Duck Eggs

I got some duck eggs from a co-worker. I've never eaten duck eggs before, is there anything special I should know about them (more firm? more runny? more yolky? etc?), or do I treat them just like chicken eggs?

Taste tends to be a bit stronger and they ar usally about 30-50% larger than Large eggs, but use is pretty much same as chicken eggs

They have a higher fat content than chicken eggs. I can't recall the exact amount, but we bought some from a lady at the farmer's market and she gave us a nice fact sheet. Scrambled duck eggs are almost too rich for me, but they are indeed very tasty.

The fact sheet also said "and please don't cook the eggs margarine and chemicals, my girls worked hard to make em!" You already knew that one, but I thought it was cute ; )

Yes more yolky/more fatty yolky. Also a bit stronger tasting... but if you are used to pastured chicken eggs it shouldn't be too much. I'd worry about someone going from store bought cheapo chix eggs to natural duck eggs though... It would be a bit of a shock. LOL

Also, the white can be a bit tougher than chicken eggs if you straight up fry them and over cook it.

That said, I adore duck eggs.

They also have a higher water content and will overcook more easily than chicken eggs. I eat them from time to time and they're nearly indistinguishable from chicken eggs except in size. Oh and the proportion of white to yolk is different than chicken eggs; there is more yolk in proportion to whites in duck eggs. I like them a lot.

They make ace omelettes....

I stopped by my odd, little farmer's market to pick up pastured eggs and heavy cream and they had duck eggs! After looking through old threads, I am really jazzed to play around with these.

The shells look really dirty, sort of a brownish mottled look. Should I wash them? Maybe the chicken eggs I've been buying are also dirty, but I never noticed because the shells are brown or colored?

The whites do get tougher if you aren't careful. But they are wonderful in a fluffy omelet or anything where you beat the whites. Wonderful for mayonnaise because of the higher ratio of yolk to white.

I've only had them once, and truth be told I didn't like them. They are much stronger than a chicken egg, so much so that I was actually taken aback by it and sort of turned off. However, I can expect someone to develop a taste for it quickly. Possibly even myself judging how Primal has made me detest any red meat cooked more than medium rare, and gamier meats in general.

Example: my aunt says she loves lamb, but she hates Australian and New Zealand lamb because it's "too strong." My default answer is always, "Well, then you don't like lamb because that's what lamb tastes like, not the weak US lamb that tastes like beef because it's been force-fed corn and ruined the flavor." So, I can definitely see someone that likes stronger, gamier meat quickly acquiring a taste for, or outright loving, duck eggs for the strong flavor.

[QUOTE=ChocoTaco369;1075182]I've only had them once, and truth be told I didn't like them. They are much stronger than a chicken egg, so much so that I was actually taken aback by it and sort of turned off.[/QUOTE]
That's interesting. I was expecting a stronger taste, but the taste of these was almost indistinguishable from chicken eggs. I didn't care for the texture of them scrambled though. They were much firmer. I usually beat a little HWC into scrambled eggs, but these might have benefitted from plain milk. I think 1/2 or 1/3 duck eggs in a frittata might nice. They made fabulous custard - dense, firm and silky.

They are supposed to be great for baking...doubt I'll experiment much with that, lol.