While records are being broken left, right and centre at the London Olympics, a rather unusual one has been smashed right here in Cumbria.
Broughton-in-Furness pig breeder and meat producer, Gary McClure, established the record for the world’s largest Cumberland sausage ring - weighing a whopping 135 kgs - as the historic market town celebrated gaining its charter in August 1575.
The farmer gained a Guinness World Record with the sausage, which measured 3.3 metres in diameter, eclipsing the previous record of 1.5 metres.
It took six-and-a-half hours to produce – excluding the time taken to prepare the ingredients – and 90 minutes to cook.
Mr McClure said: “My grandfather bred pigs and my father was a butcher so I used to help with sausage making as a child.
“I was around five-and-a-half years old when I made my first Cumberland sausage but I never dreamt of breaking any records.
Made to a traditional recipe with 90 per cent locally-reared pork, the giant continuous sausage ring was completely hand made, the filling stuffed into natural hog casings using a 1953-built hand stuffer.
A band of helpers took part in the massive sausage-making operation at Low Aulthurstside Farm, Broughton-in-Furness, under the close scrutiny of Guinness World Records adjudicator, Ben Backhouse.
Arranged on a huge griddle custom manufactured by Handmark Engineering Co Ltd, of Barrow-in-Furness, it took 12 people to hoist the sausage ring onto a tractor-drawn trailer for the two-mile journey to Broughton’s Market Square.
There it was cooked – barbecue style – weighed, officially declared a Guinness World Record, and eaten by the assembled community.
Mr McClure added: “This has been a real community effort. I couldn’t have done it without everyone’s support and I’m proud of our achievement.”
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