Joey Chestnut is officially the Mac Daddy.
Chestnut, 36, may be best known as the 12-time winner of Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, an annual belly-stuffing showdown held every Fourth of July on Coney Island. Last year, he downed a hefty 71 franks in just 10 minutes — still three hot dogs short of his 2018 record of 74.
Now, the world’s top-rated eater set his hungry eyes on the McDonald’s Big Mac, and filmed the gustatory feat as proof of his record-breaking attempt.
“Today’s my cheat day, and I’m going to do something I’ve always wanted to do,” a surprisingly fit Chestnut told YouTube viewers on Thursday. “I’m going to try to break the Big Mac record.”
Using UberEats, he racked-up an order for 32 Big Macs — to beat the previous record of 30 — from an Indianapolis-area McDonald’s. Not to be missed, the McMenu, which appears on-screen, shows that one sandwich clocks-in at a sizeable 540 calories. Chestnut also noted that, on McD’s own smartphone app, they limit the order to just 15 burgers.
The “intimidating” burger bevvy, he notes in the video, contains 15.36-pounds of food for a total of 18,016 calories.
“I’m excited,” he gushes. “This is like a dream of mine since I was a kid.”
During the clip, Chestnut recalled fond memories of chowing down on Big Macs with his grandfather: “They would sell two Big Macs for $4, and me and my grandpa would get four of them. I’d end up eating three.”
Mercifully, a time-lapse stopwatch at the bottom of the screen indicates his pace during the almost 13-minute video. After five and a half minutes he’s on burger No. 7, and dripping with “meat sweats.”
“That’s normal,” he says, wiping his brow.
Unsurprisingly, the sweating only gets worse as Chestnut complains that he’s “running out of steam,” adding that most contests last about 10 minutes. By this time, the Mac attack has continued for over 25 minutes.
He manages to push himself for another 12 minutes to the record’s completion: 32 Big Macs in 38 minutes, 15 seconds.
“Thirty-two Big Macs,” an exasperated Chestnut reiterates, before letting out a hearty belch. “I finally did it.”
In the end, the munching masochist invites his fans to send him ideas for new challenges.
“Anything fun and something not too easy,” he says. “I like pushing myself. I like eating. I like going into a food coma afterwards.”
