What finally got you, @adamgreen? Was it something in the news or just a wild personal story you heard? Gotta know what broke the shock meter, lol.

Frozen fries are way more consistent though. Fresh potatoes have too much water, they steam instead of crisp up half the time. A good brand of shoestring fries from the freezer gets that perfect golden crunch every single time without any guesswork. You can still add all those seasonings to the oil or toss them after.

Honestly used to think that was overkill until a snapped line wasted a whole morning. Now it's the first thing I check, like putting on a seatbelt. A tiny bend you can barely see will mess up the feed every single time. That one simple habit saves so much frustration later. Changed my whole routine.