Brandon, Iowa: Iowa's Largest Frying Pan

The frying pan still stands, however the Kwik Stop that sold the souvenirs was closed the day we stopped by. It was tough to tell if it was just closed for a few minutes, or if it was closed indefinitely. There wasn't a soul moving in the town to ask. We snapped a "winter photo" for the collection.

The fryin' pan was built in 2004 by several local men to promote Brandon's Semi-Annual Cowboy breakfast. It took 41 hours of volunteer labor hours to construct, and was modeled after a 10 inch cast iron frying pan. Iowa's Largest Fryin' Pan has an 8 foot base and is 9 ft. 3 inches at the rim. It has a five foot handle for a total length of 14 foot 3 inches. The Fryin Pan weighs 1,020 pounds.

For comparison, a 10 inch fryin pan holds 6 eggs, and Iowa's Largest Fryin Pan would hold 528 eggs, or 44 dozen. A 10 inch fryin pan holds 4 pork chops, and this one holds 352 (1/2 pound) pork chops or 176 pounds of pork chops. A ten inch skillet holds 1 pound of bacon, and Iowa's Largest Fryin Pan holds 88 pounds of bacon.

In May 2005, the Brandon Area Community Club and over 100 volunteers served over 1,700 people a menu of eggs, ham, fried potatoes, sausage gravy, baking powder biscuits, orange juice and cowboy coffee. The next breakfast is Sept 18, 2005, serving 8 am to 1 pm. We have raised over $150,000 from our Breakfasts and through private donations toward our new Community Center.

The Brandon Kwik Stop has a variety of "Fryin Pan" souvenirs for sale, along with disposable cameras.

According to the flyers posted, the town volunteers decided to boost civic pride with this fine example of recycling scrap metals. A local insisted that his brother took too much credit for coming up with the idea, but he was quick to point out (twice) that it was copied from one of his mother's pans. "They did a good job with those dents," he told us between a stream of expletives aimed at the town's ne'er-do-wells.

While it's no match for Long Beach, WA's World's Largest Frying Pan, there is no ocean to overshadow its majesty. And, if you're in the area and need to simultaneously cook 350 pork chops or 44 dozen eggs, here you go.