A Texas bread company is announcing its arrival in Lawrence with a major piece of equipment: a grill and smoker big enough to handle 200 steaks or 500 hamburgers or 1,000 hot dogs.

Mrs. Baird’s Ultimate Smoker and Grill will be cooking from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. today at Hy-Vee, 4000 W. Sixth St.

For a $2 donation to Deerfield School – the charity designated by store officials – customers can get either a brat or a hot dog plus chips and a drink.

All will be served up from behind a 55-foot-long apparatus billed as the world’s largest traveling grill and smoker, with 40 square feet of grilling space and a smoker big enough to load 1.25 tons of brisket at one time.

“It hasn’t been certified by Guinness, but we’re working on it,” said Elizabeth Watters, a company spokeswoman.

Mrs. Baird’s, based in Fort Worth, Texas, started making its breads and sweet products available in Lawrence, Topeka and Wichita within the past month. The products are sold through Hy-Vee and Dillons stores, and Wal-Mart supercenters.

The grill and smoker arrived Thursday at Hy-Vee, 3504 Clinton Parkway, where it sold food. Proceeds from that event went to the American Red Cross.

Brian Fadden, Lawrence, enjoys a hot dog from Mrs. Baird's Ultimate Smoker and Grill at Hy-Vee, 3504 Clinton Parkway. The Texas bread company donated Thursday's sales from the 55-foot-long apparatus to the American Red Cross. Today, the truck will be at Hy-Vee, 4000 W. Sixth St., where proceeds will go to Deerfield School.