Initially a little frustrating because what I learned from experimenting, should be in the instruction book to begin with. It took 3 test tries, but it was well worth it because the results are great!

Here are some tips:

- Although instructions say you can stack up to 3 trays at a time, you also have to proportionately increase the cooking time and shuffle the stacking of the trays, so stacking really doesn't save time in the end.

- Chips turn out crispier and cook more evenly if you use one tray at a time. Since stacking doesn't really save time, I cooked one tray at a time, and while the first tray was cooking, I sliced & arranged the slices on the other trays.

- Cooking time is quite a bit longer than the advertised 3 minutes. We have a 850 watt Dacor microwave and it took 6.5 minutes to cook a single tray of thinly sliced chips. Check your microwave power output and adjust accordingly. * * update below.

- A good visual sign that they're ready is when they start to curl up a little around the edges.

- Slice chips as thin as possible for crispy chips. I used a mandoline's thinnest setting. I scrubbed the potatoes, then left the skins on. Thicker slices took over 8 minutes to cook - - they turned out more crunchy than crispy - - still good, but we prefer thinner and crispier.

- Be sure to let chips cool completely. They don't crisp until they are completely cool.

- Sweet potato chips are our favorite, as they require absolutely no seasoning at all. tip: sweet potatoes turn out better than yams, as they are drier and crisp up better.

Definitely something we'll use regularly for guilt free snacking.

* * update: I recently bought a new mandoline and it has made the world of difference! Swissmar Borner V Power Mandoline, V-7000, White

This mandoline slices soooo very thinly & effortlessly, that the chips do indeed, crisp up in 4 minutes. Definitely worth getting this mandoline to partner with these chip trays.

These are great! I make chips in my pampered chef ones all the time and these are way cheaper than the pampered chef ones and they are exactly the same!! I read somewhere that this company is the one that makes the ones of pampered chef. I wish I would've found these before I had ordered my pampered chef ones, but oh well. I'm just glad I found them now. These will be my go to replacements, if and when they need to be replaced. I doubt they will though. The silicone is fairly thick and sturdy. It will sag a tiny bit when heated after use, but when washed and cooled off they go right back to being more taut. They haven't stained or gotten water marks or torn. I use them quite regularly (at least a couple of times a week) so I bought these to make bigger batches because these chips disappear really fast and I needed to be able to make more so I can actually sit and enjoy them instead of standing by the microwave the entire time making small batches and then eating them before the next batch is done.

I bought this a few weeks ago and used for the first time today. Some tips I learned over the first few batches:
1. Cut your potatoes super thin. I had to use the thinnest setting on my mandolin.
2. If you have a small microwave, you may have to take out your rotating plate. I had to.
3. They take a LONG time. I was using two stacked trays. I found it worked best to microwave for 6 minutes, pull out the trays and flip each chip, then microwave another 3 minutes. Issue #2 above may have contributed to my timing problems.

I haven't tried adding any seasoning yet, and my boyfriend hasn't been home to do a more critical taste test, but I'm pretty happy with them. I'd definitely make a batch for a Saturday to eat with bean dip or while watching a movie. I'll probably try using Old Bay to season, bc my boyfriend likes the Utz chips with that flavor. Popcorn salt would probably work well too.

So I'm happy with the purchase, may even buy 2 more so I can maximize my time efficiency with these. They just take a while to figure out the right timing depending on your chip thickness and microwave wattage.

I purchased the tray and mandolin set and the set of 2 trays. I made potato chips and sweet potato chips. They came out great (I dried the potatoes really well before cooking); however, when you use more than one tray, after the recommended time (an additional minute per tray), you need to check each tray to see if they are done. In my microwave, more than 1 tray is not cooked to perfection in the recommended amount of time. When I add more time, I have to check each tray every 30 seconds because some trays cook faster than others. After adding all the time I need to add for my microwave, I am better off just making individual 3-minute batches, which is no big deal. I eat the first batch as I'm making the rest for everyone else - the cook's reward (LOL). The greatest part is that one medium-sized red potato and one medium-sized sweet potato make a ton of chips and satisfy our cravings and yet are only 8 Weight Watcher points total (divided by 2 people means that I only consume 4 points. Sweet!) The first time I made them, I seasoned the first batch with salt then used fajita seasoning on a subsequent batch, then had to try chili powder on another, and garlic powder on another (after the chips cool for about 30 seconds, I give them small spritz of Pam to help the seasoning stick). They were all fantastic!

I saw this item featured on a daytime Talk Show (Steve and Chris I think) and immediately ordered the set of 2. I tried it for the first time and I had limited success but I know what I did wrong and am confident that it will work fine the next time.

First, I didn't know the slices had to be 1/32" thick. The small asian mandoline I have can't make slices that thin. I'll pull out the big French one next time.

Second, I think it would help to blot the slices on paper towels to remove excess moisture. I think this would speed up the process.

Third, and this is for anyone who has a microwave that's more than a year or two old, microwave performance starts to decline after a year or so of regular use, so you'll have to leave the chips maker in longer if you have an older microwave. Even with my 1/16" thick slices and 4 year old microwave, I had to cook them on high for over 6 minutes to achieve any crispness (and I did get some even with the mistakes I made).

Finally, I'm not so certain you can't get the same results by slicing the potatoes very thin and putting them on a silpat (silicone baking mat) on a cookie sheet and putting them a conventional oven. I plan to try this to compare the end product. They'll certainly have a more cooked appearance and toastier taste (white potato chips stay white when made with the Top Chips maker).