Taste Testing Edible Bugs & Insects | Alternative Proteins | Sorted Food 

Watch (or listen to!) the latest podcast to hear more of the guys' thoughts on insect protein: sorted.club/s4e5/

"We did that scientifically for the LOLs" Sums up Sorted really

I love this because I can’t imagine another channel on RU-vid doing this in such a responsible manner. EATING BUGS is such a click-drawing topic, and I love how there was no “watch the lads get grossed out and vomit” element to this. It was sincere and responsible, and I loved it.

I love that the food industry just throws bugs out and says "eat them, they are healthy!" Rather than doing any sort of work to make them edible. You don't throw a cow on the table and tell a person to eat it. We butcher it, cook it, season it, and make it delicious. Once a section of the industry understands this, this sort of food will skyrocket. Make a Dorito chip with a flavorful Cricket protein powder and it will sell like crazy. Maybe not at first, but it'll start.

Fun fact: mealworms are used in the reptile keeping hobby frequently, and you can pull some of those lessons to this! You can do what's called "gut loading" (literally feeding them something you want the predator, in this case, yourself, to eat), and feed them something flavorful. Apparently feeding them cinnamon is pretty popular before eating them yourself!

Mike's face when Jamie asked him "cheers?" is probably the funniest part of my day.

Meal Worms - gut load them, ie. feed them what you want them to taste like. Feed them apples, citrus, fish, etc...they will taste like what you feed them. Feed them smokey bacon before you cook them and they will taste like smokey bacon. Feed them rotted flesh and guess what... You won't swallow that, I promise. Bugs alone. Grasshoppers taste like shrimp. (Remove the legs before eating. The barbs on the legs will catch in your throat and esophagus.) Beatles taste like roasted peanuts. (Remove the head, carapace, and wings as they are undigestable. It will give a whole new meaning to "roughage" if you do eat them.) Scorpions taste like the cheese muscles you get at the Chinese buffet. (Be sure to cut off the last segment of the tail where the stinger and venom sack are located before cooking). In all cases, cook your bug and worms. Even earthworms (which taste like fish) have parasites. (Squeezing the poo out does not work. Purge them in water or you'll be eating dirt) Be sure they are cooked well done and well through

Gosh, I was going "eww" at each unveiling, and yet, yes I love shrimps; I even eat escargots and oysters, which aren't really that much more appetizing when you look at them objectively. As mentioned, most of the Western world is just raised on the idea that bugs in your food = bad, because that generally means the food has spoiled and you risk to get ill if you eat it... and yet again, look at the Casu Marzu! Speaking of, cheese and dry sausages are basically rotten food, while foie gras is a diseased organ... All in all, this is not just a question of taste, but almost more a sociological and cultural question.

This video popped up on my recommends but I watched it when it first came out. On my first watch I loved this video, and on my second viewing I love it even more. I think this is the best video you lot have done: it's entertaining, topical, informative, and has a good storytelling arc from start to finish. I know it isn't near around one of your highest viewed videos but I hope you continue to produce content in this vein because it's sorely needed!

My kids always scoff down a bag of bugs,mainly crickets or coconut grubs from our local village market and love them. It's normal food here in nth east Thailand.

Jamie: "I'll give anything a go once." Ben: **smirks and snorts eversolightly** Jamie: **IMMEDIATE regrets**

Shout out to Jamie for eating that water bug whole. And to the guys for coming up with a video that could have long term consequences for how some people consume alternative protein. Lots of love from Long time viewer rare commenter. .

Saludos from Oaxaca, Mexico. I'm a retired Yank. I've been living here since 1987 and I'm an avid cook. Here we eat ants (lemony taste) Maguey Cactus Worms (nutty) and the infamous crickets (chapulines which the natives prepare with chili and lime, which I think overpowers their subtle flavor. I went with a local friend to catch fresh crickets in a nearby field and then sauteed them in garlic butter.) I enjoy eating new things and now that I'm pushing 70 and have a rather restricted diet, I'm happy for any variety the insect kingdom affords me. I've recently discovered your channel and enjoy it immensely. Best wishes to everyone abnormal, normal, crew etc JIM

I really appreciate that this was sincere and educational, rather than just being done for a gag or a laugh, as much as I love how funny you guys are. Obviously the last bit was meant to be a joke, but it really didn't seem like there was pressure on either Barry or Jamie to actually eat any of them, which so often you guys do.

