Food Replicator

The Food Replicator is a lifetime reward obtainable for 50,000 points in The Sims 3.

It is an object that, when first purchased, appears in the family inventory. Once placed on the lot, it adds the "Store (meal name)" option to all food in the area. The replicator may then create a limited number of replicas of any stored meal. It cannot replicate pizza and Ambrosia in its "completed" state. (see notes and bugs)

It also has an "Improved Memory" upgrade for Sims with level 9 of the handiness skill, which doubles the number of replicas that can be created from 10 to 20, and may improve the quality of the replicas.

With Into the Future installed, and sufficient Simoleons, it becomes near useless as one can instead buy a food synthesizer, which can create any food (except Ambrosia) an unlimited amount of times. It does, however, create food at a lower quality than the replicator by default. With Showtime/Supernatural installed, if the player's sim is a Genie, the Replicator also becomes useless as one can create the highest quality food an unlimited amount of times.

Notes and bugs

 * A lot of people find the Food Replicator confusing, saying that the food randomly spoils. After extensive research, the reason for this has been found - the replicated food is directly linked to the quality of the original, or, to be more exact, the quality of the fridge. Basically, when the food in the fridge goes bad, so does the food in the replicator. For that reason, it is highly recommended that a Sim complete the culinary career. This grants the Sim a special refrigerator that prevents food stored in it from ever spoiling. By proxy, this will result in food never spoiling in the replicator, however this doesn't work for the console version. Food in the MinusOne Kelvin Refrigerator will spoil.
 * If the player stores a meal in the Food Replicator and then cleans it up or throws it away, the food in the replicator should never spoil.
 * A Sim or lot may have more than one Food Replicator. When replicating an object, they are distinguished by a number in parentheses, e.g. "Food Replicator (1)", "Food Replicator (2)", etc., giving the player a choice of which one to put it in. A maximum of 100 Food Replicators can be acquired without cheats.
 * Replicated food cannot be re-replicated, but it can be safely used for opportunities.
 * There currently exists a bug that allows the player to replicate Ambrosia. The player needs to instruct a Sim to cook the Ambrosia, and keep an eye on them. As soon as they reach the part of preparation where they mix it in a bowl, the player has to cancel the preparation. After this, the player has to click on the bowl, and they will find that this can be replicated. When the player gets a replica out of the replicator, it will be fully cooked and completely edible. Once the player has stored their food in the replicator, destroying the original food by putting it in the bin will preserve the food in the replicator at its original quality.
 * There is a way to replicate food without it running out. First a Sim has to be Level 10 in the culinary career. The player then needs to store the food they want to replicate, then put the original in the MinusOne Kelvin Refrigerator. When the maximum number of replicas have been made, the layer simply needs to store the original from the fridge.
 * Note that if the player stores a whole meal rather than just a single plate, the food replicator will replicate the same number of servings in that meal. This is as opposed to replicating just a single plate, which is much more time consuming and much less efficient.