Highest pancake flip - world record set by Mike Cuzzacrea
CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y., USA--Equipped with a spatula, frying pan and pancake, Mike Cuzzacrea, a.k.a. the Pancake Man, flipped a pancake that reached 31 feet at the Walden Galleria - setting the new world record for the Highest pancake flip.
Cuzzacrea, who already has four Guinness World Records titles, obtained his fifth.
The previous Guinness World record for theHighest pancake flip was 30 feet, 1 inch, set last year in Lockport's Palace Theater.
The secret behind a good pancake flip is all in the technique, said Mike Cuzzacrea.
First, place the pancake at the end of a frying pan. Bend the legs a little and then flip it—with a tight elbow.
"It will go straight up and back a couple of feet so I can catch it," said Cuzzacrea, also known as the "Pancake Man."
The Guinness World Records rules says that the frying pan used must weigh at least 12 ounces and have an eight and one half inch diameter; the batter for the pancakes must be six ounces per pancake, which turns out to be three-fourths of a cup, and each pancake must be six inches in diameter and edible; and you're required to cook your own pancakes before the event.
Bertie Donovan, former principal of John Pound Elementary School in Lockport, was one of the two notaries public on hand to certify the record.
The judges had to make sure that each pancake was made with six ounces of batter in a frying pan weighing at least 12 ounces, with a base measurement of 8.5 inches in diameter. Each pancake had to be tossed over a bar, similar to the ones used in high-jump competitions. And in this case, the bar was suspended from the balcony.
Cuzzacrea's pancake batter consists of eggs, flour, milk, vegetable oil and a dash of gluten.
The Lockport resident, an employee of the United States Postal Service, has also participated in 29 marathons. In 1986, Cuzzacrea commenced his pancake-flipping career.
He broke his first Guinness World Record when he ran a marathon while flipping a pancake in three hours, six minutes and 22 seconds following five previous attempts beating out a man in England.
Cuzzacrea has a trick to running and flipping pancakes at the same time so that they don't crumble; he uses two pancakes stuck together by cellophane. In three marathons' time the Pancake Man has gone 59 miles without dropping a flapjack.
Cuzzacrea initially got into building these skills and running in marathons to raise money for various charities.
He has raised almost $60,000 for several charities including, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, March of Dimes, Multiple Sclerosis Society, Crop Walk for Hunger, Liver Transplant Baby and the Ronald McDonald House to name a few.
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