The Melt Takes World Record With Giant Cheese Sculpture

The Earth has a new record for the world's biggest cheese sculpture, because The Melt and renowned cheese sculptor Troy Landwehr have taken the title with a 1,524-pound block of Cheddar shaped like a giant hamburger.

The giant burger sculpture was unveiled and measured on Friday to celebrate National Cheeseburger Day. The Melt, a San Francisco-based fast-casual burger chain, sponsored the sculpture, which reportedly took over 30 hours for Landwehr to carve out of a one-ton block of pure Wisconsin Cheddar.

It was unveiled Friday, September 18, at The Melt at the Hollywood & Highland shopping center in Los Angeles, and when it was finished the giant cheese sculpture reportedly stood a proud 45 inches tall and 38 inches in diameter. At 1,524 pounds, it weighs 599 pounds more than the previous record-holder.

"The Melt added cheeseburgers to the menu in November 2014, and they have quickly become our most popular menu item," said Kerri Martin, VP of Marketing at The Melt. "As we approached the one-year anniversary of the introduction of cheeseburgers we wanted to pay homage to all things deliciously cheesy – and put smiles on our fans' faces by breaking this record. We're happy to say we have accomplished that goal."

There's no word on what will become of the 1,524 pounds of cheese now that the record has been clinched, but here are some of our best cheese recipes, just in case.