Gluten-free diets have become increasingly popular in recent years, with more and more people opting to avoid gluten for medical reasons or simply as a lifestyle choice. This rise in gluten-free eating has led to increasing demand for gluten-free versions of foods that traditionally contain gluten, like bread, pasta, and pizza. Pizza in particular can be tricky to make gluten-free while still maintaining the right texture and taste. This has led some innovative pizzerias to find ways to create gluten-free pizzas that are just as delicious as the regular kind. Some have even gone as far as attempting record-breaking gluten-free pizzas in terms of sheer size. This article will explore which pizzerias currently hold the record for the largest gluten-free pizza ever made.
What is gluten and why do some people need to avoid it?
Gluten is a protein found in grains like wheat, barley, and rye. It acts as a glue that helps food maintain its shape, which is why it’s great for creating chewy, elastic textures in bread dough and pizza crust. However, some people’s bodies react negatively to gluten.
Those with celiac disease have an autoimmune disorder triggered by gluten, which causes damage to the small intestine. Eating gluten can lead to symptoms like diarrhea, bloating, and abdominal pain in people with celiac. Gluten sensitivity or intolerance is a milder condition involving symptoms like headache, fatigue, and joint pain after gluten consumption.
Others avoid gluten due to non-celiac wheat sensitivity or simply as a lifestyle choice, even if they don’t have an overt medical reason to stay away from it. Whatever the reason, the rise in popularity of gluten-free eating has led to demand for tasty gluten-free versions of traditionally gluten-heavy foods.
The challenges of making gluten-free pizza
Pizza presents a particular challenge when it comes to making a tasty gluten-free version. The stretchy gluten found in regular pizza dough makes it easy to shape and provides that satisfying chewy texture in the baked crust. Removing gluten from pizza dough can make it much more difficult to work with and often results in a flatter, denser crust.
Gluten helps trap the air bubbles produced by yeast, which is what gives pizza crust its lovely holey, bubbly appearance. Without gluten, gluten-free pizza crust has a tendency to fall flat. Finding replacement ingredients that can mimic some of the effects of gluten development in regular pizza dough is the key to creating a gluten-free pizza that has a tender, fluffy crust.
Ingredients like xanthan gum, guar gum, flaxseeds, and psyllium husk are often used to add structure and elasticity back into gluten-free dough. Rice flour, tapioca flour, chickpea flour, almond flour, and corn flour are examples of gluten-free flours often used as the base in recipes. Getting the proportions and combinations of ingredients correct is challenging but important for gluten-free pizza success.
Adding toppings and baking a gluten-free pizza crust without it falling apart or becoming soggy are also obstacles bakers must overcome. Those attempting extra large pizzas face even greater difficulties when it comes to keeping such a large gluten-free crust intact.
Why create an extra large gluten-free pizza?
For some pizzerias, making an exceptionally large gluten-free pizza is a way to show off their skill and creativity. It demonstrates their mastery of gluten-free dough technique and ability to execute on a grand scale. It’s an impressive technical and artistic accomplishment.
A record-breaking gluten-free pizza also works great as a publicity stunt. Videos of giant pizzas going viral online generate lots of attention and interest for the pizzeria behind them. It’s a way for a restaurant to make a name for itself in its industry and locality.
Crafting giant pizzas is always a crowd-pleasing endeavor. The sheer size and novelty factor help attract customers and business. This applies just as much to gluten-free giant pizzas, since it shows a restaurant is just as capable of feeding and entertaining gluten-free diners.
Some pizzerias also pursue huge gluten-free pizzas to prove that specialized dietary needs don’t have to limit food enjoyment. Their enormous creations demonstrate that gluten-free food can be just as delicious and impressive as food containing gluten.
The largest gluten-free pizzas on record
Several pizzerias around the world have cooked up extra large gluten-free pizzas in attempts to break records. Here are some of the biggest and most notable:
Caputo’s Take Away, Australia – 1,085 pound pizza
In March 2021, this Australian pizzeria baked up a massive gluten-free pizza measuring nearly 52 feet across. It weighed in at 1,085 pounds, setting a new Guinness World Record for the largest gluten-free pizza ever made. The pizza was big enough to cover an entire parking lot. Caputo’s used over a ton of dough and gluten-free ingredients to create the enormous pie.
Smiling with Hope Pizzeria, Brazil – 2,080 pound pizza
This Brazil pizzeria set the current Guinness World Record in February 2022 with their colossal gluten-free pizza weighing over a ton, at 2,080 pounds. It measured 98 feet 8 inches across, nearly doubling the previous record set by Caputo’s Take Away. The pizza was so big it had to be made and baked on-site outdoors, since no oven could fit it inside.
