If you are driving Interstate-40 through North Carolina, you might want to get off at exit 380 for a quick look at the world’s largest frying pan in Rose Hill. Weighing in at 2 tons, this handy kitchen utensil is a full 15 feet in diameter. Its handle is six feet long, but nobody is going to be picking it up anytime soon.
The pan is divided into eight sections, each of which can be used separately. That’s good, because to fill the whole pan takes 200 gallons of oil. When it’s filled to capacity, it can cook 365 chickens at the same time. As many as 3,000 dinners were cooked at once in this fry pan.
Used by many of the town’s civic groups for fund-raising and community building, dinners are often held to raise money for those in need. The fire department, the Chamber of Commerce and the Lions Club host events here on the town green.
The town has been a major supplier of chickens since Dennis Ramsey started raising them here in the 1950’s. Since then, poultry has been the main agribusiness for the region.
If you go:
Between Raleigh and Wilmington, take exit 380 off I-40 and head west about one mile. Turn right on Route 117. After ¼-mile, you’ll see the pan on your right.
