I went behind the scenes at Five Guys to learn how everything is made, from the iconic fries to the smashed burgers

Five Guys Burgers and Fries prides itself on using fresh, never frozen beef patties made by hand in-house every day, and serving up fresh-cut fries as well.

The burgers come with all-you-can-eat toppings and the milkshake menu is extensive.

While I've been a fan of the chain for years, this was my first time heading into the kitchen to see how it's all made.

Before I could enter the cooking spaces, I had to get my gear on.

I was told to arrive in non-slip shoes, and then I was given an apron, a hairnet, and a baseball hat when I got there.

Like many restaurants, Five Guys takes food safety seriously.

So before I did anything else, I washed my hands in the employee sink.

Unlike Chipotle, which I experienced during my time behind their counter, Five Guys doesn't use a timer or a clock to monitor handwashing. Instead, the team goes by the general guidance of washing for around 20 seconds in water that's around 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

Amy Cryzter, the director of training at Five Guys who was on-site to help out with my pseudo-shift, told me employees must wash their hands every time they change their gloves, in addition to any other time it makes sense.

Cryzter told me that Five Guys has a specific grill for toasting buns. It's also used for making grilled cheeses and veggie sandwiches, but no meat touches that grill.

"For us, with our bread, that's our baby," she said. "That's our proprietary item."

The goal is to get a golden seal on the flat surface so that it can hold four toppings and doesn't get soggy.

From unboxing the meat shipment to shaping patties and stacking them for the refrigerator, I got to see all the meticulous work that goes into this process.

First, team members have to check the delivery box to make sure it's the right temperature and that there's no blood anywhere. They also inspect each vacuum-sealed package of meat to make sure there are no holes or tears in the plastic.

Once all is deemed safe, the meat is formed by hand into individual meatballs weighing between 3.5 and 3.7 ounces — a process that should take two employees 10 minutes, Cryzter said.

Then, a metal tool is used to press the meat between two sheets of parchment paper to form patties that are stored in a walk-in refrigerator until they're needed out front for the grill.

The meat is good for three shifts, Cryzter said. It gets prepped in the morning, is good for lunch and dinner that day, and then lunch the next day. After that, it goes in the trash.

There are three stages of the burger-cooking grill.

In stage one, you slap the meat down onto the hot surface and keep an eye out for a color change of pink to gray. Once the familiar gray color of cooked beef starts to creep up the sides of the patty, it's time for the first flip, a smash with another heavy metal tool, and then it gets transferred to stage two.

In stage two, employees will wait until they see blood pooling on top of the burger patty. Once that's visible, you move it to stage three.

Stage three is where the burgers finish cooking and then cheese is added if that's part of the customer's order. Employees will wait for clear juices to run out of the meat, at which point it's time to add the cheese and pull it from the grill.

For a regular cheeseburger — which, at Five Guys, has two patties — an employee will place two slices of cheese directly on one patty and pile the second patty on top of it. Immediately following, the employee will say "Coming through!" as they transfer the stack to an already-dressed bottom bun.

For a little burger — which has a single patty — one slice of cheese gets melted directly on the grill for no more than three seconds, and then it gets added to the cooked meat. The proteins are then transferred to a bun in the same way their double-stacked counterparts were.

Five Guys has 15 total topping options and all are free of charge. Certain ones are designated for the top bun while others are bottom-bun specific.

Bottom-bun items include ketchup, mustard, mayo, grilled onions, grilled mushrooms, green peppers, and jalapeños.

If the customer orders bacon on their burger, two pieces get broken in half and added to the bottom bun.

Everything else is a top-bun item, Cryzter said.

I learned how to tear perfectly-sized pieces of lettuce, push tomatoes through a slicer, cut discs of jalapeños the thickness of quarters, slice super thin sticks of green pepper, and more.

"Everything has a shelf life," Cryzter said.

For example, sandwich lettuce, once it's prepped, is on the line for two days, while lettuce wraps are good for one day (if they don't get used on the first day, they get shredded for the next day).

Five Guys is proud of its thick-cut, twice-cooked, boardwalk-style French fries. They have a slight bite to them on the outside, and inside they're super soft like mashed potatoes.

At my NYC location, a small order costs $4.09, and a medium costs $5.09. (Prices vary by market, and you can check your local menu on the chain's website.) While it's pricier than other chains, there are ways to cut back on spending, Insider previously reported.

Employees start by dumping one sack of potatoes into a sink and rinsing them off. Then, they get pushed through a cutting machine that turns them into sticks. Cryzter told me it should take one person no longer than five minutes to cut a bag of potatoes.

After passing through the slicer, they fall into a green-and-white basket device, which moves within the sink and agitates the potatoes to pull off most of the starch and sugar. Then, they go into a larger sink where they soak in cold water until they're needed up front for the fryer.

"If we don't do this process right, it doesn't matter what we do out there, we're not going to have a perfect fry," Cryzter said.

The fries are pre-cooked for about 2 to 3 minutes. Then, they rest for 1 to 2 minutes, and no longer than two hours if it's a slow time of day. The final cook is for 2 ½ to 3 minutes, or until the bubbles in the oil start to dissipate. The goal is to achieve a firm outer layer, but not a crispy one.

"We don't drop our fries until we see the grill person make the first cook on the burger," Cryzter told me, talking about fulfilling an order of a burger and fries. "But if we're busy, fries are being dropped constantly."

After the final cook, the employee working the fry station will shake the basket at least 15 times "like you're mad at it," Cryzter said, to get rid of excess oil. Then, they get seasoned with salt and, if the customer ordered Cajun fries, Cajun seasoning.

For those who aren't in the mood for a burger, there are still other options for that Five Guys lunch outing.

You can get one of the flat-top hot dogs, which is split down the middle and grilled, or a grilled cheese made with an inverted bun on a completely separate cooktop from all the meat products.

Cryzter said that the grilled cheese is the most popular vegetarian option, while the veggie sandwich rarely gets ordered at all (the chain doesn't have a veggie burger, but you can get vegetables piled together on a bun if that's your speed).

At Five Guys, the base used for milkshakes is always vanilla-flavored mix. That means if you want chocolate, the team members are adding chocolate sauce to vanilla ice cream. Similarly, if you want strawberry, you'll get that vanilla base with Five Guys' hand-made, in-house-marinated strawberries.

The team makes both the strawberries and bananas every day on-site, and they both start with real, whole fruit which gets macerated in a container with sugar and water, and then blended by hand.

There are a variety of toppings that vary depending on what's popular at the location, but for mine, I went with peanut butter and Oreos — I would highly recommend trying it. I would also recommend dipping your hot fries in the creamy shake.

I was once a frequent flyer at Five Guys and I always loved how consistent my meals were. Each time, without fail, when I'd order my usual little cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, pickles, hot sauce, and barbecue sauce, the cheese was perfectly melted and the sandwich stayed together.

After spending time behind the scenes, that all makes sense. I got to see how fresh all the ingredients really are, and I witnessed that there's such a specific process for everything from assembling burgers to making sure the fries come out perfectly every time.

There are even rules around bagging to-go orders: Small bags get no more than two items, large bags get no more than three items, and extra-large bags get no more than five items.

While working in the kitchen for just one shift can't possibly show me what it's really like to work at the chain full-time, it did give me some insight as to how it's all done.