Difference between chicken and duck eggs?

Question

Our local Korean grocery store carries duck eggs in addition to chicken and quail eggs (both of which I've eaten). What differences should I expect if I buy the duck eggs and use them in egg dishes such as scrambled eggs?

Answer 1

I ran across a good resource while looking into duck eggs. I'll let it speak for itself:

The higher protein in Duck Eggs means they mustn't be overcooked, or the whites will go tough and rubbery. Some people say they will be too tough if you completely fry them: they advise to rather partially fry them then add a few tablespoons of water to the pan, cover and let the steam moderate the heat and finish cooking them. Most people, though, seem to say they don't notice a difference between fried chicken and Duck Eggs.

Swapping Duck Eggs interchangeably in recipes for chicken eggs: some people say you can't; others who substitute all the time say nonsense, it's fine. When the Duck Egg whites are beaten they will come up a bit higher owing to the protein. They take a minute or so longer to start frothing up, but then make up for lost time.

There's a great deal more information on the page as well: http://www.practicallyedible.com/duck-eggs

Answer 2

Hehe when I first read the title of your question I thought 'erm chicken eggs are from chickens and duck eggs are from ducks'.

Duck eggs taste pretty similar to chicken eggs but they are likely to have a larger yolk. Some people say they have a stronger flavour but I haven't personally noticed this.

I've only ever baked with chicken eggs but I've heard several people say they prefer to bake with duck eggs (possibly because the larger yolks create a richer cake). Duck eggs can produce a slightly gooier scrambled egg mixture.

Something to remember is that chicken eggs can vary in taste (such as a fresh organic chicken egg compared to an older battery chicken egg) in the same way that duck eggs will vary as well. Although some people don't notice any difference between how eggs are produced, you might do and if you don't like duck eggs the first time to taste them it might be worth trying them again from a different source as you might write them off when actually you just like better quality duck eggs.

Answer 3

I've used them in dishes which contain both the whites and yolks (eg: scrambled eggs, quiches etc). Tasted great, no real difference except that the duck eggs are bigger and therefore you may have to compensate in the dry ingredients of your recipe.

I have also used duck eggs in dishes where only the whites were used (eg: pavlova and also a hard meringue). I found the taste VERY strong and bordering on unpleasant, although that might also have been because in both cases the duck eggs were fresh from the barn outside.

I haven't tried recipes with only duck egg yolks so can't give any advice here.