Cricket flour?

sheermomentum
sheermomentum Posts: 827 Member
edited November 17 in Food and Nutrition
Am I the only one disgusted and repulsed by this?
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Replies

  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,230 Member
    I'm oddly fascinated. Though I did try deep fried crickets in Thailand, so I guess I'm not easily put off ;)
  • ActivatedAlm0nds
    ActivatedAlm0nds Posts: 169 Member
    edited April 2017
    No, I don't consider a cricket different from any other animal. Factory farmed animals live in pretty disgusting conditions, but I deal with it.

    I'm upset because A) I want fresh or frozen crickets, like seafood is sold and B ) what's on the market right now is overpriced to all hell
  • ActivatedAlm0nds
    ActivatedAlm0nds Posts: 169 Member
    livingleanlivingclean wrote: »
    No. What's disgusting about a cricket?
    ewww, bugs r gross
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,093 Member
    I've eaten cricket tacos, so I'm not repulsed, but I don't quite get the point of making flour from them. High-protein, gluten free? I can't imagine it would work well in baked goods. Is it for coating fried foods?
  • broseidonkingofbrocean
    broseidonkingofbrocean Posts: 180 Member
    WickAndArtoo wrote: »
    Nope I'm not disgusted by it, why would a cricket gross people out but a shrimp doesn't?

    Cause people don't know that shrimp are actually insects.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    edited April 2017
    You're certainly not the only one disgusted with the concept, but I am thinking of getting some and experimenting with it. I've got a recipe from Dr. Axe for gluten-free shortbread cookies which would work with cricket flour. I could use it in my bread and pizza dough, replacing a small amount of the glutinous bread flour with cricket flour to get the best of both, high protein cricket and gluten. Any paleo baked good that uses paleo flour can use cricket flour.

    btw, I had a shrimp taco before answering.
  • WickAndArtoo
    WickAndArtoo Posts: 773 Member
    broseidonkingofbrocean wrote: »
    WickAndArtoo wrote: »
    Nope I'm not disgusted by it, why would a cricket gross people out but a shrimp doesn't?

    Cause people don't know that shrimp are actually insects.

    Technically crustaceans, but very closely related!! (I just googled it, but in my mind it still just means "bugs of the sea lol)
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    Nope, people all over the world eat bugs, we're kind of fortunate I guess that we don't have to.

    Cricket flour is actually a protein powder, the name is misleading. I don't know for sure, but I assume it acts like protein powder in recipes. As there are billions of crickets (and insects in general) it is a more sustainable protein source, and could be a game changer in parts of the world where raising livestock is problematic. Companies trying to sell it here as some kind of miracle health food are kitten asparagus baby sloths :)
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  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    sheermomentum wrote: »
    Am I the only one disgusted and repulsed by this?

    Well, not the only one.
    I have had a phobia of crickets and I don't think I've conquered it yet when I read that it takes 5,000 crickets to make 1 lb of flour and I want to run from the room just thinking about it.
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
    Lounmoun wrote: »
    sheermomentum wrote: »
    Am I the only one disgusted and repulsed by this?

    Well, not the only one.
    I have had a phobia of crickets and I don't think I've conquered it yet when I read that it takes 5,000 crickets to make 1 lb of flour and I want to run from the room just thinking about it.

    But that's so many crickets that'll be taken out of the environment... You should be embracing it! :p
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  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
    redvelvetcupcake123 wrote: »
    But what if they're bred more :s

    It would be in special cricket farms.... Releasing any would be loss of profit. I think they'll be trying to keep as many in as possible.

    Although...what if someone forgets to shut the gate and they all escape?!? :o
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    I'm only disgusted by the price. With how little investment, time, and space it requires to breed thousands at a time it should be cheaper. The price of novelty, I guess. Of course I would have to taste it to know if I'm disgusted by the taste. If it has a musty aftertaste or a weird texture I would not eat it, just like I don't eat chunk beef.
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  • bpetrosky
    bpetrosky Posts: 3,911 Member
    How about a chapulines taco? They're delicious.

    4b81bbfe-979b-4f88-b56e-16615b7a443a.jpg
  • bpetrosky
    bpetrosky Posts: 3,911 Member
    sheermomentum wrote: »
    Am I the only one disgusted and repulsed by this?

    No, you're not the only one. But maybe you could be a bit less judgy about where people some get their protein?
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    bpetrosky wrote: »
    How about a chapulines taco? They're delicious.

    4b81bbfe-979b-4f88-b56e-16615b7a443a.jpg

    I would not eat that. I have an aversion to "legs". I don't touch any food that has legs unless that has been remedied in some way (like peeled shrimp or crab meat). Now if these were ground and made into fried cricket balls I would not think twice before giving them a try.
  • DietPrada
    DietPrada Posts: 1,171 Member
    Okay, so it's not in fact a typo in the post title, and it is in fact the super gross thing I was afraid it would be. Hell will freeze over before I'll eat bugs of any kind.
  • ladyreva78
    ladyreva78 Posts: 4,080 Member
    Deep fried spiders are not all that bad... taste a bit like crunchy peanuts...

    It just takes some work to get over the aversion of all those legs...
  • cerise_noir
    cerise_noir Posts: 5,468 Member
    No, but I've contemplated buying some to make like cricket meatballs for my lizards. :laugh:
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Alatariel75 wrote: »
    I'm oddly fascinated. Though I did try deep fried crickets in Thailand, so I guess I'm not easily put off ;)

    I'm fascinated too, keep meaning to try it. I've also eaten crickets, though, and even more (to me) weird things.

    Of course, last time this topic came up I got endless ads on MFP for it and supposedly related things (Larvet, the orginal worm snack), so I am expecting that to happen again!
  • cerise_noir
    cerise_noir Posts: 5,468 Member
    redvelvetcupcake123 wrote: »
    Recently I saw a green cricket in my balcony! It was on the windows and it looked like a leaf with long legs
    And I also saw one outside and it leaped from one place to another
    I was terrified :/3vc8zf8kgqd8.png

    Katydid!!

    Yes, I like insects. ;)
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    I've eaten cricket tacos, so I'm not repulsed, but I don't quite get the point of making flour from them. High-protein, gluten free? I can't imagine it would work well in baked goods. Is it for coating fried foods?

    Seems to be more like a protein powder.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Alatariel75 wrote: »
    WickAndArtoo wrote: »
    Nope I'm not disgusted by it, why would a cricket gross people out but a shrimp doesn't?

    Shrimp ARE pretty freaky now that you mention it. Delicious, delicious freaks.

    Yep.

    I had friends act weirded out one time when I ordered snails, which I thought was weird, because snails are kind of normal. Then I thought about slugs and got it, and then went back to eating my delicious snails.

    But humans are irrational -- I don't really like the thought of eating snake even though my dad insists it's good, and I like eel, which isn't that different. I'd eat snake if I had it offered and well-prepared, though, since I will try most things and dislike irrational reactions like I have to it (wouldn't try cat or dog, but admit it's totally cultural, and wouldn't eat a primate, I'm sure there are other things).
  • Ruatine
    Ruatine Posts: 3,424 Member
    Crickets creep me the hell out. I had a bit of a traumatic experience with one as a kid, and I've avoided them like the plague since. I harbor no judgment towards wherever people want to get their protein (aside from cannibalism, of course :wink: ), but I don't know that I could ever knowingly eat any kind of bug in any form. Gives me the willies.
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