Chefman 6 Tray Digital Review

Ease of Use

We found the Chefmen 6 Tray to be straightforward to use. The controls are simple, with on/ off, temp/ time and +/ - buttons. The trays are rigid plastic, so flexing them to remove food isn't an option. However, the gaps in the grating are large enough to push sticky foods off from the bottom with a fingertip. Finally, a transparent viewing window allows one to check the progress without opening the machine.

Temperature Accuracy

The internal temperature regulation of this machine is not the best. In our series of tests across four settings, the Chefmen 6 ran consistently below the marked value.

Dehydration Results

We processed several different types of food with this machine using the manufacturer's recipes. While the difference in dehydration results between the best machines and the worst isn't vast, this machine landed in the middle class. However, it did struggle with drying meat.

Clean-Up

Truth be told, most dehydrators are a pain in the you know what to clean. However, this machine is particularly challenging. This critique is solely a product of the shape of the bottom of the machine. Our tester resorted to vacuuming the Chefman out and then wiping it down with a hot, wet cloth.

Value

The Chefman 6 is relatively inexpensive, considering the amount of tray space that it enjoys. However, those savings come at the cost of time cleaning up the machine. For this reason alone, we think that this model is not as good of a deal as it first appears.

Conclusion

Time is a precious commodity and one that can't be bought. The Chefman 6 Tray Digital Dehydrator has several fine qualities, such as ample tray space and simple controls. Unfortunately, the clean-up time required to maintain this machine is a costly and unnecessary burden. There are other machines with similar capacities that are much easier to maintain. This box and tray-style dehydrator have ample square footage at a reasonable price.