Around the world, pizza is considered a scrumptious and enjoyable meal. It may be prepared in different ways or feature unusual toppings, but the foundation of crust, sauce and cheese remains the same. It’s a tasty handcrafted lunch, a meal you can have delivered to your door for a party with friends or a quick bite to eat after a long day at work.
Unsurprisingly, a lot of world records have been dreamt up that involve pizza in some way. There are the records you would expect, such as largest pizza or most toppings on a pizza, but there are also plenty of oddities like the fastest time to paint a slice of pizza using your tongue. Giordano’s has rounded up the ones we found most interesting for this blog post about our favorite subject: pizza.
Records Set in the United States
Though the modern pizza originated in Italy, Americans like to believe it was their invention. After all, we’ve come up with so many variations of pizza — from deep-dish in Chicago and thin-crust in St. Louis, to the dollar slice in New York and the jumbo slice in D.C. — and we have numerous holidays celebrating the dish. For instance, October is National Pizza Month, and February 9 is National Pizza Day. There’s a day for cheese pizza on September 5, pepperoni pizza on September 20, sausage pizza on October 11 and even pizza with the works (except anchovies) on November 12. It’s clear we’re pretty passionate about our pie.
However, even though some records have been set in the United States, especially the stranger ones, this article is meant to share the best of the best, so we’ve compiled records from all over the world.
New attempts are made to beat pizza world records all the time, but these are the current record-holders:
Largest Pizza
One of the top dogs among pizza records, the world’s largest pizza was baked by Fiera Roma in Rome, Italy. On December 13, 2012, Dovilio Nardi, Andrea Mannocchi, Marco Nardi, Matteo Nardi and Matteo Giannotte got together to prepare a pizza with a total surface area of 13,580.28 square feet, or 1,261.65 square meters.
The pizza was specifically made 100% gluten-free as a way of spreading the importance about making health-conscious dietary choices. Not only that, but the group gave the pizza the nickname Ottavia, a word meaning “eighth son.” This was to pay homage to the first Roman emperor Octavian Augustus, who created economic and cultural unrest in the Roman Empire.
Longest Pizza
Not to be confused with the world record for biggest pizza, the longest pizza ever didn’t have to be made in the typical circular form. It’s all about how much distance it managed to cover. Reported on May 19, 2016, the world record for longest pizza was broken in Naples, Italy, with a pizza that stretched 1.8 km (or just over a mile) long.
A team of 250 pizza makers used five motorized wood-burning stoves on wheels, which had been custom made, so the enormous pizza could be easily rolled through and cooked. They used over 4,400 pounds of flour, more than 4,400 pounds of mozzarella cheese, over 3,500 pounds of tomato sauce, 52 gallons of oil and 66 pounds of basil. The process took six hours and 11 minutes, and once it was finished, the massive meal was donated to the needy.
Heaviest Pizza
While the other pizzas derived their bragging rights from their size, this pizza has density on its side. The record for the heaviest pizza ever made is held by Norwood Hypermarket in Norwood, South Africa. It weighed 26,883 pounds and was 122 feet, 8 inches in diameter. This hefty pie was made on December 8, 1990, using:
9,920 pounds of flour
3,960 pounds of cheese
1,984 pounds of chopped tomatoes
1,763 pounds of mushrooms
1,984 pounds of tomato puree
Fastest Time to Eat a 12″ Pizza
When it comes to speed eating, there have got to be some stipulations. Record setting websites list the fastest times for eating a medium Domino’s pizza, an 8-inch Totino’s pizza, a Little Caesar’s pizza and even a heart-shaped pizza. However, the standard and most popular metric is how quickly you can eat a 12-inch in diameter pizza.
This pizza world record for fast eating was recently achieved by Kelvin Medina on April 12, 2015. He earned his title during a head-to-head competition that took place in Taguig, Metro Manila, Philippines. Medina was declared the winner with a time of just 23.62 seconds.
Most Pizza Eaten in 10 Minutes
For this challenge, it’s all about quantity consumed. Eating contests are common in the United States, from chicken wing-eating to pie-eating. Joey Chestnut is a man who’s familiar with this world, having claimed the title of hot dog-eating champ, so it’s no wonder he was the one to polish off the most pizza in 10 minutes.
This pizza world record for eating was set on October 12, 2008, during a Famous Famiglia pizza-eating competition in Times Square. Though he was only 24 years old at the time, he managed to beat out the other 10 contenders, including the previous record-holder, by eating 45 slices in just 10 minutes. He was given a prize of $5,000 for his efforts, and it’s been estimated that he consumed a total of 11,700 calories and 450 grams of fat.
Largest Pizza Commercially Available
If you really want to feed a crowd, order your pizza from the Big Mama’s and Papa’s Pizzeria in Los Angeles, California. They sell a square pizza that’s four-and-a-half feet on each side, or just over 20 square feet. The price tag on this pizza is $199.99 (plus tax), but it’s said to serve anywhere from 50 to 100 people. The pizzeria requires at least 24 hours notice to make this meal, and it’s only deliverable within a certain radius of the restaurant.
Largest Pizza Delivery
An enormous pizza from Big Mama’s and Papa’s Pizzeria may be enough for a block party, but it takes a lot more than that to feed an army. The organization Pizzas 4 Patriots thought that the United States Armed Forces deserved a little taste of home on Independence Day in 2012, so they arranged for Great Kitchens, Inc. in Illinois to make 30,000 12-inch pizzas for U.S. servicemen and women overseas.
