Solid, functional, a professional-grade tool
This French Fry cutter works beautifully, with a few caveats.It produces lots of fries with minimal effort (hint: use older potatoes for better flavor and easier cutting). I like to soak the cut potatoes for at least 30 minutes in water with a capful of plain vinegar added. This helps draw out the starch (the water will be cloudy). This is followed by two cooks in peanut oil, one at low temp to cook the fries through, then one at high temp for crispiness. Season immediately with salt and/or BBQ rub to your preference. The cut fries are perfectly formed. Your results with proper technique will be better than anything at a drive-thru, and way-way-way less expensive.I find the machine simple to clean. The cutter blade is easily removed with 3 thumbscrews (hint: have a small bowl handy to keep the thumbscrews and lock washers together). I soak the cutter blade in a bowl of soapy water, and then use a sink sprayer and vegetable brush to make sure all the potato gunk is cleaned out. It's a 30-second job. The body of the cutter generally needs only to be wiped off with a damp cloth. You can replace the cutter and matching pusher with a different size if you wish to make different size fries.Those users who are complaining that the suction cups are too strong should note that a small rubber column on the cup can be pulled up to release the vacuum. I like having the strong attachment, as I usually cut fries on my smoothtop range and don't want the cutter sliding around. If you don't like the suction cups, take them off and mount the cutter to a piece of plywood or install it vertically on your wall. It's also handy to have a shallow bowl ready to catch the fries as they come out. Put the cut fries immediately into water to avoid darkening.Two design weaknessses: First, if you're not careful removing the cutter blade, it's easy to have the cutter seem to fall apart and be confusing to re-assemble. The more you do it, the less this is likely to happen. Second, it's possible to mount the cutter blade backward. Pay attention, people–the sharp side needs to be the one in contact with the potato! Some of the folks complaining it's too hard to push the potato through the cutter have the blade mounted backward, as the machine is designed to give you a big mechanical lever advantage against the poor defenseless potato.This a pro-style cutter, the same one I used in culinary school, and will hold up forever.