Why Duke's Mayonnaise Is Creamier Than Other Brands On Store Shelves

Grocery-store mayonnaise isn't a product most people would consider glamorous. But something about Duke's is just different. It's been around for over a century and is the third-largest mayonnaise company in the world — just behind Hellmann's and Miracle Whip — but it still feels like a secret ingredient to chefs and home sandwich makers alike.

Its notoriety used to be somewhat contained in the South, as the company started and still bases its manufacturing in South Carolina. But over time, that's changed, and now mayo lovers and skeptics all over the country have joined the legion of loyal Duke's fans. Many consider it not only the best grocery store option but also the best mayo, period. Its draw is simple: it's super-savory taste (Duke's tagline is "It's got twang!"), and its fantastically creamy, thick texture.

That rich creaminess comes from their use of one of mayo's key ingredients: egg yolks. Specifically, according to the company, they use only yolks and leave out the egg whites. Skipping the whites drops the water content and keeps Duke's mayonnaise velvety smooth. Many would claim it's so good, you don't need to doctor it up with other ingredients.

Recipes for basic mayonnaise vary slightly, though the key components are the same: fat (oil), acid (usually vinegar), and an emulsifier (egg). Emulsifiers are ingredients that allow fat and acid to coexist without separating. Mayo is essentially a stable emulsion of oil and acid, and that stable emulsion is created by a substance found inside eggs called lecithin. 

So Duke's use of eggs is not unusual in and of itself. But in the case of something like mayonnaise, a raw egg is not one ingredient; it's two: egg white and egg yolk. Egg white is primarily water. The yolk is what really holds the fat and lecithin, making it the key aspect of the egg that adds richness and the binding quality that turns oil and vinegar into a thick, creamy condiment. Competing brands use both egg whites and yolks, which results in a downgrade in texture and flavor compared to Dukes' all-yolk mayonnaise.