The delivery process began on June 21, 2012, and after they arrived with DHL Express, the pizzas were transported to Kandahar Airfield, Bagram Airbase and Camp Bastion, Afghanistan. Thanks to the help of the Armed Forces themselves, the cheesy goodness of American pizza spread throughout Afghanistan and Kuwait. Talk about a holiday to remember!
Most Pizzas Made in One Hour
When you order a pizza for delivery, you may be anxious to enjoy your warm meal, but quality is more of a priority than quickness. However, for this world record, both requirements had to be fulfilled. Contestants cannot just throw together your standard ingredients — they have to make something edible and fairly presentable.
Brian Edler of Findlay, Ohio, broke this record on December 9, 2010, in a Domino’s restaurant on North Main St. Each pizza had to contain a 14-ounce base that was 12 inches in diameter, four to six ounces of sauce and eight to 10 ounces of cheese. Though he made 215 pizzas total, only 206 of them met the requirements set by the judges. That amount was still enough to earn him the record, however!
Most Toppings on One Pizza
It may not be listed in the Guinness Book of World Records, but the unofficial winner of most toppings on one pizza is a girl from Los Angeles, California, who goes by the username Catrific. The guidelines she was given were that the toppings had to be edible and evenly spread over the pizza. Seasonings such as salt and pepper didn’t count toward the end total, and it didn’t matter if the pizza crust was homemade or store-bought.
Following those rules, she came up with 27 different toppings to pile onto her pizza. These ranged from what you would expect — pepperoni, bacon and green peppers — to slightly unusual territory — cookies, chili and macaroni and cheese. As of October 15, 2014, when her attempt video was uploaded, her record has gone unchallenged.
Largest Dessert Pizza
No matter what you’re eating, dessert is always nice. Many members of the group who came up with the world’s largest pizza came back to do dessert — and did they.
They gathered together on October 20, 2013, to form a dessert pizza that was 153.71 square feet, or 14.28 square meters.
To obtain this sweet distinction, they had to use 881 pounds of flour, 440 pounds of water, 17 pounds of yeast, and 13 pounds of salt — and that’s just to make the dough! Then they sprinkled copious quantities of icing sugar, pistachio cream, hazelnuts and cocoa on top. Much like their previous record, the pizza was 100% gluten-free and given a nickname, this time Francesca. It took the team 43 minutes to completely cook the pizza’s base.
Most Pizza Boxes Held at Once
This record is reserved for those with unmatched strength and impeccable balance. To earn the record for most pizza boxes held at one time, you must use standard 14-inch pizza boxes stacked in whatever configuration you prefer. You can only use one hand to hold them, and they must remain balanced for at least three seconds.
A group of employees at Mr. Jim’s Pizza in Carrollton, Texas, rallied together to beat out the previous record-holder on December 13, 2014. They cleverly arranged 80 boxes together in a tower and had one employee, Colin Schaer, be the one to hold them up. Colin hefted them off the table, trying to get his footing and leaning them against the table, before successfully holding the boxes one-handed for five seconds.
Fastest Time to Paint a Slice of Pizza With Your Tongue
In case anyone was curious about this weird record we slipped into the list, here’s the scoop. On February 3, 2016, Nick Stoeberl of Monterey, California, recorded himself painting on a canvas using just his tongue. This proved that he could produce an illustration that resembles a piece of pizza in only one minute and 58.27 seconds. Don’t worry — he covered his tongue with plastic wrap before squeezing the paint tube onto it.
Largest Collection of Pizza-Related Items
Of course, the person with the greatest dedication to pizza resides in the United States. Brian Dwyer of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, declares his love for all things pizza-related with a collection of 561 different items from all across the globe.
He started amassing collectibles in 2010, and the official tally was taken on July 31, 2011. The collection includes a variety of novelties, from stickers and comic books to household items and clothing. A couple of his favorite items are the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game called PIZZA DROP and the Fat Boys LP that has the band pictured with a pizza on the cover.
Unique Pizza Records
There are all kinds of out-of-the-ordinary pizza world records out there. This list may seem like a lot, but it’s only a small summary. It doesn’t include records for the highest pizza toss, the most pizzas baked in 24 hours by a team, the highest altitude pizza delivery on land, the most people tossing pizza dough or even the greatest number of face slaps with a slice of pizza — yes, there’s a record for that. You’ll just have to look it up for yourself!
One thing these pizza records — and world records in general — have in common is that they’re outstanding. It takes a lot of planning, money, time and effort to pull off such impressive feats. Speed eating puts your body to the test, while cooking an enormous pizza means racking up an incredible grocery bill.
You know how Giordano’s can relate to these records, besides the fact that they all involve pizza? Our restaurant is unique as well! While we’re known for our stuffed deep dish pizza, with your choice of toppings from Chicago classic to meat & more meat, we also serve mouthwatering thin crust and extra-thin pizzas. Our ingredients are fresh and skillfully prepared, so you know our garlicky broccoli, all-beef meatballs, Wisconsin mozzarella cheese, or barbecue chicken will be the tastiest thing you put in your mouth all day. Don’t miss out on these unbeatable Italian eats — order today!