Imagine a pizza so massive it could feed thousands, stretching across nearly 14,000 square feet. The world’s largest pizza is not just a culinary marvel but also a feat of teamwork, engineering, and passion for everyone’s favorite cheesy delight. Let’s dive into how this gigantic pizza was cooked and brought to life.
The Epic Scale of the Largest Pizza
In January 2023, American YouTuber Airrack teamed up with Pizza Hut to create the world’s largest pizza, measuring an astonishing 13,990 square feet (about 1,297 square meters) at the Los Angeles Convention Center. This colossal pizza shattered previous records, including one set in Italy in 2012, and was made with:
– 13,653 pounds (6,193 kg) of dough
– 4,948 pounds (2,244 kg) of sweet marinara sauce
– Over 8,800 pounds (3,992 kg) of cheese
– Approximately 630,496 slices of pepperoni
This wasn’t just a giant pizza for the sake of size-it was a New York-style pizza, designed to be foldable and reminiscent of authentic pizzeria pies.
Planning and Preparation: A Massive Team Effort
Creating a pizza this size required meticulous planning and a large team. The crew included Pizza Hut workers, friends of Airrack, and professional chefs. They worked around the clock for 48 hours to prepare, assemble, and cook the pizza.
The dough was prepared in huge batches, then rolled out into rectangular slices. These slices were laid out side-by-side to form the enormous pizza base. Next came the sauce, cheese, and pepperoni, carefully spread and layered to ensure even coverage across the entire surface.
Cooking the Giant Pizza: Innovative Techniques
Cooking a pizza this large posed unique challenges. Instead of baking it all at once in a giant oven, the pizza was cooked in sections on-site. A specialized cooking device hovered over the pizza, broiling the slices piece by piece. This method ensured that each part was cooked thoroughly while maintaining food safety standards.
The entire process was closely monitored by food hygiene inspectors to comply with local regulations and Guinness World Records guidelines. This included ensuring the pizza was safe for human consumption and that no part of it went to waste.
After the Oven: Sharing the Feast
Once the pizza was cooked, it was sliced into 68,000 pieces. Rather than letting this monumental pizza go to waste, the team donated all the slices to local food banks and charities around Los Angeles. This act of generosity helped feed many people in need, turning the record-breaking event into a community celebration.
Why Make the World’s Largest Pizza?
The project was inspired by Airrack’s milestone of reaching 10 million subscribers on YouTube and the return of Pizza Hut’s “The Big New Yorker” pizza. It was a way to celebrate both a personal achievement and a beloved pizza style, while also making a positive impact on the community.
Pizza Hut, known for its iconic pizza innovations and previous Guinness World Records (including the highest altitude pizza delivery on Mount Kilimanjaro), brought their expertise and brand power to the event, proving once again that no one can “OutPizza the Hut”.
Fun Facts About Giant Pizzas
– The previous largest pizza before Airrack’s was made in Rome in 2012, measuring 13,580 square feet and was gluten-free.
– The largest pizza ever baked before that was in South Africa in 1990, measuring 122 feet in diameter and weighing nearly 27,000 pounds.
– The record-breaking pizzas often require puzzle-like assembly, baking multiple sections and then joining them together.
– Guinness World Records mandates that all food used in record attempts must be distributed for consumption to avoid waste.
The world’s largest pizza was a triumph of creativity, collaboration, and culinary skill. From the massive quantities of dough and toppings to the innovative cooking methods and generous donation, it was a delicious example of how big dreams-and big pizzas-can bring people together.