This was done, pardon the pun (actually, why am I apologizing for a pun on this channel?), tastefully. No pranks, no daring people to eat stuff without them knowing about it, no finger-ponting or gloating, no grossing someone out for a punchline - and still it was informative, respectful, AND FUN at the same time.

Barry had me dying with his present wrapping analogy I've tried a few types of insects before like roasted ants

I only recently discovered Sorted, and LOVE IT! Probably 30+ binged videos in and I had to comment on THIS ONE. THANK YOU, for doing one on alt proteins and bug-foods... This is my favorite video thus far, and important enough for a foodie channel like this that I think you should do more in this as a series... Keep up the awesome work you all!

It’s completely in the head and what I grew up with. I see shrimp, crab, even stuff like urchin (which frankly looks like snot) or oysters and other shellfish and I’m like “feed me Seymour!” But you show me a cricket (which is eaten here) and my skin crawls. A lot of commenters here are right, physically shrimps and prawns look like bugs and I even take great delight in sucking on the heads but eat a locust? No thank you. By the way, kudos on the way you shot this. Thank you for not making it a “gross out” episode. You are all well aware there is nothing intrinsically gross about other people’s dietary habits and this is not what this video is about. And it’s a real concern, we do need better sources of protein. Unfortunately I’ll be one of those wimpy ones that need their insect food to be disguised.

When did you guys turn into grownups? Proud of you for giving it a go 👍

Tried mealworm when I went to a food caravan event this year. A hot mango chilli dip is the way to go guys. Take a chopstick, dip in the dip, dip in the worms. Enjoy. Crunchy and delicious. But I gotta admit, I needed a minute because my brain kept screaming. Knowing that they were raised in a professional and controlled farm (in Germany they need to have a certificate before they can sell those) helped though.

Beautifully done with open minds. Thank you so much for being so open and honest with this!

I really hope you guys now do an Ultimate Battle with insects as the theme! I'd love to see the creative ways to cook them you can come up with!

"We did that purely, scientifically... for the lolz."

I've only tried bugs in a novelty sense as that is the only way they are available around me but I didn't think they were terrible. The dried mealworms just tasted like potato chips to me, a very weak potato chip. That one I could see becoming more accessible and acceptable the easiest in western countries. (Also they are so easy to "cultivate" (idk) at home) I had a cricket too and there really is a flavor that's not spectacular (mine also wasn't prepared in a way to make it taste good) but it's something that seems like you could get used to it eventually. I've never had the silk worm pupae but I know that they're super common as a street food in South Korea. A lot of stalls sell them in little cups. It would be great if there was also a sustainable way to harvest them though. With insect populations decreasing so dramatically all around the world, it'd be interesting to see how this could become a major protein source without decimating the insect population.

I didn't know that there were options before this video. I just imagined grilled insects being the only way to consume the alternative source of protein. Personally, I wouldn't be able to eat them if I saw them, but cricket flour is definitely something that I can consume. With it you're helping to save the planet, getting more macros for less and not gagging. Unless it's the positive kind, where you're gagging from the awesomeness of it all. Thank you guys!

I want to see the chefs try to incorporate insects to an already famous recipe, where they substitute the original protein with an alternative one(aka insects); just saying.

with what Jamie said about cows vs. steaks, and then feeling disproved by fish, i think it's worth pointing out that a lot of people will eat fish filet or a fish stick, but can't eat a whole fish with the head/eye still on it, because it looks too "once alive, now dead". A shrimp also has it's head removed. Then think about how many people hate the idea of lobster, because in many restaurants you have a tank with them still alive, and people can't get around the fact that it's still alive at the time of cooking it. but when served lobster tail, again, it's easier to disassociate it. hell, even some people can't eat a whole chicken sprawled out on a tray, but can eat a chicken breast they didn't have to deconstruct themselves. i think the reminder of movement/activity or the reminder that it was once something that could look back at you, is the stuff that gets people to go vegetarian or even vegan.

