Eating Insects For Survival
Crickets, Grasshoppers, Maggots & Earthworms

Catch em, Dry em, Roast em and Eat em

Crickets and Grasshoppers are easily caught - 

Take a glass jar, like a Mason Jar and lay it on the ground with a little bait.

Use a slice of apple, some old oats, small bits of bread, an old carrot, lettuce, a bit of stale beer.
Anything that you feel is 'on the turn' and cannot be eaten by yourself.

If you can eat it, then do so.!
But when it gets a bit rancid is the time to use it as bait.

Grasshoppers and crickets inhabit pretty much the same types of terrain as each other, are equally as easy to catch and the preparation and cooking are the same as well

Your average cricket or grasshopper is incredibly easy to catch. In fact they actually come to you.!

One of the few food sources that require very little stalking and precious little skills on your part.

Simply cut a plastic bottle 1/4 the way down from the top and invert the cut piece into the bottle.

Sprinkle a layer of sugar into the bottle as bait and leave over night - when you return you should find a nice collection of crickets or grasshopper ready for you.

picture courtesy of WikiHow

They are best left to dry out a bit before roasting or pan frying and can even be fully dried out for extended storage times before cooking.

Some people will spend time removing the legs before cooking as the legs tend to be a bit irritating and will get stuck between your teeth.

EARTHWORMS

The humble earthworm is a good source of food in a survival situation and highly nutritious.

You can gather a good plate of fresh worms very easily, especially when it is raining, as the worms will come up to the surface to escape from drowning.

You can even entice them out by digging a hole and pouring water all around the area and into the hole - they will soon appear.

Remember - earthworms live underground in the soil and don't mind eating dirt, which make them very crunchy to taste if eaten raw. [but you know my opinion on that - always try to cook them first]
So, in order to reduce the dirt and crunchiness, try to purge them first by giving them all a good soaking in water for a day and then, holding one end of the worm, simply squeeze along the body and remove the dirt out of their body.

They have a distinct bitter taste - not overly bitter and certainly palatable, but bitter nevertheless.  

A combination of purging, drying and frying them until crispy makes a very nice snack food or you can add them to other dishes or stews for more nutrition and bulk.

Now you can eat earthworms raw - just pick one up and give it a clean, but they just taste very unpleasant, with a slimy, squishy texture that is very unpalatable.!

So why would you do that when, with a little care and preparation, you can simply pan fry and have a delicious, crunchy snack.

MAGGOTS

Maggots are one of the super foods available to us. But they are also, possibly one of the most revolting things to eat as well.

In some cultures, people leave out meat to go rotten and breed and harvest their our supply of fresh maggots.
These maggots are eaten raw..!

Maggots, in their own little way are capable of transforming the lean meat they feast on, into fat - in fact the maggot is very high in fat and essential amino acids which makes them, to some degree, even more valuable then lean meat.

However, always remember that the maggot is a result of a fly laying eggs on the meat in the first place - that egg grows into the maggot and feeds from the meat or whatever food source it has been laid on.

That food source will have profound change on the actual flavour of the maggot itself.

In a full on survival situation a maggot represents food, and cooking, especially frying gives them a nutty, crispy taste and well as killing off any bacteria at the same time.

With the maggot being high in fat it will taste better than most insects and is easily palatable. So don't be put off by the fact that it has been living off dead meat.!

Fancy trying some edible insects, then take a look at my taste test video of some edible insects.

CLICK HERETO WIN YOURSELF A BUSHTUCKER FEAST

Don't be too grossed out by the idea of eating these types of bugs - eat them safely.

Why not join our Bug Banquet competition and win a free Bug Banquet + a Tasty Tarantula.. .. enter here now.

Don't get caught out - get prepared first.

Happy Prepping Folks.

Steve

Steve Hart UK Preppers Guide

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