Nrpfell Pizzeria, Switzerland – 1,500 pound pizza
Swiss pizzeria Nrpfell created this giant gluten-free pizza in May 2021 in Zurich. Weighing in at 1,500 pounds with a diameter of about 56 feet, it would have set the world record if officially submitted to Guinness. The pizza was made entirely gluten-free, using sorghum flour, rice flour, and corn starch in the crust.
Pizza Hut, USA – 10,000+ pizzas for celiac awareness
In May 2022 for Celiac Awareness Month, Pizza Hut’s gluten-free division teamed up with event host Eat Purely to bake 10,000+ personal-sized gluten-free pizzas. While not one giant pizza, the mass baking effort helped raise celiac disease awareness and set a world record for most gluten-free pizzas ever made in one event.
Lyfe Kitchen, USA – 72-inch gluten-free pizza
This American healthy restaurant chain baked a 6-foot wide gluten-free pizza in July 2015 to celebrate the opening of their newest California location. While not record-setting in size, a 72-inch gluten-free pizza is still an impressive feat of baking. Lyfe Kitchen uses a rice flour-based crust for its gluten-free pizzas.
Innovations in extra large gluten-free pizza
These massive record-breaking gluten-free pizzas were made possible by clever strategies and innovations from the baking teams behind them. Here are some of the ways they created such enormous gluten-free pizzas:
– Light and airy gluten-free dough – Using carefully tested combinations of flours, starches, gums, yeasts, and leaveners resulted in super stretchy and aerated dough that could be expanded to giant sizes without tearing.
– Reinforced structure – Some pizzas added an internal framework of wood, metal, or cardboard circled within the dough layers to maintain the pizza’s round shape and support all the weight of toppings.
– Cooked in sections – Rather than all at once, some pizzas were baked segment by segment, with the slices later assembled together like a puzzle to form the full giant pizza.
– Layered topping application – Cheese and sauces were added gradually in thin layers over the surface to keep the crust from getting soggy under the sheer amount of toppings.
– Special super hot ovens – Custom built extra hot brick ovens allowed the massive pizzas to cook fully in the limited time before gluten-free dough dries out. Internal temperatures exceeded 800°F.
– Infused flavor oils – Oils infused with italian herbs and spices were brushed or sprayed over the crust and toppings to add extra flavor since such large pies couldn’t be flavored evenly throughout the dough.
– Assembly line preparation – Streamlined commercial preparation with multiple workers applying sauce, cheese, and toppings in an efficient assembly line enabled timely construction.
– Hydration stations – Some pizza edges dried out before baking completed, so pit crews stood by to brush edges with water to re-hydrate and prevent cracking.
Preparation specifics from record holders
To learn more about how these monumental gluten-free pizzas were made, here are some preparation details directly from a few of the record holders:
Caputo’s Take Away
– Used oven with internal temperature of 400°C (750°F)
– Pizza cooked in 8 panels sprayed with garlic oil
– 1,500 lbs of mozzarella cheese
– Required 11 different stations for topping application
Smiling with Hope Pizzeria
– Used 22,000 lbs of gluten-free flour total
– Fermented dough for 72 hours
– Cheese and sauce applied immediately before baking each segment
– Relied on corn starch to prevent sticking
– Baked on a conveyor oven stretching 98 feet
Nrpfell Pizzeria
– Built a dedicated pizza oven that could reach 480°C (900°F)
– Used wooden framework inside the dough layers for support
– Applied sauce after pre-baking bottom crust briefly
– Added cheese and toppings section by section
– Used 5 different gluten-free flours in dough recipe
Flavorings and toppings
While the gluten-free dough is the biggest challenge with extra large pizzas, choosing how to flavor and top them brings creativity and customization. Here are some of the most common ingredients found on mega-sized gluten-free pizzas:
– Traditional tomato sauce or thicker concentrated pizza sauce for bolder flavor.
– Fresh mozzarella for melting, stretching, and browning. Shredded mozzarella also helps cover large areas.
– Meat toppings like pepperoni, Italian sausage, ham, and bacon.
– Vegetable toppings like mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, spinach, bell peppers, olives, and artichokes.
– Fresh herbs like basil, oregano, and parsley help add flavor.
– Infused olive oils get brushed over crust or drizzled across toppings. Garlic oil is popular.
– Spices like dried oregano, red pepper flakes, and Italian seasoning.
– Grated parmesan cheese as finishing touch over the melted mozzarella.
– Balsamic glaze or pesto sauce drizzled over toppings or around crust edges.
Preparing and serving challenges
Getting a gluten-free pizza baked at such enormous sizes is only half the battle. The logistics of prepping, moving, and serving a giant pizza also present difficulties, such as:
– Transporting thousands of pounds of pizza from the baking location to serving venue. Some pizzas are partially baked off-site and finished at the serving location.