10:10 love coming back to these videos and seeing absolute gold that i forgot about. "When wrapping gifts and you bite the tape and get a little bit in your mouth" analogy is gold!!!

Super proud of you guys! "starting a conversation" as you said could not be more right! We need to start thinking about how to solve our food scarcity problems before it's too late. Just by bringing this content to your viewers you have hopefully started a spark in one of your viewers minds on how to further this entomophagy movement. Well done on not being biased! Hats off to you all, you may have just given me the gusto to give this a shot.

I LOVE that you guys have made this video and executed it in both a educational and fun (not scary) manner. I've been working with insects in dishes for years (crickets mainly) and I really do believe that it could be one of our future sources of protein (it's all about a varied diet with sustainability). Their miniscule land and water consumption and high feed conversion rate compared to beef and other grazing animals is huge part of that belief. The biggest obstacle in Western societies is the stigma and marketing in a very meat loving food industry. Thanks for having an open mind Sorted!

Mike's face when Jamie asked if he wanted to cheer was the best! Hahaha 😄

I really appreciate that you approached this topic with nuance while still being honest about the reaction to "eating bugs" we have. Great video!

I really appreciated how you guys handled this. Its a topic that I know most channels would add for a joke or a bit or something. You guys though showed off just how dedicated you are to all types of food by trying each dish with an open mind. Fuck yeah boys. I have a ton of respect for Mike too, he wasn't included in the "challenge" or whatever but he still stepped up and tried it all the same. Cheers.

I'm genuinely pleasantly surprised at how open these two were to eating those dishes. Especially the last one! You are totally correct, we do tons of damage to the earth with our meat farming, and we should all reduce our meat consumption. I'm not a vegan or vegetarian, but things like this remind me to be respectful of our planet and to have a day or two a week where I can put in a little more effort to find/cook/try something meatless that's still delicious

Crickets aren't bad, provided they're cleaned really well and deep fried to a crisp, they don't have that much flavor. They make great beer snacks once flavored with salt and seasoning. Probably the only bug I'd eat, but I'm definitely not gonna go cooking bugs anytime soon.

My main thought while watching this, was that while I recognize that alternative proteins will be an essential part of an ethical and environmentally-friendly future, the main thing which would keep me from eating them personally was that Barry and Jamie kept saying that they added pretty much nothing to the dishes they were included in. If bugs are full of protein and add their own flavors to a dish, then I'm all for trying it; if they're just *there* and don't actually taste good (or taste of anything) I don't see much of a point other than their sustainability. The comments I've read in this discussion that have been most intriguing to me (such as Leo Hendon's) was that there are ways to add flavor to the insects that might make a difference in the flavor of the dish. If bugs and insects are going to become a serious alternative protein in the West, a lot of serious discussion and R&D will have to be placed on figuring out what their unique flavors are, and what they can bring to the table. I don't think that this necessarily means we need to make them them taste *of* something else (like flavored crisps), or hiding them by making them into similar existing meat substitutes, but asking how their own individual flavors can be developed into something that people will like, and go out of their way to buy for its own sake.

Out of all the boyz, Barry is the one I'd least expect to eat insects Kudos to him - glad to be totally wrong. Our lil boy is all grow'd up

I feel like the mental hang-up with most people is that the presence of bugs in food is often an indicator of it being spoiled. I.e. food left out gets maggots, or flies, etc. I think that’s the breakdown for me.

On GMM Rhett and Link tried flavoured crickets, they said it tasted very nice. Maybe try some of those? I honestly believe that if big influencers like Sorted and GMM are seen trying these things, it will have a bigger chance to catch on. I'll give it go if you guys are.

Ben's reaction to Jamie's "I'll give anything a go once" was priceless. lol

I'm really proud of you for the way you've done this. Thanks.

At first I was like meh but when they said just how nutritious cricket flour is.. I would definitely buy and use that stuff! Thanks for another great vid, guys! Loved it! 💜

Jamie: I'll give anything a go once....bens muted reaction was priceless!!

