FAQ’s, Tips and Tricks: Cooking with Insects and Protein2050 from Next Millennium Farms
How much protein is in Protein2050 insect flour and insects?
Insect flours from Next Millennium Farms and roasted insects have roughly 60% protein content.
1 tablespoon of Protein2050 insect flour = 6g weight = 3.6g insect protein per tablespoon
4 tablespoons of insect flour = ¼ cup = 24g weight = 14.5g insect protein
What other nutrients do I benefit from using Protein2050?
Protein2050 cricket flours contain the perfect balance of Omega 3:6 ratio which is ideal for the human body. They also give us all 9 essential amino acids and are loaded with B12! Protein2050 insect flours have more protein than beef, more iron than spinach, and more calcium than milk.
How do I use insect flour? Do I just swap it for regular flour?
They are not intended for a 1:1 replacement swap with regular grain flours in recipes. Due to the rich omegas and high protein content, Protein2050 cricket flour is light and dry but slightly oily like nut flours. If you made your muffins entirely out of cricket flour they would pack too much of a protein-punch for your body to digest and efficiently utilize in one meal.
When baking or trying a new recipe start out by doing the math on how much insect protein you would like to add to each serving. For example, if making 12 muffins to which you would like to add one gram of protein, take the amount of protein desired, in this case 12g, and divide by 3.6 (protein grams/tablespoon). 12/3.6 = 3.33 tablespoons of insect flour.
In this case, we recommend rounding up to 4 Tbsp or ¼ cup, removing the same amount of dry ingredients from your original recipe, and then replacing it with Protein2050 insect flour. In other words, remove ¼ cup of all purpose flour and replace with cricket flour. You have now added just over 1g of insect protein along with all the iron, calcium, omegas, B12 and amino acids found in insects into each of your muffins.
We recommend starting off with small batches and adjustments and working your way to the optimal delicious end point, this way you can eat all your experiments along the way to ento-greatness!
Why would I put insect flour into cookies? Isn’t a cookie just supposed to be a cookie?
In the kitchen at the Next Millennium Farms headquarters, our view on encouraging people to consume insects is a “something for everybody approach”. Many people seek protein 5-6 times per day. Insect flours give us many options to obtain an extra gram or 5g of protein in dishes or snacks that would have had far less nutritional value or purpose without the addition of the insects. The nutritional quality of foods that North Americans consume has been deteriorating for a very long time. To add the sustainable and bountiful amount of nutrition found in insects to anything we can is a good thing. A brownie or cookie with a small to medium amount of cricket flour/protein gives people who are mainstream with their food choices the option to try something familiar and proudly say to their friends or family the they not only tried and survived eating ” bugs”, but enjoyed the experience and went for seconds.
In our own kitchens at home we strive to send our children to school with food that will help them learn, be healthy and be sustainable for their wonderful lives ahead. Animal-shaped crackers, “fruit” gummies and soft cookies loaded with sugars and fats are not helping our kids stay focused, keen or lean. Most school snacks are packed with sugar and very little nutritional value and provide no real long term energy contribution. Imagine if we gradually started to turn this around by getting small amounts of insect protein, vitamins and nutrients throughout the course of our daily intake in a variety of fun, flavorful and sometimes sneaky way! Just like those hidden veggie muffins, insects have so much to offer and more!
Is Insect Flour Gluten Free?
Insects themselves are gluten-free however the grain they are raised on is not. For anybody who is not battling Celiac disease the minimal amount of gluten in the stomach content of the crickets raised and processed at NMF is negligible. The amount of gluten in our organic regular crickets is 80 parts per million. For those individuals with Celiac that are highly sensitive to gluten, a ratio of 20 parts per million is required to be deemed gluten-free and safe to eat. In order to provide this much needed option, Next Millennium Farms offers a gluten free Protein2050 cricket flour with a ratio of 11 parts per million. NMF has designed its own special feed in order to accommodate the most extreme cases of gluten intolerance.
How Well do People Digest Insects? Are We Really Meant to Eat Them?
Humans have been eating insects for thousands of years. Two billion people in our world today have a daily diet that consists of insects, and have no intention of switching from these tasty and nutrient-packed insect options. North Americans currently consume less, or rather very few, insects compared to other regions, like Asia, China and South America. However, our body’s response when we begin to eat insects is irrefutable. There are specific digestive enzymes that are dedicated to digesting the chitin or exoskeletons of insects. In general, North Americans lack these enzymes. However, research shows that when humans begin to consume insects, our body AUTOMATICALLY begins recreating these necessary enzymes for ease of digestion! Our bodies sense something that has been previously used for energy and then adapts to receive and utilize these ‘old edible friends” – insects.
Are Insects Like Sushi?
No. To our knowledge insects are not to be eaten raw and we are sticking to that. Sushi was new and bizarre to most of us decades ago but that is the only similarity regarding cooking and eating of insects.
Insects, like most other proteins need to be handled correctly before being consumed. The options of both freezing and heating (cooking) are necessary to ensure a healthy bug-free bug-fest. Protein2050 flours and frozen insects are farmed in a facility that is in full compliance with all growing, inspection, labeling and other standards of practice. NMF produces exclusively for human consumption and this is a VERY important aspect of what matters most to us when we chose to start cooking with insects.
What NOT to Eat….
You have now joined our Geoentomarian mission. You see the vision….AND a very bright colored delicious-looking bug in your backyard. The answer is no. You may not be adventurous and eat random colorful bugs. The louder the colors or stripes the more that particular insect is telling you to back off. This is Mother Nature’s way of letting us know these insects are off limits, so best to stick to familiar ento-waters.
Allergy Alert:
In simple terms, if you have a pre-disposed allergy to insect bites or stings you should proceed with caution and take baby ento-steps. Those people with a SHELLFISH allergy must also eat with caution as there are distant relations between some insects and shellfish. As always, a little knowledge and some common sense should keep you out of trouble.
Favorite Recipe Tips…..
Our hope is that this section changes and grows and fills with new ideas from all of YOUR culinary creations. Let’s get started….
Protein2050 insect flours allow you to design delicious smoothies based on YOUR individual needs.
1 tablespoon of Protein2050 insect flour = 6g weight = 3.6g insect protein per tablespoon
4 tablespoons of Protein2050 insect flour = 14.5g insect protein!
For those who prefer a higher amount of protein during your day, simply double up on your Protein2050! Remember, any change in protein choice matters. Start with a little and pat yourself on the back for taking a step towards the future of food and the security of our resources…. AND for giving your body a healthy, energizing start to your day or meal replacement.
Soups :
Soups are so forgiving, so comforting, and so easy. I often take a favorite pureed soup recipe and simply substitute chicken broth or other protein for Protein2050. I use a vegetable broth and whisk in the amount of insect protein I would like to add to my soup. Take the number of servings and do the math as stated above in the ‘how do I use insect flour section’
*note the average bowl of homemade chicken soup has approx 4-5g of protein.
Dry Roasted Crickets
Preheat oven to 225°F
Lightly oil a baking tray and spread crickets out evenly in a single layer.
Bake for 35-45 minutes until crisp and crunchy.
To easily remove the legs, place roasted crickets in a paper bag and give it a shake.
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