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Crickets are a high protein food that can supply important nutrients to reptiles, fish, mammals, and even people. Entomophagy is eating insects for food. Throughout much of the world it is common and an important part of a healthy diet. Crickets and other insects can be eaten alive, but they are often cooked to create a tastier meal.

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Preparation

In the first stages of preparation you must place the insects in a refrigerator until they are immobilized.. Once cooled, pick out any damaged crickets and then rinse the rest in cool water to remove any unwanted material. Dry them gently with a paper towel.

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Dry Roasted

Spread the crickets evenly on a non-stick cookie sheet, you can lightly grease the sheet or use a liner. Place the insects in an oven at 200 degrees and bake them for 1 - 2 hours until they are dry and crispy but not burnt..

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Fried

Heat some vegetable oil, olive oil, butter or margarine in a pan. Place the insects in the hot liquid and fry them until they are brown and crispy. Drain and season the crickets. Alternatively,  add onions, peppers, mushrooms or any vegetables while cooking the insects. When done, season the saute with salt and pepper.

Crickets can also be deep fried. Heat the oil to 350 degrees. Prepare your favorite batter, dip each cricket in the batter, and fry them until golden brown.

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Boiled & Dried

Boiling and then drying insects requires a dehydrator. First, boil water with some salt added. Alternatively, you can use beef, chicken, or vegetable stock for added flavor. Place the crickets into the boiling liquid for about two minutes. Drain the crickets and place them in a container in your refrigerator to cool. Once cooled, spread the crickets onto a sheet in your dehydrator and allow them to become completely dry but not overly crunchy.

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Uses

Cooked crickets can be eaten plain, sprinkled on salads, and used in soups and stews. Dry roasted crickets have a nutty flavor and can replace nuts when baking cookies and cakes. They can also be ground and mixed with flour as an added source of protein. Their uses when cooking is almost limitless.

Crickets can also be turned into sweet or spicy treats. They can be dipped in chocolate, candied, covered with cinnamon & sugar, or salted. You can sprinkle barbeque, cheese, salt & vinegar, and other flavored seasonings onto them just like you would with popcorn or potato chips.

Nutritionally, crickets have half the fat and a third more protein than beef. Environmentally, crickets need only about two pounds of feed per pound of usable meat; for beef, it takes 25 pounds of feed for the same pound of meat. Likewise, it only takes about a gallon of water to raise one pound of crickets, compared to 2,000 gallons of water for a pound of cow. With the growing freshwater shortages in many parts of the country and around the world, that's a significant impact. On top of all that, crickets produce 100 times fewer greenhouse gasses and have a true food conversion efficiency of almost 20 times higher than beef.