Uruguay hosts world's biggest barbecue beating Argentina Published duration 11 December 2017

image copyright AFP image caption The meat was cooked "con cuero", without being skinned first

The small city of Minas in Uruguay has set a new Guinness world record by hosting the largest barbecue ever.

Almost 200 cooks used 60 tonnes of wood to fire up their gigantic barbecue on which they grilled 16.5 tonnes of raw meat for a total of 14 hours.

The aim was to break Argentina's previous record, which took the title from Uruguay in 2011.

There is fierce rivalry between the two neighbouring countries over who produces the better beef.

Uruguay, which has three times as many cattle as it has inhabitants, is one of the world's main beef exporters.

image copyright AFP image caption The beef was grilled over wood on open pits

The beef for the record-breaking barbecue was weighed twice, once in its raw state and again once it had been cooked.

The cooked weight had to surpass the 9.16 tonnes grilled in the Argentine city of La Pampa in 2008 to establish a new Guinness world record.

A notary confirmed that the Uruguayan barbecue weighed in at 10.36 tonnes.

image copyright AFP image caption The weight of the cooked meat exceeded the 9.16 tonnes cooked in Argentina in 2011

The historic rivalry with Argentina was evident among the Uruguayan cooks with one telling AFP news agency: "All this is not about the Guinness record, it's about beating the Argentines."

The cooks also prepared 4,000kg (8,800lb) of Russian salad to accompany the beef.

Organisers said thousands of people gathered to watch the event and to sample the food.

Plates of the barbecued beef with Russian salad and bread were sold at a little over $5 (£3.75) each.