Kitchens across the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and Canada are set to get messy today for the age-old tradition of Pancake Day.
 
Shrove Tuesday marks the last day before lent - a 40 day period of abstinence. In times past this meant it was necessary to rid the cupboards of all sugar, fats and eggs to avoid waste and temptation. Therefore Pancake Day was born.
 
The celebration is often marked by pancake-related world record attempts, and today has been no different with one new title set this morning by chef John Whaite, who set a new record for the fastest time to stack 25 pancakes live on ITV’s Lorraine show earlier this morning.

Here below we take a look at some of our favourite pancake-related world records.


Largest -Pancake

Largest pancake
The largest pancake was created in Rochdale, Manchester, UK in 1994, by the Co-Operative Union, Ltd. Measuring 15.01 m (49 ft 3 in) in diameter and 2.5 cm (1 in) thick, the pancake weighed 3 tonnes (6,614 lb), and took more than just a frying pan to flip over!

Most tosses of a pancake in one minute
The fastest flipper may well be Australian celebrity chef Brad Jolly, who holds the record for most tosses of a pancake in one minute, notching up a so far unbeatable 140 flips in 60 seconds during an event in Sydney in 2012.

Highest pancake toss
Dominic Cuzzacrea made a monumental flip measuring 9.47 m (31 ft 1 in) at the Walden Galleria Mall in Cheektowaga, New York, USA, in November 2010.

Most people tossing pancakes
The most people tossing pancakes is 890 and was achieved at an event organised by the University of Sheffield (UK), in Sheffield, UK, back in 2012.

Lots Of Pancakes

While a total of 930 participants attended, 40 flippers had to be discounted due to either dropping their pancake or not managing to toss their pancake within the allotted time. 

Largest Indian pancake spun
Dosa's are large crispy pancake made from daal which are a staple food of Southern India which are spun around when made.

The largest ever spun measured 76 cm (2 ft 5 in) in diameter and was achieved by Cao Huaijiang (China) on the set of Zheng Da Zong Yi - Guinness World Records Special in Beijing, China, on 20 June 2009.

Most pancakes made in 8 hours by a team

Most pancakes made in 8 hours by a team
An incredible 76,382 pancakes were flipped and served by a team representing pancake mix makers Batter Blaster at Centennial Olympic Park, Atlanta, USA, back in May 2009. A total of 175 volunteers using 37 griddles cooked the pancakes and dished them out to approximately 20,000 people. 

Most pancakes thrown and caught in 1 minute - team of two
It will come as no surprise to find serial record breaker Ashrita Furman has also got in on the pancake record breaking action.

Ashrita teamed up with his regular record-breaking collaborator Bipin Larkin to throw and catch 46 pancakes in 60 seconds in New York in September 2009.

Fastest marathon flipping a pancake 
While flipping a pancake continuously in a frying pan, Mike Cuzzacrea (USA) completed the Casino Niagara International Marathon (Buffalo, New York, USA - Niagara Falls, Canadian side) in a time of 3 hr 2 min 27 sec on 24 October 1999.

Most pancakes made in one hour (individual)

Most pancakes made in one hour (individual)
We end with surely the king of the flippers - Ross McCurdy. The restaurant owner from Kingston, Washington, USA set a record for most pancakes made in one hour by an individual back in August 2013 after cooking a staggering 1,092 pancakes.