World's longest hot dog explained

The world's longest hot dog is a world record dating back to at least 2001. The record supposedly was most recently beaten in October 2017 in the town of Flensburg in Germany, where a group manufactured and served a U-shaped hot dog with a length of 218.7m (717.5feet). However this attempt was not a valid one apparently, as it consisted of multiple pieces of bread and sausages instead of one of each.^[1] In the official page of Guinness World Records the current holder of the record is Novex S.A. done in Paraguay in July 2011.^{[2] [3]}

In Chile, the city of Talca made an unofficial attempt where they tried the longest "completo", a Chilean upgraded version of the hot dog, where they reached over 450 metres by placing 2400 completos in a row. Sadly it became a meme in the country as it wasn't a single unit.^[4]

Previous world records

• Sara Lee Corp. made a 1996feet long hot dog in commemoration of the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Guinness World Records does not reflect this record in any of its publications as of 2006.
• In 2001, a hot dog and bun measuring 4.65m (15.26feet) was made in Pennsylvania to obtain the world record.
• On July 2, 2003, a hot dog 16.1feet was made by Vienna Beef and Rosen's Bakery for the Taste of Chicago, in celebration of National Hot Dog Month, to obtain the world record.^[5]
• On October 18, 2003, a hot dog and bun measuring 37inchesft2inchesin (ftin) was made by students from the University of Pretoria and displayed at the Sonop Hostel, Pretoria, South Africa, to obtain the world record.^[6]
• On July 1, 2004, a hot dog and bun measuring 37.2feet was made by Vienna Beef and Rosen's Bakery for the Taste of Chicago, in celebration of National Hot Dog Month, to obtain the world record. The bun used more than 200,000 poppy seeds.^[7]
• On July 15, 2005, a hot dog and bun measuring 50inchesft7inchesin (ftin) was made for the Great American Hot Dog Festival by Jamie Coyne in Columbus, Ohio.^[8]
• On August 14, 2005, a hot dog and bun measuring 57.5feet was made by Conshohocken Bakery and Berks Meat Packing for the 20th Annual Corvettes for Kids fundraiser at Bally (USA) to obtain the world record.^[9]
• On February 20, 2006, a hot dog and bun measuring 20m (70feet) was made by the Department of Sport and Recreation of WA at the Curtin University in Perth to obtain the world record. It required 25lb of sausage meat, 33kg (73lb) of dough, 10L of tomato sauce and mustard, and "enough onions to fill a Honda Civic."^[10]
• On July 6, 2006, a hot dog and bun measuring 104.75feet was made by the Hill Meat Company of Pendleton, OR and Franz Family Bakeries of Portland, OR. The hot dog was made as the central part of a media event surrounding the 100th anniversary of Franz Family Bakeries.^[11]
• On August 4, 2006, a hot dog measuring 60m (200feet) in a bun measuring 60.3m (197.8feet) was made by the Shizuoka Meat Producers of Shizuoka, Japan and the to obtain the world record. International media were on hand, and supporting documents have been verified by Guinness. The hot dog was made as the central part of a media event surrounding the 50th anniversary of the All-Japan Bread Association. The wiener was made offsite at the Shizuoka plant prior to the day, and it was then cooked along with the bread in a ballroom at the Akasaka Prince Hotel in Akasaka, Tokyo, Japan. After the official measurement, the hot dog was cut up and eaten by those present.
• On July 15, 2011, a hot dog measuring 203.8m (668.6feet) and weighing approximately 120kg (270lb) was made by Ochsi to obtain the world record. The hot dog bun weighed approximately 150kg (330lb) and was made by Myriam Products. International media were on hand, and supporting documents have been verified by Johanna Hessling, of Guinness. The hot dog was made as the central part of a media event surrounding the 2011 Expo in Asuncion, Paraguay. After the official measurement, the hot dog was cut up and eaten by those present.^[12]

Technical challenges

Creating a long hot dog is not much of a feat. This is because the hot dog is structurally quite sound, and remarkably flexible. In the August 2006 record breaking attempt, the hot dog was manufactured by Shizuoka Meat Producers, and was wound into a large plastic barrel which was easily transported inside a delivery van.

The limiting factor for breaking this type of record is the bun. The bun, in order to remain in one continuous unit, needs to be baked in its final form. For the All-Japan Bread Association, this meant the connection of the longest conveyor belt possible with the equipment available to them. The dough was assembled in half-meter sections, then pressed together to create a longer tube of dough, which was then fed through the ovens via conveyor, and carried away from the ovens by another conveyor. The key was to make sure that the already-cooked bun did not move at a faster rate than the bun behind it because this would cause the bun to pull apart. The wiener was fed through the oven at the same time to cook it. There also needed to be space outside the oven to store the bun and wiener until the entire bun had been baked. To allow for enough room for this to happen, the ovens and prep area were set up outside the ballroom of the Akasaka Prince Hotel on the loading dock, and the bun and wiener were fed into the ballroom along the conveyor as they exited the oven.

Upon completion, the bun was sliced down the middle by bakers, and spectators were asked to don rubber gloves and first lift the wiener in one piece for photos, and then insert it into the bun. After being topped with mustard and ketchup, the completed hot dog was lifted by the assembled spectators 30cm (10inches) off the conveyor for photos. Finally, the official measurement was completed, and the wiener was 60m (200feet) in length, with the bun coming in at 60.3m (197.8feet) in length. After photos and video of the official measurement were completed, the hot dog was cut into sections and the assembled spectators each had a piece. However, this only used about 8m (26feet) of the hot dog.

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2017-12-12 . Längstes Hot-Dog der Welt . 2023-12-03 . DEHOGA Kreisverband Schleswig-Flensburg . de-DE.
2. Web site: December 3, 2023 . Longest hot dog .
3. Web site: 15 July 2011 . En Paraguay preparan Hot dog de 200 metros . 3 December 2023 . The clinic.
4. Web site: Iporre . Nicole . 2023-11-21 . La razón por la que el completo "más largo del mundo" en Talca eran varios completos separados y no uno entero . 2023-12-03 . La Tercera.
5. Web site: Media . Tag Restaurants . 2003-07-02 . 2011-10-22 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20111030080243/http://tagrestaurants.com/media_7_3.html . 2011-10-30 .
6. Vienna(R) Beef Breaks Record at Taste of Chicago for World's Longest Hot Dog, Measuring a Whopping 37 Feet, 2 Inches . Chicago, Illinois . Prnewswire.com . 2011-10-22.
7. Web site: abc7chicago.com - ABC7 WLS Chicago and Chicago News. https://web.archive.org/web/20110521032739/http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=News&id=1805816. dead. May 21, 2011. ABC7 Chicago. 30 September 2014.
8. Web site: Great American Hot Dog Festival attains Worlds Longest Hot Dog record of 50' 7 . Prleap.com . 2005-12-31 . 2011-10-22.
9. Web site: Guinness World Records . https://web.archive.org/web/20160303233034/http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/content_pages/record.asp?recordid=53589O . 2021-11-26. 2016-03-03 .
10. http://www.abc.net.au/perth/stories/s1580171.htm
11. Web site: Home | Franz Family Bakeries . Usbakery.com . 2011-10-22.
12. Web site: Paraguay tiene el récord Guinness con un pancho de 203,80 metros. ABC Color. 30 September 2014.