The weather has taken a warmer turn this week (three days in a row above freezing!!) and the ducks seem convinced that Spring is at hand. Which, of course, sounds good to me!
Those happy little quackers have been gallivanting around, visiting the sheep, wandering up and down the driveway, splashing in every melty little snow puddle, and just living it up. And - they've been laying like crazy. My incubators are full. My hatching egg orders are filled. And still, we have big, lovely duck eggs to spare.
Two of our absolute favorite ways to eat duck eggs are in Scotch Eggs (because - sausage!!) and also just good old egg salad, made with homemade mayo. The kids can't get enough of it.
Both of these recipes happen to call for hard boiled eggs. Now, I do have my stove-top method for hard boiled duck eggs down to a perfect science. BUT - I also have a handy new Instant Pot. So that's how I've been hard boiling our duck eggs lately. And now I've got that down to a perfect science as well. So - here's how to hard boil duck eggs in an Instant Pot!
Y'all, it's so easy I feel like I should be handing this to you on a sticky note, instead of typing up a post. Seriously. It would read like this: "5 minutes. 5 minutes. Ice bath." That's how simple this is.
Put your duck eggs into the steamer basket of your Instant Pot. Add 1 cup of water to the pot. Lock the lid, and put the release valve into the closed position. Pressure cook on high pressure for 5 minutes. Allow pressure to naturally release for 5 minutes. Then quick release any remaining pressure.
While you're waiting for the pressure to release, fill a large bowl with cold water and ice cubes to create an ice bath. When the pressure has fully released, remove the hot eggs from the Instant Pot (I find that tongs are the easiest way), and put them into the ice bath. Let them fully cool before peeling.
When you peel, start by giving the bottom a good "thwack" on the counter top. I find that duck eggs cooked with this method peel even more easily than with my stove top hard boiling method, which I hardly thought was possible. Instant Pot hard boiled duck eggs are so fast, so easy, and the eggs peel just so nicely, it's become my go-to method for "hard boiling". Hope it works as well for you as it does for me!
📖 Recipe
How to Hard Boil Duck Eggs in an Instant Pot
Equipment
- instant pot
Ingredients
- 1 Duck Eggs
- 1 cup Water
Instructions
- Put duck eggs into the steamer basket of your Instant Pot. Add 1 cup of water to the pot. Lock the lid, and put the release valve into the closed position.
- Pressure cook on high pressure for 5 minutes.
- Allow pressure to naturally release for 5 minutes. Then quick release any remaining pressure.
- While you're waiting for the pressure to release, fill a large bowl with cold water and ice cubes to create an ice bath.
- When the pressure has fully released, remove the hot eggs from the Instant Pot (I find that tongs are the easiest way), and put them into the ice bath. Let them fully cool before peeling.
Nutrition
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Anna Chesley
Anna Chesley is a freelance writer living a homestead lifestyle, with a special love for family travel, old books, vintage skills, and seaside living. In addition to founding Salt In My Coffee, she runs the website, New England Family Life, as well as The 1800's Housewife, a website devoted to re-creating authentic 1800's recipes.
Samantha says
Your recipe calls for 1 duck eggs. Certainly that’s not just 1 egg? 1 dozen? I usually do 6 eggs at a time.
Teresa says
Thank you! I have so many duck eggs (bless those quackers!) and it’s Easter. I refuse to buy eggs and none of my hard boiling attempts have grossed a easy to peel duck egg. I’m so excited!
Michele says
Thank you so much, Anna! My Silver Appleyards just started laying and I can’t wait to try this! I also noticed you have some other duck egg recipes and can’t wait to try those out too!
Mel says
Yummy 3 minutes then 5 and 5 F or perfect runny middles. Delicious!!
Erin says
I read somewhere else that if they are farm fresh eggs, then they should be room temperature before putting them in the instant pot. Is that true with farm fresh duck eggs as well?
Anna says
You know, I've actually done it both ways - room temperature and also straight from the fridge, and I've never felt there was a difference honestly. Both ways, they've come out perfectly cooked and easy to peel. Hope this helps!
Steve says
How do you naturally release the steam ??
Anna says
Hi Steve, here's the link to the Instant Pot page where they explain the difference between Natural Release and Quick Pressure Release when using your instant pot: https://instantpot.com/quick-release-natural-release/
This will tell you everything you need!
Christine says
Thank you, so much, Anna, for this wonderful time-saving method! This is SO much easier than having to keep an eye on a pot of eggs, waiting for it to come to a full boil!
I did a fairly large load of 24 medium-sized duck eggs. They were cold, right out of the refrigerator. It took 35 minutes from start to cooling in the ice bath, with no standing around and watching the pot! 🙂
All of the eggs peeled beautifully! They did have a little green tint, so I might go a minute less next time. It could be that my eggs were just slightly smaller than the eggs that you used. There's no going back for me! The instant pot is the easiest thing for hard-boiled duck eggs!
nancy says
Wow orange yolks! Great tip!
Anna says
Haha! They really are nice, bright yolks - it helps that we've had this thaw, and the girls are spending every minute of daylight digging around in mud puddles, and chowing down on every bug they can find! ; ) Thanks so much for the sweet comment, Nancy!