The Incredible BBQ Record That Was Just Broken

If you've ever tried to make barbecue at home, there's a good chance it made you appreciate just how much work goes into making the smoked meats you can buy at the roadside restaurants, stands, and shacks that specialize in slowly smoking beef, pork, chicken, and more until they're mouthwateringly juicy and savory. There are a lot of common BBQ mistakes you're probably making at home, but sometimes the real difference between homemade bbq and the pitmaster's special is time.

Real barbecue takes a lot of time. Slathering chicken drumsticks in grocery store barbecue sauce and tossing them on the grill might make for a tasty meal, but real barbecue is made by smoking meat, not cooking it quickly over screaming hot coals (via The Daily Meal). In the spirit of those long hours spent making specialties like Texas beef brisket, which can take between 12-18 hours to fully cook (via Hey Grill Hey), some enterprising pitmasters have been engaged in an international battle to claim the Guinness World Record for "Longest Barbecue Marathon (Team)." 

The previous world record was set by an Italian team in 2017, but per Food & Wine, a trio of barbecue masters from Texas recently decided to try to best it. 

So, just how long does a pitmaster have to stand outside tending to their smoked meats in order to break a world record? The Italian team who previously broke the Guinness World Record for "Longest Barbecue Marathon (Team)" cooked for 40 hours and 53 seconds. And though their record stood for several years — a team from Memphis attempted to beat them in 2021, but was unsuccessful (via Local Memphis) — this group of three Texans just beat the world record by almost an hour. 

According to Food & Wine, three chefs from Panther City BBQ in Fort Worth managed to break the previous record on July 15. Their journey began on July 13 and the trio then cooked continuously for 40 hours, 49 minutes, and 17 seconds. The winning chefs — Chris Magallanes, Mark Montemayor, and Ernie Morales — cooked more than 850 pounds of food for local frontline workers and charities during their marathon. Even more impressive? The high temperatures on the days they cooked ranged from 99-107 degrees F, but they were able to beat the heat (via The Weather Channel). 

And if you're wondering how the food tasted, just know that Yelp reviewers, a notoriously picky bunch (via KTAR News), have given the restaurant the three work at a 4.5 out of 5 star rating from 187 reviews. Chances are the team made some frontline workers in Fort Worth pretty happy with their marathon-cooked meal.