Guest Author - Beth Green

Others may claim to have the world’s largest skillet, but this skillet in London, Kentucky (south of Lexington) is most likely the world’s largest skillet that is used as a, well, skillet.

This stainless steel skillet was created in 1991 by the London Bucket Company in London KY and was donated to the World Chicken Festival. A new skillet was made in 1999 by Jeff Williams Welding and Logan Steel.

Each year at the festival, volunteers cook and serve thousands of chicken dinners. More than 40,000 chicken dinners cooked in the world’s largest skillet have been served since it was first used in 1992.

The skillet is 10 & ½ feet in diameter and 8 inches deep. It weighs 700 pounds and the handle is 8 feet long. Three hundred gallons of cooking oil are needed to fill the skillet and about 60 gallons of natural gas are used each year.

Six hundred chicken quarters can be cooked at one time. During the festival, an average of 8000 pieces of chicken are cooked. Along with the World Chicken Festival’s special ingredients, 375 pounds of flour, 75 pounds of salt, and 30 pounds each of paprika and pepper are needed to fry the chicken.

The festival is held annually in September and features a parade, a car show, a chicken cooking contest, and other chicken-related activities. London, by the way, is just north of Corbin, the home of Colonel Sanders, so while you’re there, don’t forget to visit the original Kentucky Fried Chicken.


Iowa’s Largest Frying Pan

Brandon Iowa, a small town north of Cedar Rapids, is home to another large frying pan. This one was constructed in 2001 by volunteers. It was built as a promotional item for the Brandon Community Club to advertise their semi-annual Cowboy Breakfast.

This pan replicates a cast-iron skillet that would traditionally be used to cook a cowboy breakfast over an open flame. It has an 8 foot base and is 9 feet, 3 inches at the rim. The pans weighs just over 1000 pounds. While the pan is not usable, it’s estimated to have the capacity to hold 44 dozen eggs, or 176 pounds of pork chops, or 88 pounds of bacon. That’s a lot of bacon!

A nearby convenience store sells souvenirs, so if you’re in the area, be sure to stop by and pick up some bumper stickers or frying pan replicas.