When I was a kid, the candy shop started to carry insects within candies along with packets of dried mealworms. I used to eat the mealworms all the time, they were coated in curry powder and were absolutely delicious. Fast-Forward 12 or so years later, I opt for the cricket powered protein bars because they are such a clean alternative to many of the crap bars at the store and don't don't taste awful. Within the last 6-8 months a few major grocery stores have begun selling cricket flour too! It's great to see ideas about this stuff changing, personally I am all for it. I loved this episode, thanks for bringing awareness to different types of protein!

I am so proud of you both, and Mike for trying those bugs. I myself, could not have, I actually shook at the bodies on the plate. Kudos guys !

Top points for Ben with his quick comeback to Jamie about shrimp.

The look on Mike's face when Jamie says "Cheers?" Is absolutely priceless

i wanna see "insects" as a surprise ingredient in a challenge sometime .w.

"we're not inhumane, like this is dead" omg hahahah

45 years ago some kids brought a new snack to school. They were passed around and everyone loved them, that is until they found out the snack was chocolate covered ants. (The kids parents had an import shop from Japan).

great educational approach, really enjoyed that! well done :)

I am a bushcraft and survival practitioner and the thought of finding "easy" food such as insects and plants appeals to me greatly. Sadly, there doesn't seem to be very many useful books on the market for people like me to expand my knowledge

I've had chocolate-covered ants, and they're really nice; they've got a sweet/salty salted caramel vibe

Please do this again, but actually season them and use them in dishes where they really work!

Please try making homemade Dutch kroketten (or stroopwafels!)

I watched a lot of Sorted Food videos and never commented before but this one particular video is really good and special. You highlighted the reason of why they might more sustainable food and actually trying to cook it well. Barry and Jamie as the testers are also very open minded and that's rly cool ♡ keep doing what you do guys, showing what real food is about and not just some number attractor recipes :)

I appreciate this video so much, especially that the guys know when to get serious/responsible about a really scary subject while also staying relatable and funny! The bugs in such a normal context gave me a lot to think about in regards to pulling back my USA-standard animal product consumption. I'm allergic to soy, so I've always thought it would be too hard and possibly harmful for me to be without usual meat/vegetarian substitutes, but now I'm excited to look into mealworms and cricket flour to hopefully make some changes!! I agree with some other comments too, it would be so awesome to see videos of you all altering standard recipes to include these ingredients!!! Thanks again guys, and idk why I wasn't subscribed before (because I check your channel quite often) so I am now

Here in Brazil is normal to eat certain ants, some are really really delicious. The Capim-Limão ant has an amazing herbal taste, and the Tanajuras are queen ants that once in a year go out to reproduce, delicious with some other ingredients. Isn't a very urban habit, but is normal.

Thank you for the subtitles!!!! From a hard of hearing fan❤️❤️❤️

Funny, educationally and enterataining. This has been the hardest episode to watch regarding insects and I am most definitely not ready.

I am in Central Louisiana & we had an annual bug day and all the kids learn about bugs & insects etc...& they have a few stations with insect treats. We had honey roasted mealworms, brownies with cricket flour, rice crispy treats with mealworms, etc... its fun & they are tasty. Everyone that eats a bug/insect gets a button that says I ate a bug @ bugday. Very interesting & like Jamie said, seeing whole insects turns people off but if its hidden in say powder form its easier to eat kind of like getting kids to eat their veggies by finding other ways to hide it in their food. Great job guys, really enjoy your hard work & love of food. I look forward to each video & appreciate the hard work & fun you guys bring to the table!!

Ultimate Insect Cooking Battle! And the insects must be recognizable. Can you make westerners look at bugs and think 'tasty'?

Could there be an ultimate battle featuring alternative proteins? Hmmm? 🤔 Also, great use of your influence on the platform. Hoping to see more videos that explore maybe food alternatives. Keep up the great work! Always have my day 'sorted' with you. 👌

I love this so much, would love a challenge involving bug integration into dishes. It’s kind of reminiscent of hiding veg in desserts so kids get their nutrients without knowing.

