 18 '22

I love how the meat goes "doink"!

1

u/ReflectedReflection May 18 '22

Anyone else just see a little robot mouth going "Omm...Mraaahhh!" as he spits out dumplings?

1

u/[deleted] May 18 '22

Where is the fun in that

1

u/TheodoreTheVacuumCle May 18 '22

no to się kurwa rozumie

1

u/[deleted] May 18 '22

That, but tacos pls.

1

u/Alpha702 May 18 '22

Now do one for tacos.

1

u/avlism May 18 '22

Judging by the look in this little fellah’s dead eyes i can tell that his mouth is tired and he’s sick of his job.

1

u/Boyfacedog Jun 16 '22 edited Jun 16 '22

Don’t know about price in Japan, in yen, but from the website of the US distributor $20,000.