Hi Rachel,

I tried to email you direct but the message was returned undeliverable.

The first batch turned out great. And the birds are really going at them.
Here is what I did.

Preheat the oven to 210F. Place the squirmy little buggers in a 9x12 inch
pan (1000 per pan) so that they are only one or two worms deep.

Place pans in the oven.

Check in about 5 minutes - when the mealworms stop moving, turn the heat
down to about 180-200. My goal was to dry the mealworms instead of fry them.
I turn it up to 210 at the beginning just to kill any bacteria - though they
say the mealworms do not carry many diseases.

Check the mealworms after about 15 minutes. They should be rather leathery
to brittle when done.

Set out to cool, place in a plastic ziplock and place in the fridge until
ready to use.

This is not a cooking recipe for those with a weak stomach. The pans full of
a mass of moving worms reminds me of one of the late night B rated horror
movies. And the smell is a nice sickly sweet (open the doors and windows).
Actually, it smells great until you find out they are mealworms. Then it
make you feel a bit woosy. But the final product is great - a small handful
now and then in the feeder for the birds.

I am going to be marketing fried mealworms here soon. This was a test to see
how well it went. So if the process is too yucky for you, give me a hollar.

-Ken




>From: "Rachel Lawson" <RachelLawson at softhome.net>
>To: solowildlander at hotmail.com
>Subject: RE: roasting mealworms at home
>Date: Sat, 6 Mar 2004 19:19:52 -0800
>
>I would love to hear about your roasting technique.
>
>Rachel Lawson
>RachelLawson at softhome.net
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: TWEETERS-owner at u.washington.edu
>[mailto:TWEETERS-owner at u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Ken Boettger
>Sent: Saturday, March 06, 2004 3:39 PM
>To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
>Subject: roasting mealworms at home
>
>
>I just finished a batch of roasted mealworms. No, I don't mean 'finish'
>as
>in "I ate them'. I mean I finished roasting them. I ordered a bunch of
>live
>ones and roasted them in the oven.
>
>Yuck!
>
>But the birds love them.
>
>If anyone wants to know how, give me a hollar. Also, if someone knows of
>a
>source of bulk live mealworms in Washington State, please let me know. I
>
>need them in business quantities.
>
>Thanks.
>
>-Ken
>ken at wildlanders.com
>
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