Pizza Hut now holds two Guinness World Records.
Last week, the multinational restaurant chain broke the Guinness World Records title for the world’s biggest pizza with the help of YouTube star Airrack.
What is the world’s biggest pizza?
A collaboration between Pizza Hut and Airrack, the world’s biggest pizza was created to celebrate both the return of Pizza Hut’s iconic fan-favorite pizza, The Big New Yorker, as well as Airrack hitting 10 million subscribers on YouTube.
Featuring a Big New Yorker pizza recipe, the world’s biggest pizza was fully assembled, topped, and then baked in pieces on-site at the Los Angeles Convention Center. As soon as the record was certified by Guinness World inspectors, over 68,000 slices of the world’s biggest pizza were donated to food banks and charities in Los Angeles.
“Our customers have been begging us to bring back the Big New Yorker for more than two decades, so we knew we had to do something big,” said Pizza Hut president David Graves in a press release. “That’s why we’re setting this GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title with Airrack and fans to celebrate the return of this iconic pizza.”
For his part, Airrack, whose real name is Eric Decker, said: “Thanks to my community, 2022 was a BIG year for our channel and I promised them that we’d break this record if they helped me hit 10 million subscribers on YouTube, so here we are delivering on that promise. To make it happen, we had to team up with the most iconic – and my favorite – pizza brand to show that NO ONE OutPizzas the Hut.”
How big is the world’s biggest pizza?
The world’s biggest pizza had a surface area of 13,990 square feet and was made of approximately 13,653 pounds of dough, 4,948 pounds of sweet marinara sauce, over 8,800 pounds of cheese, and roughly 630,496 regular and cupped pepperonis.
Pizza Hut and Airrack’s record-breaking pizza snatched the Guinness throne from the Roman pizza makers who brought to life the massive Ottavia pizza back in 2012. Boasting a surface area of 1,261.55 square meters, the gluten-free Ottavia pizza was made with over 9,000 kilos of flour per 40 meters in a pavilion of the Rome Fair.
Assembled on the plate and cooked together on site, the former world’s biggest pizza was comprised of 5,234 slabs of dough, topped with 4,000 kilos of tomato, 4,000 kilos of mozzarella for pizza, 190 kilos of oil, 675 kilos of margarine, and 250 kilos of sea salt. The Ottavia pizza had a total weight of 23,250 kilos.
Pizza Hut’s first Guinness World Record
The world’s biggest pizza is Pizza Hut’s second Guinness World Record. The restaurant chain set its first Guinness World Record back in 2016 when it delivered pizzas to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. The delivery set the Guinness World Records title for the highest altitude pizza delivery on land at a height of 19,341 feet.
What is Pizza Hut’s The Big New Yorker?
Inspired by the spirit of New York, Pizza Hut’s The Big New Yorker is a 16-inch pizza that features six oversized, foldable slices with crispy crust and rich flavors, including sweet marinara sauce and Parmesan oregano seasoning on top to achieve an authentic New York pizzeria build.
One order of The Big New Yorker extra-large pizza comes with double pepperoni, or one choose-your-own topping for a price starting at $13.99. Like other pizzas from Pizza Hut, The Big New Yorker can be customized with extra toppings or extra cheese for an additional cost.
Following its launch in 1999, The Big New Yorker was discontinued. But now, 24 years after its initial introduction, the highly requested pizza is set to return at participating Pizza Hut restaurants across the United States for a limited time only starting February 1, 2023. Hut Rewards members, meanwhile, will get exclusive access to try The Big New Yorker beginning January 31.
Who is Airrack?
Eric Decker, a.k.a. Airrack, is one of the fastest-growing video content creators in the world, reaching 10 million subscribers on his YouTube channel faster than most creators on the platform’s 17-year history.
Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Airrack took a leap of faith in 2020 when he decided to set the bold goal of going from zero to 1 million subscribers on YouTube within a calendar year. After fully committing to his objective and putting all of his money into the channel, Airrack unbelievably realized this goal in the final days of December 2020.
Airrack remains very active on YouTube and is currently building one of the platform’s strongest communities called the Airrack Mafia. He’s also launching businesses adjacent to his brand, such as Creator Now and Pizzafy), and is on track to hit 20 million subscribers by the end of this year.