In addition to undeniably delicious ‘cue, Panther City BBQ’s pitmasters get another notch on their belts: longest barbecue marathon ever.
Texans can breathe a little easier knowing that Fort Worth’s own Panther City BBQ took home the Guinness World Record for longest barbecue marathon team — a record that was previously held by a team of Italian pitmasters.
Beginning Wednesday, July 13, the pitmasters at Panther City BBQ started a marathon of slow-cooked masterpieces until they were able to barbecue continuously for 40 hours, 49 minutes, and 17 seconds. This bested the previous record of 40 hours and 53 seconds held by a barbecue team in Sassari, Italy — making this Texas triumph all the sweeter.
The team, having endured excruciating heat for nearly two full days, were only somewhat rewarded when a North Texas “cold front” blew in on Thursday, lowering the 104 degrees down to 74 for a couple of hours.
Crystal Wise
“It was somewhat of a blur after 40 hours, and the champagne was flying,” pitmaster, Chris Magallanes, says. “It was pretty wild. Once you commit to it, you have to do it. There’s no other option. We didn’t want to be there in front of all those people and not let it happen.”
Texas Monthly, our pals down in Austin, had previously heard of Panther City BBQ’s penchant for competitive barbecuing and knocked on the joint’s door for a challenge of their own: break the world record for longest barbecuing marathon. Pitmasters regularly work 18 – 20-hour work days, seven days a week; it takes a lot of effort to perfect barbecue. According to Magellanes, there are times the pitmasters go over the 24-hour mark, which gave Panther City the confidence to tackle a world record challenge.
And who got to munch on all this delicious ‘cue (two full days-worth of tender smoked meats) once it was ready? The boys at Panther City BBQ gave it to those most deserving: frontline workers.
“We are really focused on the people and seeing the first responders enjoy the food and seeing them sit down and eat,” Chris says. “We also saw the deliveries going out to local hospitals. Knowing where it was going made it all worthwhile.”