Nice to put the topic on the table and was funny seeing you guys tasting them! During some of my travels to Asia I have tried all sort of insects and must say you have chosen some of the ones that taste worst. Mealworms and crickets are probably the best tasting ones. Scorpions and tarantulas are also quite tasty, specially if fried. Try to avoid things with wings or hard shells, such as the water bug, as those parts have a really wierd texture and are hard to swallow. Grashopers are also quite good.

Wow. Didn't realize how many ways insects can be used in food.. Great video guyss👌❤️

I’m so happy that you guys addressed this and included comparisons to pork skin and shrimp. Access to protein is going to be a huge problem within 20 years. I would be fine with flour or proteins, but I don’t think I could eat straight up water bugs and worms unless I was going to starve to death.

you know what? i *really* appreciated how every time it was brought up how weird it is for us westerners to consider bugs and insects as food sources, someone said, 'yeah but in other cultures they do it regularly and it's perfectly normal and fine for them'. this type of video can so easily go into the 'white westerner is shocked and disgusted at the food practices in other parts of the world' realm, and i commend you for the visible effort you put in to not go that way.

You always touch so itneresting topics one doesn't ever even think about. Bravo!

Really liked this video! I feared it would be a "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!" trash video, but it was really informative. Would love to see an insect themed cooking battle!

I eat crab and shrimp. Both are giant bugs.

It's been a while since you did this video, could you revisit the bugs with some episodes looking at how to cook them properly? Maybe explore how different cultures traditionally eat them, as well as how western chefs are experimenting with them (maybe get the food team to come up with some ideas too) and of course a bug-themed pass-it-on.

thank you for taking the educational and serious approach to this! It really means a lot. Also, as someone who struggles to eat traditional proteins in the morning (even though I function better when I do), the idea of protein in a baked good makes me really happy. Especially if it doesn't effect the taste too much!

I spent several months hiking on the Appalachian Trail, and I carried cricket powder meal bars from Exo Protein, and they tasted pretty good!

Ultimate insect battle with any form of insect protein. Example being handmade pasta with insect flour.

I love this topic! I have a severe shellfish allergy and I went veggie for a little while but wasn't getting enough protein. So I started to incorporate cricket flour into my diet as a supplement, but had to remove it because the proteins are too similar to that of crusteceans and was giving me allergic reactions :(

Okay - this was easily the most fascinating video I've seen from you guys and I would love to see more like this if you ever have the time. Actually, it was one of the best I have seen on any channel in quite a while. I bet this is going to bring up a lot of conversations in the world at large.

Expectet a gross insect eating video but this was a really well made and informative Video.

You know, the thing I think I would hate most about eating bugs would be the legs...jut the feeling of hguhhghhg...I’m not into this. The cricket flour seems alright, definitely feels like it could go unnoticed, but I don’t think I could eat a whole bug dead or alive. The look of it is probably the worst part of it, and Barry was dead-on with his note of what everyone “typical reaction” is to bugs in your food...I’m not sure that I could get past that personally. Huge props to Jamie and Mike for handling it so well, but no way in h-e-double-hockey-sticks could I do that.

Best video you’ve ever made, it’s so important we are talking about this crisis now and finding a solution while we can. There is no planet B and if there’s any hope of sustainability on earth things need to change. You guys are awesome!

I shared this video with my first year chef from culinary school. I really think this will be something the upcoming chefs will need to know more about. Fantastic job guys, brilliant idea.

I'd be interested to see you guys do some challenges with bugs, or some recipe reviews/tests. I'm no "tree hugger", but I've been keen on trying some gourmet insect recipes. If people can stomach chicken feet and century eggs, balut, etc etc then I don't see how bugs wouldn't be another "foodie" item on a menu!

I can't get past the psychological part of eating bugs. I have the worst bug phobia!!!! HOW DO YOU DO IT!?

I have eaten bugs in the past, would eat them today and think that the flour/ground options are something I would use regularly.

