Food (Building)

Food buildings focus on food production and storage. Food is one of the most important resources in Oxygen Not Included.

Every duplicant needs 1000 kilocalories per cycle (1500 if the duplicant has the Bottomless Stomach trait). Food items that are not refrigerated, nor stored in sterile environment will spoil and eventually turn into Rot Piles. All food loaded into cooking stations is kept in a stasis, preventing spoiling.

Sources

In the starting Temperate Biome, Forest Biome, Swampy Biome or Ice Cave Biome, there is Buried Muckroot, Hexalent, Swamp Chard Heart, or Sherberry that could be harvested. 16,000 kcal Nutrient Bars (or 18,571 kcal Pemmican) are available in the Ration Box near the Printing Pod.

Plants can be farmed in Planter Boxes, Farm Tiles or Hydroponic Farms as a main source of food. These products may be cooked on Electric Grill, Gas Range or Microbe Musher (for Berry Sludge and Pemmican), which will increase food's quality (and possibly calories), at the cost of additional duplicant labor and careful planning of what combination of foods to use.

Another source of food is hunting down Critters. These creatures may defend themselves, which may lead to a duplicant being incapacitated, if they were especially low on health. Critters can be domesticated using a Grooming Station, increasing their metabolism, reproduction rate and thus meat (and other resources) production, but also making them require a steady supply of resources as foods for them, which can involve a variety of resources including food, plants, minerals and metals.

In case of emergency Microbe Musher may be used to produce Mush Bar and Liceloaf, but it will consume great amount of water.

Tips

In the early game, it is recommended to not produce a great surplus of food because of spoiling, if deep freeze and sterile atmosphere are not readily available.
Storing food in a refrigerator or below 4 °C / 39.2 °F will slow spoil rate, Keeping the food in deep freeze (below -18 °C / -0.4 °F) and a sterile environment (such as immersing the food in Carbon Dioxide, Chlorine or Hydrogen) will keep the food from spoiling. Polluted Oxygen, as a Contaminated Atmosphere, will increase how quickly food spoils.
Spice Grinder can be used to add Freshener Spice on food, which keeps food from spoiling when refrigerated in a normal atmosphere (such as Oxygen), or even make food regain freshness in more preservative environments, at the cost of Mealwood seeds and Salt.

