When it comes to basic nutritional needs, let’s be honest here, there aren’t all that many products out there that can really match up against eggs. Regardless of whether you like them scrambled, sunny side up, hard boiled or whatnot, the truth is that at the end of the day we all love eating eggs.
Most nutritional experts out there also agree over the fact that eggs represent one of the three major poultry products that you absolutely cannot live your life without. The other two on that list are chicken and turkey by the way, in case you were wondering.
But regardless, when it comes to eggs, most of us just dive right into the chicken egg niche without a second thought. While we always say that “if it isn’t broken then don’t try to fix it”, when it comes to your diet you should always try to switch things up just for your own benefit.
Now, we don’t mean that you should stop eating eggs and just switch on over to fast food hamburgers and cheeseburgers instead, but what we are saying is that you should try to add some variety to your meals because it can be quite good for you both physically and mentally.
But, what can you really switch chicken eggs with that would make for a healthier meal? Duck eggs? Well yes actually, duck eggs represent a much better option as far as eating eggs goes. But why? That is exactly what we’re here to find out together.
But alas, with that being said, let’s just step right up and instead just quack our way into the basics of what makes duck eggs different, the positives and negatives of consuming them and why they’re a better option as a whole for your breakfast, lunch or dinner.
How Do Duck Eggs Look?
When it comes to their aesthetical value, we would definitely argue that duck eggs look way better than normal chicken eggs, goose eggs or turkey eggs and that’s all because of their unique look and size.
Just take a look at what a simple chicken egg looks like next to a duck egg, the difference is astounding to say he least.
On top of that, depending on which breed of duck you actually went for, you can get different colored eggs too. For example, you can go for the Cayuga duck and you’ll be getting yourself ash-colored eggs which just look so much more exotic than the ordinary chicken eggs you usually see on the market isle.
But that’s not all, you also have pure white eggs, light green and even brown depending on the duck breed. For chicken you usually can only pick between black and the typical cream/white color but when it comes to the duck eggs the sky’s the limit as far as their look goes.
On top of that, the inside of the egg is also completely different than what you’d expect from an ordinary chicken egg. The egg white is a lot more transparent and since the egg is a lot larger, so is the egg yolk.
Last but not least, the shell is way tougher than the one from a typical chicken, that is because they are so much larger and heavier than the chicken eggs.
Baking and Cooking with Duck Eggs
At first glance you might be looking at duck eggs and think that they’re all the same at the end of the day so there’s no need to do anything different in the kitchen but you’d be mistaken.
While you can use the same techniques to cook and bake then, the trick comes in the little details that you will need to keep in mind while doing your thing. For example, since, as we mentioned previously, they do have much larger yolks, you will need to spend some extra time poaching the yolks to make sure that they’re fully done. We usually recommend doing it for an extra minute or so just to be sure that you’re in the clear.
Frying on the other hand requires a tad bit of a lower temperature since the egg whites from the duck eggs appear to fry up a bit faster than normal chicken eggs. Taste wise, omelets will taste all the same, albeit you will need to use less duck eggs to make it than you would if you were to use normal chicken eggs.
Depending on how you prepare them, duck eggs usually do tend to be a bit creamier or even swampier depending on how the duck was grown.
If you grew your own duck, you should know the taste that you’re getting yourself a slice of since you’ve been the one feeding the bird but if it is store bought you might be playing a bit of a roulette when it comes to the flavor of the eggs.
When it comes to the baking side of things, there are certain things that you need to keep in mind so as to not make any mistakes.
First and foremost, you need to understand the fact that duck eggs are a bit fattier than normal chicken eggs, so there is no way you can get the same product after using a different egg in the mix of the recipe.
This makes them a bit tougher to throw around in specific recipes that you love, since the taste difference might very well completely change the experience for you.
But what this also does is it adds a certain level of personality to your recipe, you can experiment around by adding extra liquid or fat or even subtracting other ingredients to make the eggs stand out a bit.
It might be risky but it’s also incredibly fun to mess around with recipes like that. If you are just following recipes around then you like to play it safe and we respect that, but just remember to not be afraid of experimenting around the kitchen too because you never know what you could me missing out on.
Where You Can Find Duck Eggs
The fact of the matter is that duck eggs are nowhere near as popular as ordinary chicken eggs and that’s for a multitude of reasons. If you’re lucky enough to find them at your local grocery store then that’s great, but chances are that you will only be able to come across them if you go to a certain higher-end store or even a specialty store.
As a result, the pricing might be a bit steeper when it comes to buying duck eggs, but just remember that just because the price is higher that doesn’t mean you’re not saving money. We mentioned previously how since they are so much larger than ordinary chicken eggs, you can use fewer duck eggs to make your recipe than you would with normal chicken eggs.
For example, instead of putting three eggs in your omelet you can use only two instead. You can do the same with most recipes out there, which is again another part of that experimentation that we talked about before.
If you want to go the extra mile then we recommend that you go to your local farmer’s market too since that’s actually where you will be getting the freshest duck eggs from. The only problem is that the price will be up to part as well, you’re looking at around $12 per batch.
But, on the plus side, since they are thicker, duck eggs actually end up lasting a longer time both on the shelfs and in the fridge, so you can get them and use them within a week or even two if you really don’t feel like eating eggs at the time.
Overall, though, the process of getting the duck eggs will definitely be more arduous than the process or getting normal chicken eggs, but at the same time once you get them you get all of the advantages that come with them too.
