Carousel Foods’ Cheryl and Dennis Reas are the mad scientists of fair food. They brainstorm ideas, test them in their home kitchen in southern Indiana, then travel the nation dishing out their best creations.

They are considered Fair Food Royalty,  the king and queen of the gastro lab keeping loyal subjects satisfied with a menu of burgers, including fair attendees’ favorite the Donut Burger, the French Toast Burger and the Ice Cream Burger.

Not a typo, folks, this burger comes with its side of milkshake on top. Lift up the bun (if you dare) and you’ll see a chunk of deep-fried, cinnamon-coated frozen dairy product.

Inspiration can strike any time. Sometimes Dennis wakes Cheryl up in the middle of the night with a burger idea, she said. Other ideas come from fans, like the burger-loving electricians they met working the South Carolina State Fair. Those guys were so into fried bologna on their burgers they made their own and brought it to Cheryl to prove its deliciousness. Now the Redneck Burger, with fried bologna, baked beans and potato sticks, is one of Carousel’s best sellers.

Family members serve as culinary guinea pigs for their food experiments. Their son, a police officer, will bring a group of fellow officers over to sample new creations and offer a thumbs up or down, but not every idea is a hit.

“Sometimes they’re just not right,” Cheryl said. “We tried to deep fry a rib. That didn’t work. … The fried Oreo burger (with a beef patty deep fried in Oreo “batter”) was another one that wasn’t quite right.”

One thing they don’t think about: calories.

“Not really, no,” Cheryl said. “These aren’t things you’re eating every day, and a lot of people will ask you to cut them in half, or in fourths. Usually when they do that, though, they end up coming back to order another one.”