When I read that a bar in southwestern Illinois had successfully grilled 100 feet of bratwurst without breaking it, visions of meat danced in front of my eyes and I couldn’t believe it. A hundred whole feet! But then I read on and the wonders increased: The 100-foot attempt was just practice for a 200-foot bratwurst to be grilled up later to celebrate the town’s 200th anniversary. And yes, there will be a 200-foot bun.

About 50 volunteers, coordinated via megaphone, participated in the epic grilling effort at the Silver Creek Saloon in Belleville, IL, reports the Belleville News-Democrat. You might remember Belleville for the World’s Largest Bottle of Catsup, which I can only assume will spout fountains of red stuff at the party as well (I made that up, it probably won’t happen, sigh).

To grill the extra long wiener, volunteers shoveled coals onto a long metal trough made specially for the event, and the meat man in charge from a local meatpacking company unrolled all 60 pounds of brat with natural, interlocked casing, containing 100% gluten-free lean pork.

When it came time to rotate the sausage, the entire group had to work together to gently roll it over at the same time, to ensure the meat reached 160 degrees and would be cooked enough to eat safely.

There were some tense moments, it seems, but despite a few splits here and there, the meat remained unbroken.

“They did good; they did real good,” said one local. “There were no erratic movements.”

The 200-foot brat is set to be grilled on Sept. 21 during the town’s Bicentennial Oktoberfest Weekend Celebration, complete with that 200 feet of bun baked at a local bakery. Anyone who wants to eat a piece of the never-ending sausage can make a donation, with proceeds going to area food pantries.

And if you were wondering if this was some kind of record, well, it might be — but event organizers are taking the unofficial route in this situation, because they’d rather put the money required for a fee to have a record recognized by the World Record Academy toward the festival.

“We decided this was not an expense we wanted to incur. We’re just going to do it for the fun of it and have it be an unofficial record,” said a member of the event committee.

I will end with this: TWO HUNDRED FEET OF UNBROKEN MEAT. If this becomes a reality, the town of Belleville will be my new hero.

Get it while it’s hot! Belleville bar grills 100-foot brat [Belleville News Democrat]

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