The Fast Food Restaurant Where Running The Grill Takes Months Of Training

You might not expect that lengthy training would be necessary to work grilling hamburgers at a fast food restaurant. Once you learn how the grill works, the burger cooking basics may seem pretty straightforward. But that's not the case at Midwestern chain Culver's, which requires workers to go through a months-long process before they're qualified to grill its burgers.

Culver's is known for its smashburger-style ButterBurgers, named for the light swipe of butter on the toasted buns. The chain uses fresh beef, not frozen, as freezing reduces moisture in the meat. It's ground from sirloin, chuck, and plate, all cuts that have good marbling. Culver's is just as particular about how the cooked-to-order burgers are grilled as they are about what goes into them. Employees have to earn the job over time, which has its own special "grill master" title and a uniform with a chef's coat.

Future grill masters begin with one-on-one training, and advance over several months until they have their ButterBurger grilling skills down. They have to perfect the way the meat is pressed and seared to seal in the juices for a moist, flavorful burger that cooks evenly. The two-handed procedure involves pressing a mound of ground beef on the grill with a large spatula, while pushing down on the spatula at the same time with a metal canister about the size of a soda can. Former workers have said online that the canister is weighted. The burgers are flipped only once, and are done when the juices are clear.

Culver's first location opened in 1984 in Sauk City, Wisconsin, and it's grown since to some 1,000 restaurants in 26 states, largely in the Midwest. One of its biggest fans is celebrity chef Andrew Zimmern, who puts Culver's burgers above the rest of the fast food competition. The chain's ButterBurgers also won some praise from The Takeout, doing well in our head-to-head taste test against Five Guys.

Culver's has several ButterBurgers on its regular menu, including the original, whose basic ingredients are just burger and bun. Customers choose from a range of toppings for it, including "The Works" — pickles, ketchup, mustard, and raw onion. There's also an original ButterBurger with cheese, a Mushroom & Swiss burger, and two versions of The Culver's Deluxe, one with bacon. Both have cheese, pickles, mayo, raw onions, lettuce, and tomato. The last two are the Sourdough Melt, with cheddar cheese and grilled onions on toasted sourdough bread, and the Wisconsin Swiss Melt, with Swiss cheese and grilled onions on toasted rye bread. All of them can be ordered with one, two, or three burgers.

Culver's touts its frozen custard almost as much as its burgers, promoting them together on its signs. The dessert is made fresh throughout the day, and each location has its own flavor of the day daily. The Dairy State-based chain serves Wisconsin fried cheese curds (which actually have ancient origins). Other interesting menu items include corn dogs, pretzel bites, and George's Chili, made with beef and kidney beans.