Health Benefits to Eating Duck Eggs
When it comes to the benefits of the duck eggs there is a whole plethora that we need to dive into for you to fully understand what we mean by that. In simple terms, eating duck eggs is extremely healthy for you, both mentally and physically. But, if you want the long answer, then here we go:
More Protein for Your Buck
As we mentioned previously, duck eggs are a lot bigger than normal chicken eggs, which also translates quite well into their protein intake too.
In case you didn’t know by now, protein is absolutely essential for building lean muscle, protein is the base that your whole muscle will be built upon when working out. If you don’t get a gram of protein per pound of total weight then you need to increase your protein intake.
We highly recommend also eating more egg whites as well since that’s where most of the protein’s coming from. But, don’t completely ignore the egg yolk either, since that’s where most of your flavor comes from.
They Help with Mental Health
As silly as it may sound, mental health usually stems from a deficiency in your system. For example, you could me deficient in magnesium, zinc or even selenium which is why you’re currently undergoing depression or are just feeling extremely fatigued.
Well, guess what? Eggs actually contain all of those at once. On top of that, they represent one of the best sources of selenium in the whole world, you’re literally getting half or your daily intake recommendation of selenium from a single duck egg.
On top of all of that, you also get plenty of vitamin D from the duck eggs, which means a lot less of the seasonal depression and affective disorder.
But remember, while these may be causers of those mental problems, they’re not always the perpetrators. If you’re dealing with depression or anything we mentioned above then we recommend going to a professional to sort yourself out. Just remember to hang in there, you got this.
They Help with Skin Health
Most of us wish we had better skin health and that’s a fact. But, what most of us don’t even realize is the fact that we could easily solve our problem by just changing up our diets a tad bit and voila, your skin is crystal clear again.
The best part about duck eggs is the fact that they offer all eight B vitamins that are required to have better skin health. They are the following:
- B1 – It helps “digest” stress a lot easier
- B2 – It reduces all inflammations
- B3 – It helps alleviate or even completely eradicate the fear of acne, eczema or even dermatitis
- B5 – It keeps your skin moisturized
- B6 – It helps with insomnia and dry skin
- B7 – It protects your skin from serious infections
- B9 – It helps your skin regenerate and heal after serious health issues
- B12 – It’s a general vitamin that helps alleviate all problems including acne and even inflammation
They Are Great for People That Are Allergic to Chicken Eggs
Most people don’t even realize it, but they are actually allergic to chicken eggs. This is because egg protein is pretty much one of the most common food allergies in the world.
The main reason as to why you don’t see all that many adults have it though is because the symptoms of the allergy are not easily discernable, and by continuously feeding the child with the eggs the child eventually ends up outgrowing the egg allergy.
Still, if you want to fully avoid this altogether you can simply go with duck eggs instead since although the two are very similar, duck eggs are a lot easier on the digestive system and they’re just a lot less commonly allergenic for people.
Still, if your child is allergic to chicken eggs, we wouldn’t recommend testing out the waters and giving them duck eggs just to see how they react. Remember, children’s symptoms are a lot harder to detect so this might end up backfiring for you if you can’t tell that you’re hurting your child and whatnot.
They Are Better for Diabetics and People with Heart Diseases
The strange part about duck eggs is that they do appear to be higher in cholesterol and yet they don’t affect the human body as much as normal chicken eggs do.
A recent study was conducted which resulted in the fact that the cholesterol in the duck egg yolks, although higher, actually doesn’t raise the risk of heart disease in the slightest.
While egg yolks are usually not recommended to diabetics, many experts have stated that around three egg yolks a week shouldn’t be bad for your health in the slightest. Just remember to not go all out on it since heart disease is no joke.
Do Duck Eggs Lead to Salmonella?
This question right here all stems from a pretty big deal that happened back in 2010 in England and Ireland. In case you’re not up to date with it, essentially what happened is a lot of people reportedly got salmonella from eggs that year, with a great majority of the consumers having eaten duck eggs. Because of this, most people have stopped consuming duck eggs altogether since they didn’t want to end up in the hospital.
But, if you’d look at the stats real quick, Asia has the highest percentage of people consuming duck eggs in the world and they’re all fine with it. They’ve been eating duck eggs for a very long time now and they always support the idea that duck eggs are better for you than ordinary chicken eggs.
So, what’s the truth then? Most likely, it wasn’t a problem with the duck eggs themselves, it was a problem with the way that they were being kept and transported.
Remember that if the eggs come cracked or lukewarm then chances are that they haven’t been kept properly and they could result in salmonella. This is why we usually recommend either growing your own ducks and eating their eggs or going to the farmer’s market and getting your produce from there.
Conclusion
All in all, though, the fact of the matter is that if you want to eat duck eggs then you can eat duck eggs. If they sound good to you then you need to give them a try because of the many benefits we mentioned above.
While there are definitely speculations out in the crowd of people just really angrily talking about how duck eggs can lead to serious diseases such as salmonella, there is no proof of it out there except for that one outbreak from 2010.
Remember though, correlation doesn’t mean causation, just because a large portion of the people back then found themselves infected that doesn’t mean that you’re going to be infected too.
But alas, we would like to thank you for reading this far and wish you good luck in your kitchen. If you do decide to use duck eggs be sure to let us know what you thought about the different flavor that they added to your recipes.