List of food buildings

Name	Description	Requires	Effects	Materials	Research
Airborne Critter Condo	A hanging respite area for adult Pufts, Gassy Moos and Shine Bugs. Triggers natural nesting instincts and improves critter's moods.	hanging (all 3 tiles) Dedicated Room: Stable	Cozy buff (+1 Happiness) for 1 cycle	200 kg	Creature Comforts
Airborne Critter Trap	Attracts and captures airborne Critters. Only Duplicants with the Critter Ranching I skill can arm this trap. It's reusable! It needs to be armed prior to use.			50 kg	Ranching
Critter Condo	Provides a comfortable lounge area that boosts Critter happiness. It's nice to have nice things.	Dedicated Room: Stable	Cozy buff (+1 Happiness) for 1 cycle	200 kg 10 kg	Creature Comforts
Critter Drop-Off	Releases trapped Critters back into the world. Can be used multiple times. Duplicants automatically bring captured critters to these relocation points for release.			50 kg	Ranching
Critter Feeder	Automatically dispenses food for hungry Critters. Critters tend to stay close to their food source and will wander less when given a Feeder.			200 kg	Ranching
Critter Fountain	Dispenses Brackene to a wide variety of Critters. Accessing the fountain significantly improves Critters' moods. It's easier to tolerate overcrowding when you're all hopped up on brackene.	Brackene: -5 kg/use Dedicated room: Stable	Hydrated effect. +5 Happiness to critters that use it.	400 kg	Brackene Flow
Critter Lure	Attracts one type of air born critter. Lures can relocate Pufts or Shinebugs to specific locations in your base.		Overheat Temperature: 75 °C / 167 °F	200 kg	Animal Control
Critter Pick-Up	Ensures the prompt relocation of Critters that exceed the maximum amout set. Monitoring and pick-up are limited to the specified species. Duplicants automatically wrangle excess critters.			50 kg	Ranching
Critter Trap	Captures a living Critter for transport. Only Duplicants with the Critter Ranching I skill can arm this trap. It's reusable! It's designed for land critters, but flopping fish sometimes find their way in too.			200 kg	Animal Control
Deep Fryer	Uses Tallow to cook a wide variety of improved Foods. Duplicants will not fabricate items unless recipes are queued. Everything tastes better when it's deep-fried.	Duplicant operation Grilling skill Dedicated Room:Kitchen	Produces: Squash Fries Nosh Noms Fish Taco Shellfish Tempura	400 kg	Gourmet Meal Preparation
Dehydrator	Uses low, even heat to eliminate moisture from eligible Foods and render them shelf-stable. Dehydrated meals must be processed at the Rehydrator before they can be eaten. Some of the eliminated liquid inevitably ends up on the floor.	Natural Gas: -20g/s Duplicant operation (for loading and unloading)	Wet Floor Carbon Dioxide: 5 g/s Fabricates: Dried Stuffed Berry Dried Mushroom Wrap Dried Surf'n'Turf Dried Pepper Bread Dried Mushroom Quiche Dried Curried Beans Dried Spicy Tofu Dried Frost Burger Dried Berry Pie	200 kg	Gourmet Meal Preparation
Egg Cracker	Converts viable Critter eggs into cooking ingredients. Cracked Eggs cannot hatch. Duplicants will not crack eggs unless tasks are queued. Raw eggs are an ingredient in certain high quality food recipes.	1 Egg Duplicant operation	Varied amounts of Raw Egg & Egg Shell	50 kg	Meal Preparation
Electric Grill	Cooks a wide variety of improved Foods. Duplicants will not fabricate items unless recipes are queued. Proper cooking eliminates foodborne disease and produces tasty, stress-relieving meals.	Duplicant operation Grilling skill	Produces: Pickled Meal Mush Fry Fried Mushroom Barbeque Cooked Seafood Gristle Berry Frost Bun Omelette Swampy Delights Grubfruit Preserve Roast Grubfruit Nut Soufflé Pancakes	400 kg	Meal Preparation
Farm Tile	Grows one Plant from a Seed. Can be used as floor tile and rotated before construction. Duplicants can deliver fertilizer and liquids to farm tiles, accelerating plant growth.	1 Unplanted Seed	Plant Domestication	100 kg	Meal Preparation
Fish Feeder	Automatically dispenses stored Critter food into the area below. Dispenses once per day. Build this feeder above a body of water to feed the fish within.			200 kg	Ranching
Fish Release	Releases trapped Pacu back into the world. Can be used multiple times. A fish release must be built above liquid to prevent released fish from suffocating.			50 kg	Ranching
Fish Trap	Attracts and traps swimming Pacu. Only Duplicants with the Critter Ranching I skill can arm this trap. It's reusable! Trapped fish will automatically be bagged for transport.			200 kg	Animal Control
Hydroponic Farm	Grows one Plant from a Seed. Can be used as floor tile and rotated before construction. Must be irrigated through Liquid Piping. Hydroponic farms reduce Duplicant traffic by automating irrigating crops.		Plant Domestication	100 kg	Agriculture (Research)
Incubator	Incubates Critter eggs until ready to hatch. Assigned Duplicants must possess the Critter Wrangling trait. Incubators can maintain the ideal internal conditions for several species of critter egg.	Critter Eggs Duplicant operation Critter Ranching I skill	Speed up incubation	200 kg	Animal Control
Microbe Musher	Produces low quality Food using common ingredients. Duplicants will not fabricate items unless recipes are queued. Musher recipes will keep Duplicants fed, but may impact health and morale over time.	Duplicant operation (cook errand)	Fabricates: Mush Bar Liceloaf Tofu Berry Sludge Pemmican	400 kg
Planter Box	Grows one Plant from a Seed. Domestically grown seeds mature more quickly than wild plants.	1 Unplanted Seed	Plant Domestication	100 kg	Basic Farming
Ration Box	Stores a small amount of Food. Food must be delivered to boxes by Duplicants. Ration boxes keep food safe from hungry critters, but don't slow food spoilage.			400 kg	Basic Farming
Rehydrator	Restores moisture to convert shelf-stable packaged meals into edible food. Rehydrated food is nutritous and only slightly less delicious.	Water: 1 kg Duplicant operation		100 kg 50 kg	Gourmet Meal Preparation
Spice Grinder	Produces ingredients that add benefits to foods prepared at skilled cooking stations. Crushed seeds and other edibles make excellent meal-enhancing additives.	Duplicant operation Grilling II skill Inside a Kitchen		400 kg	Food Repurposing
Water Fort	A fancy respite area for adult Pokeshells and Pacu. Even wild critters are happier after they've had a little R&R.	fully submerged in Liquid	Cozy buff (+1 Happiness) for 1 cycle	200 kg	Creature Comforts