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Patrick Schaeffer

Bacon Cheeseburger
S24E3 American · 2020
Senior Executive Chef for Aramark at Citi Field (New York Mets stadium); oversees stadium food operations

Patrick Schaeffer cooks for forty thousand people on game days. He is the Senior Executive Chef for Aramark at Citi Field — the New York Mets stadium — which means his job, in any given week of baseball season, is to keep tens of thousands of people fed without any of them noticing they are eating stadium food.

He beat Bobby with a bacon cheeseburger. The cheeseburger is the most overcooked competitive dish in American television history. Every chef who has ever done it on TV has had a take. Schaeffer's was the take of a man who has cooked ten thousand burgers in a row and watched what works and what doesn't.

Bobby has spent thirty years on the burger as a personal brand. Bobby's Burger Palace was a chain. Schaeffer, who feeds the Mets, beat Bobby at Bobby's burger.

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Bacon Cheeseburger

20 min Prep
15 min Cook
4 Serves
Ingredients
  • 2 lb ground beef chuck (80/20 blend), kept cold
  • 8 slices thick-cut bacon
  • 4 oz sharp cheddar cheese, sliced 1/4-inch thick
  • 4 brioche burger buns, split
  • 2 tbsp kosher salt
  • 1 tbsp freshly cracked black pepper
  • 4 tbsp unsalted butter, divided
  • 1 large yellow onion, sliced 1/4-inch thick
  • 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • 4 leaves butter lettuce
  • 2 medium tomatoes, sliced 1/4-inch thick
  • 2 tbsp mayonnaise
Instructions
  1. Cook bacon in a cast-iron skillet over medium heat for 8-10 minutes until crispy. Transfer to paper towels and break each slice in half. Reserve 1 tbsp bacon fat in the pan.
  2. Add 2 tbsp butter to the bacon fat and sauté sliced onions over medium-high heat for 6-7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until deeply caramelized and soft. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Set aside.
  3. Divide cold ground beef into 4 portions (8 oz each). Form each into a loose ball, then gently press into a 3/4-inch thick patty with your thumb creating a shallow dimple in the center. Season both sides generously with kosher salt and cracked pepper just before cooking.
  4. Heat a cast-iron skillet or griddle over high heat until smoking. Place patties on the dry surface and cook undisturbed for 3 minutes until a golden crust forms. Flip once and cook 2 minutes, then immediately place a slice of cheddar on each patty. Cook 1-2 minutes more until the cheese melts and internal temperature reaches 160°F (medium).
  5. During the last minute of burger cooking, butter the cut sides of brioche buns with remaining 2 tbsp butter and toast them cut-side down on the griddle for 1-2 minutes until golden brown.
  6. Assemble burgers on toasted buns: spread 1/2 tbsp mayonnaise on bottom bun, layer butter lettuce, then cheeseburger patty, 2 bacon pieces, caramelized onions, tomato slice, and Dijon mustard on top bun. Serve immediately.
Inspired by Patrick Schaeffer’s winning bacon cheeseburger. This is a plausible recreation, not the chef’s original recipe.
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