Alton Brown's All-Time Favorite Brand Of Mayo

Fans of Alton Brown know that the bespectacled celebrity chef is more than a little precise when it comes to his kitchen. Gadgets should have more than one use, there's a right way and a wrong way to do things like carving a turkey, and every ingredient should be there for a reason. Take for instance his beloved Duke's Mayonnaise. On more than one occasion Brown has professed his love for the eggy condiment that's made in South Carolina, and it's an important endorsement because he uses mayonnaise for much more than just tuna salad.

If you want to make scrambled eggs or a perfectly grilled steak the way that Brown does on his TV show "Good Eats," you've got to have a jar of Duke's handy. Not only is this regional classic a favorite of many Southern chefs for its rich, yolky flavor, but it's also Brown's favorite because it's made with apple cider vinegar, which gives it a very particular tangy quality. While it's not always easy to find Duke's if you don't live in the South, it's not impossible as long as you know where to look.

Ask any chef to name their favorite mayonnaise and you'll definitely get some strong opinions. Julia Child used to famously swear by Hellman's, for instance, and David Chang is in the tank for Kewpie. Alton Brown, however, joins a roster of fellow Southern chefs like Sean Brock on Team Duke's, according to their official website.

Duke's, which is owned by Sauer Brands, is made in plants in Mauldin, South Carolina, and New Century, Kansas but it originated in Greenville, South Carolina. It's largely unchanged from the original recipe created by Eugenia Duke (also of Greenville), who developed it to spread on sandwiches she made and sold to army canteens during WWI and later started bottling it in 1923. Like all "real mayonnaise," which by U.S. law has to contain 65% oil by weight, vinegar, eggs, and no emulsifiers, Duke's is made with all-natural eggs — or in this case, mostly egg yolks, which gives it that distinctive texture and color. But it's "the twang" that makes Duke's a little different from its competitors, and that flavor comes from adding apple cider to the standard distilled white vinegar that most mayos use. Apple cider vinegar has a distinct, sour, funky flavor, which cuts through the fattiness of the mayo to make a very balanced spread.

If you're looking for a bottle of Duke's for your next recreation of "Good Eats," the good news is that you can find it for sale in quite a lot of grocery stores and supermarkets. If you live in the South, you probably already have a jar of it sitting in the refrigerator, but for everyone else, you can use the company website to locate a store near you that carries Duke's.

If you can't find a source of the tangy stuff nearby, however, don't give up because you can also order Duke's directly from their website if you live in the contiguous U.S. (they don't ship to Hawaii, Alaska, or other countries). If you're living outside of the U.S., or in Alaska or Hawaii, your best bet is to try ordering the mayo from Amazon or Walmart, which both deliver it outside of the continental U.S.

Once you get your Duke's fix, you can taste it side by side with other mayonnaises to detect the twangy flavor difference, just be sure to store it properly to maintain that flavor profile. Just like other shelf-stable mayonnaise, Duke's can be stored and shipped at room temperature until the jar is open — just be sure to stash it in the fridge once you've cracked open the top.