British Pie Week: Somerset's largest meat pie world record

On April 12, 1998, a group of catering students from Stratford-upon-Avon College in Warwickshire travelled to the county to create the world's largest meat pie.

Their efforts resulted in a Guinness World Record that still stands today. 

The students broke the record at The Hand Stadium, home of Clevedon Town Football Club, with a classic steak and kidney pie of epic proportions. 

The pie weighed in at 10,540 kilograms, and it was made in a container that was 9.75 metres (32 feet) long, 2.32m (7 ft 7in) wide, and 0.61m (2ft) deep.

It contained 5,500kg of diced braising beef, 1,400kg of diced ox kidney, 900kg of beef stock, 750kg of sliced mushrooms, 750kg of sliced onions, 220kg of Worcester sauce, 200kg of English mustard, plus seasoning, bitter, and thickening agents. 

The pie was topped off with a pastry lid weighing 816.69kg.

To see the full list of ingredients, click here.

Maud Davis, a spokesperson for the catering group, described the problems they encountered trying to break the record.

She said: "First of all, the meat was frozen, which slowed down the whole process.

"Then, just as we thought the record was ours, we discovered we needed two officials to check we'd reached a high enough temperature."

There was supposed to be an official tasting by comedian Eddie Large, but the setbacks meant this could not take place. 

He tried a spoonful anyway and said: "It could do with a little more salt and with maybe being in a microwave for another 48 days, but it should be nice."

According to a BBC report from the time, the pie was due to be sold for charity but the plan fell through, and the cooks may have had to "throw their good work away".

British Pie Week started on Monday, March 7. 

Read more: Will these Somerset Guinness World Records ever be broken?