Another Big Mother

Last year, the Timbler Rattlers shocked and awed fans with the Big Mother, a 1-pound burger on a 1-pound pretzel bun, with cheese, bacon, beer-battered onion rings and cheese curds. This year, Executive Chef Tim Hansen was on a mission to top it, and he’s done just that—with Big Mother Funnel Burger.

“I noticed that the funnel cake was the exact same size as the burger,” he said. “I tried it out. It was actually really good. The sweet and savory thing really works.” It’s as simple as that, and the press and visitors to Fox Cities Stadium, Appleton, Wis., have eaten it up.

“We’ve had people who have said that they traveled from all over the country,” Hansen explained. “I think the pairing of this burger with the grilled cheese bacon cheeseburger (another one of Hansen’s creations) really put [this season] over the top.”

To construct this culinary monstrosity, the 1-pound patty is thrown on the grill along with eight pieces of bacon. When the burger is done, five ounces of mozzarella cheese are placed on top and melted before the bacon rests on the cheese. “We put the funnel cake down [in the fryer], and when it comes up, we dust it with powdered sugar,” Hansen said. Two funnel cakes act as the bun, and the whole thing is, again, dusted with powdered sugar.

According to the chef, it all takes about 10 minutes to put together a dish that will cost any brave foodie $20 and just under 3,000 calories. “It definitely has that ‘wow’ factor,” Hansen added.

Contact: Tim Hansen, (920) 733-4152 X 264

Executive Chef Tim Hansen
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, Appleton, Wis.

At a spry 34 years old, Hansen describes himself as a student of the internet and a graduate of the school of hard knocks. “In this day and age, if you don’t know how to do something, you can just Google it,” he said. “That’s kind of how I learned to cook, just being hungry to learn and then investigating it on my own.”

The chef “had cooking jobs growing up,” but it wasn’t until college that he got his culinary break. “I ended up getting hired as an executive chef while I was in business school,” he said. The rest is history—he graduated with his business degree, got another job leading the kitchen at a fast-casual restaurant and is now working on his third season with the Timber Rattlers.

“We have 70 home games, but when we’re not at home, we have banquets constantly,” he said. “We’re one of the few minor league teams that have an upscale banquet facility. We also cook for our team. ... There’s never a dull moment.”