Fascinating. I'm all for it as long as it doesn't negatively effect the taste. The health benefits, sustainability, and the fraction of harm to the earth are too good to pass up. Plus the possibility to actually add flavor to a dish in a restaurant type environment is amazing. If we could get the rest of the world on board that'd be incredible!

It actually sounds lovely to try entomophagy especially since it's just another food source you can "grow" at home like any other vegetable, herb, or fruit.

You guys should totally use that as a twist for an ultimate battle, adding bugs in some form into their food 🦗

Awesome topic to address, it's so important to be talking about this kind of thing and keep the conversation going. Personally I don't mind some kinds of edible insects, but over all I think there must be a better way to process insects so we can add them or incorporate them into our cuisine. Great job though guys!

I think it’s cool that y’all did this video and were so open to trying them. I did try mealworms once, toasted and chopped and put into a candy - I think toffee with a chocolate coating. They were edible but unsurprisingly tasted like toasted mealworms (not tasty) and nothing like toasted nuts. I’d try cricket flour for protein in a smoothie or such, if they sold it in small bags for taste tests without a big up-front investment.

Well done! Not only was it informative, but it carried your unique brand of humor. I have eaten bugs before. This video really touched on so many preconceptions we have about ingesting bugs/insects. Loved this video!

How to make people eat bugs: just make them taste good and not like dry Earth

We experimented a lot with this back when I worked with reptiles and insects - both meal worms, the larger zoophobas and crickets are quite affected by what they eat. We used chickenfeed as their main source of food, but if you give them a day or two without that and with access to carrots or apple instead, the flavor subtly changes, they take on a bit of sweetness. Highly recommended, real fun to experiment with.

Been around since the day you released your Charlieissocoollike video and binged the rest the following day. Been avid watcher constantly since. This is a fantastic video and a great use of your platform. Conversations we definitely need to be having.

Having grown up in an area where the difference between two groceries was the fact that the more expensive store didn't have mold or persistent infestations, I don't think I could deal with eating mealworms or fruitflies by choice ever again. 99% of my protein is from cheese, and thanks to one of your old videos, I just gave tofu a first try yesterday! Luckily(?), I have little reason to expect to live long enough to have these types of sources become my only options - or I'll give in and have my protein and calcium in vitamin form, cause god knows what else is in those anyway. I do want to thank every one of you for bringing the topic up, though, because it is important, and will only become increasingly so. And extra kudos to Mike for taking the bait! :)

I'm not against eating insects as an idea, but I'm personally sensitive to bitterness and texture. I'd be totally fine with that cake for example, but I don't really want to eat them whole. I don't do shrimp etc either (and you don't tend to eat them with their exoskeleton either, unlike you do with insects here) So if it comes down to it in the future, and I need to change my protein sources, give it to me ground up.

Me, my wife and 2 friends did a taste test of varied insects. It was really interesting and very different flavors and textures. Thanks for a thoughtful, well done video guys!

I love that you showed and mentioned more than once, that eating insects is something thats really common kind everywhere except for Europe and North America. I feel like we (in the western world) still treat it as something yucky and disgusting, when it's such a natural thing for the majority of the world.

I recently had sour cream 'n' onion crickets and BBQ-flavored mealworms. With flavoring, they are actually pretty good. Nice crunch. I could see these being in a bowl at a bar as an accessible, slightly-adventurous, salty alternative to your usual bar peanuts. I've also tried scorpion, and that was a bit too crunchy for me. A long time ago, a missionary from Ecuador brought back giant earthworm (the size of a snake--Google it, I dare ya.), that had been dried in banana leaves. It was a common food item in the jungle villages in Ecuador. It tasted like expired jerky rubbed in dirt... Perhaps crickets are a better place to start. ;) Great video, all! I'm proud of you!

I'd love to see what Ben and James can come up with using insects. Primarily in the "disguised" variety, as that could make for a great episode (serving it to the others without them knowing about it), but it'd also be interesting to see their reactions to a "comparison" where they think the disguised one is made from regular stuff and the "new" version has visible bits in it.

I feel like they should have prepared the waterbug (seasoned etc.) to give it a chance. Aftere all, a lot of foods don't taste great unprepared