Smash or pass?: We made our own smash burgers at Sultans

Everyone on campus knows about Sultans. It’s a Lancs student staple to go get cheesy curly fries from Sultans after a night out if you live on campus. But for those of us who live in town, eating at Sultans has turned from a drunken late-night adventure into going for lunch or dinner during those long busy days on campus.

So with Sultans being so popular and iconic, we were honoured to be invited into their kitchen to be where the magic happens. With our Sultans aprons and caps on, we ventured into the unknown and were taught how to make the famous Sultans smash burgers. This is how it went…

Spoiler: they taste so good!

Memorising the process

With neither of us having ever worked in a kitchen before, we definitely needed a demo on how to make the burgers. The Sultans staff were so lovely and helpful, making sure we understood the process and going over the steps again to make sure we got it.

While watching them make the burger, we were filled with the dread of having to remember all the steps – there were a lot of them! The process was quite long. But when it was our turn to have a go, we were eager to jump straight in.

Making the burgers

The task began with selecting two meat patties from the fridge and placing them on the hot plate before slowly flattening them with an iron weight. Incredibly satisfying, but certainly a lot harder than it looks. Once squashed to a suitable standard, onions were added to the grill, and we patiently waited for it to cook whilst dodging the busy Sultans staff behind us. The burgers were flipped a couple of times, with further “smashing” if necessary. Cheese was melted on top and the buns were toasted alongside it.

Finally, onto the assembly of the burger itself: crisp lettuce topped the toasted buns, followed by some fresh tomatoes and then the patty and cheese. Next followed the onions and then the top half of the bun, which was delicately coated in some kind of secret burger sauce which we definitely need the recipe for! Then we simply popped the lid of the box on and bam – one smash burger completed!

Sorting a customer’s order

When we thought it was all over, we were ushered back into the kitchen to make another smash burger, but this time for a customer! Despite the limited training we had, we were up for the challenge. We followed the order exactly, replicating the burger we’d just made for ourselves.

Not too difficult of a feat – hopefully our attempt lived up to the high standards!

Eating the fruits of our labour

They say that the best things in life are free (food), but it’s even better to make it yourself. Whilst we’re sure it could never live up to Sultans’ standards, we gave it a pretty good shot. As for the smash burger itself, definitely worth trying after a hard night partying in Sugar, or to fuel a heavy coursework session on campus.

There you have it: how to make your very own smash burger. But no one makes smash burgers like Sultans, we think we’ll be leaving it to the experts from now on.

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