With egg prices soaring in some communities, many may be looking to find a bang for their buck. Enter the duck egg; larger and with a more substantial yolk-to-white ratio, most duck eggs will give you about 50% more volume per crack, with a creamier consistency. From rich scrambled eggs to use in baking, duck eggs are a solid choice in the fight against shrinkflation.
Duck eggs are also an excellent choice for hard boiling. However, due to their larger size, your classic egg timer won’t work for timing. Here’s our guide to the perfect boil:
Runny Soft-Boiled Duck Egg
Set your timer for 6-7 minutes if you like to dunk toast points or asparagus into your duck eggs, which are perfect for the saucy fans. The creamy yolks of duck eggs are great for breakfast and for when your dish needs the yolk to become a sauce component.
Jammy Duck Egg
8-9 minutes in, and you’re looking at a ‘jammy’ egg, aka a firm white, but a yolk that is somewhere between soft and hard. It will be pliable but sticky and is great for topping ramen, grain bowls, or any dish that needs a protein boost.
Hard-Boiled Duck Egg
At 12 minutes, your duck egg should have a firm white encasing a cooked-through yolk that still retains its color. With larger yolks, duck eggs are more forgiving and won’t overcook as quickly as chicken eggs.
Our Method
We’ve steamed these eggs in shallow water in the bottom of a high-walled covered sauce pan, then removed them and placed them in an ice bath to halt the cooking process. They were left to cool completely and then peeled under water.