– Having adequate space to accommodate the full pizza diameter, including enough table space for the pizza itself plus room for people to access slices. Outdoor locations work best.
– Slicing evenly through such thick crust and toppings without having the pizza fall apart. Some pizzas are pre-sliced into segments after baking.
– Keeping the pizza hot until served. Extra hot custom ovens help bake it initially, and some pizzas get reheated before eating.
– Dealing with sanitation and avoiding contamination when so many people access slices from a single pizza. Compartmentalized paper plates and single-use utensils help.
– Feeding extremely large crowds, sometimes several hundred or thousand people line up for a slice. Efficient serving systems are required to maintain order.
– Preventing enormous amounts of waste from uneaten pizza that can’t be saved after service. Unused portions get composted or donated when possible.
– Transporting and disposing of gigantic pizza pans, which most residential ovens can’t accommodate. Some pizza crusts get baked directly on the floor of commercial ovens.
Are huge gluten-free pizzas appetizing to eat?
While record-seeking gluten-free pizzas make a spectacle when being made and served, the logical question arises – do they actually taste good? Giant pizzas have some inherent challenges when it comes to quality:
– Unable to evenly spread flavors throughout dough in such large batches.
– Difficult to get perfect rise and chewiness in a thick, oversized crust.
– Tendency to over-bake outer areas while inner crust remains underdone.
– Flopping under heavy toppings layered on top.
– Soggy if sauce and oils make crust wet.
– Logistics make it hard to serve immediately piping hot.
However, the skillful pizzerias engineering these giant gluten-free pizzas have found ways to maximize quality, within the limits of what’s possible at such sizes. Strategies include:
– Pre-fermenting dough over several days and using starter cultures to develop complex flavor.
– Layering toppings judiciously to avoid over-weighing crust.
– Baking pizza in segments so crust gets evenly cooked through.
– Using flavor-infused oils to permeate entire crust surface.
– Allowing pizza to rest before slicing to set crust structure.
– Reheating just before serving to restore crispness.
– Serving smaller individual slices so each piece has good proportion of crust, sauce, and toppings.
Taste test reports from various mega pizza events indicate that while maybe not the absolute best pizza ever eaten, the flavors and texture turn out pretty well considering the pizza’s epic proportions. The experience and enjoyment factor make up for minor quality limitations.
Health and nutrition considerations
One downside of pursuing such large pizzas is that it promotes overconsumption of what should be an occasional treat food. No single person could or should eat an entire slice of a multi-thousand pound pizza. Even a small slice may contain a full day’s worth of calories, fat, carbs, and sodium for an average adult. Additionally, some gluten-free dough recipes rely on starches like rice flour that spike blood sugar.
On the positive side, using gluten-free crust provides equal indulgence opportunity for those who need to avoid gluten. There’s also potential to maximize nutrition by piling vegetable toppings high. Lyfe Kitchen’s 72-inch pizza aimed for a healthy balance by using a nutrient-dense gluten-free crust and plant-based cheese along with lots of veggies.
Overall, giant pizzas should be an uncommon novelty experience focused on creativity and community more than personal nutrition. A few special occasion bites can be part of an otherwise balanced diet for most people without issue. Those with medical conditions like diabetes or celiac disease should take extra care when consuming large amounts of pizza.
Cost of ingredients
The ingredients that go into a multi-thousand pound pizza add up fast. Costs to make the world’s largest gluten-free pizzas included:
– Caputo’s 1,085 lb pizza – $7,000 AUD for ingredients
– Smiling with Hope’s 2,080 lb pizza – $13,000 USD for ingredients
– Nrpfell’s 1,500 lb pizza – $5,500 USD for ingredients
Gluten-free flours tend to cost more than regular wheat flour, and giant pizzas require tons of dough materials. Cheese is another huge cost, with over a thousand pounds needed for the largest pies. Sauce, toppings, herbs and oils also add up when purchasing commercial-sized volumes.
Labor costs for the hours of preparation work are high as well. Most record-setting pizzas are passion projects not specifically for profit. However, the publicity they generate for the pizzerias involved has big financial value. Brand awareness and looking impressive helps attract business and loyalty in a competitive industry.
Conclusion
Giant pizzas instantly incite awe and excitement, even more so when they’re crafted to be gluten-free. Pushing the boundaries of size with specialized dough is an impressive feat that provides a unifying experience for communities. The innovation required in preparation and serving is a testament to the skill of these record-breaking pizzerias.
While maybe not the tastiest or most balanced meal, enormous gluten-free pizzas serve their purpose in celebrating possibilities and bringing people together. The world record holders have proven that staying gluten-free doesn’t mean sacrificing enjoyment or grand ambitions when it comes to one of the most beloved foods – pizza! With the ongoing ingenuity happening in gluten-free baking, the ceiling will keep rising on just how big these pies can get.