Is the CO-Z 10-Tray hot enough for jerky?

Last reviewed July 2026.

No — its own published maximum sits below USDA's 160°F number. The CO-Z listing title is the category's starkest artifact: it names the maximum temperature (155°F) and calls the unit "Jerky Safe" in the same breath. USDA's jerky number for meat is 160°F; 155°F is below it on the label, before accounting for dial drift or the evaporation gap. "Jerky safe" here is a marketing phrase sitting five degrees under the guidance it evokes. No buy link, per the below-the-line rule.

The facts on file

Sources — read them yourself

• CO-Z — Amazon listing (title: "155 Degree Fahrenheit, Jerky Safe", 1000W, 10 trays)
• USDA FSIS — Jerky (160°F meat / 165°F poultry)

How to read this

USDA's jerky guidance sets the numbers — 160°F for meat, 165°F for poultry — and explains why the dehydrator can't be trusted to hit them on its own: evaporating moisture absorbs the heat, so the meat stays cooler than the air until most of the drying is done. Independent dial testing routinely finds units running 5–15°F below their setting. The answer on every row is the same and costs nothing: the oven step, before or after drying. And remember the dial is not the food's temperature.

See every dehydrator we track, claim by claim → · the units marketed for jerky below the line →

Dehydrator Score indexes manufacturer-published temperature specs and marketing claims against the USDA jerky record, with attribution — we test nothing and give no safety advice. No dial setting substitutes for USDA's instruction: heat meat to 160°F (poultry 165°F) in an oven before dehydrating, or bake the finished jerky after — inside a dehydrator, evaporating moisture holds the meat below air temperature until it is already dry. If a maker publishes a spec or manual that changes a row, the page changes — the record wins.