This is a review of the Breville Sous Chef 12 Food Processor.
I’ve had my Vitamix for 9 years. I use it every, single, day. At least once. So does my wife. I’m a firm believer in buying a quality product once, not buying cheap and having to buy replacements year in and year out.
My Vitamix is amazing for shakes, smoothies, and sauces. But I regularly ask it to do tasks that it’s not made for. Homemade energy bars and vegan nicecreams are really hard on it! In fact, I burn up the motor making nice creams a couple of times a week! Not kidding. I’ll smell it burning and then it’ll shut itself off. And it will stay off for 5 minutes or longer. But it always comes back to life. Which is incredible.
I figured it was time to break down and buy a food processor. My wife and I actually got a Cuisinart food processor for our wedding 13 years ago. It wasn’t a very good model and broke pretty quickly, which kind of soured me on the idea of having one. We spent the money on the VitaMix instead. But I started my research. I Looked online. Even went into a couple of stores so that I could actually look at and feel different products.
Man, I wanted to spend $100 so badly! Ninja is a good brand, right? And I can get a high-wattage food processor for less than $100? Sold!
But maybe not. I like reviews from actual users, and seeing pictures of various brands that had major defects or fell apart after short periods of time made me wonder if I should get a food processor at all.
The model that kept coming up number one in every list I found was the Breville Sous Chef 12. I know what I’m about to put this thing through, and I really don’t want to have to buy a new one in a year. So I spent the money and ordered. I’m glad I did!
I’m not a chef. But I am a 5-yer vegan and holistic nutritionist, so you’d think I’d love spending time in the kitchen. But truth be told, I’m lazy and I want food now. I don’t want to spend 30 minutes prepping food. I want to get in and out with the best meal I can come up with.
I also like to save money, and store-bought snack bars were costing me an arm and a leg. My kids love them. And now that one of them is old enough to open them by himself, it seems that all I can ever find these days are wrappers. And I buy a ton of them! Now we make our own.
So, if you have better things to do than spend all your time in the kitchen, aren’t a master chef, and want to be able to replace expensive store-bought snacks, read on my friend.
The Breville Sous Chef 12 Food Processor is the perfect solution to your cooking needs. It’s powerful, easy to use, and features a powerful 1,000-watt motor that has been engineered with food safety in mind. This machine will give you professional results every time without any fuss or hassle from prep work all the way through clean up afterward. In fact, this product is so good that even if you’ve never touched a knife before, your first meal could end up being better than anything you get at a restaurant!
You’ll love how versatile this appliance is! It has an adjustable slicing disc that lets you slice vegetables into thin strips or thick slices as well as shred hard vegetables like carrots and beets for salads, or even grate chocolate.
Breville Sous Chef 12 Food Processor
Breville has been designing and manufacturing kitchen appliances since 1932. The Breville Sous Chef 12 food processor is one of the most popular products from Breville, thanks to its powerful 1,000-watt engine (which it’s incredibly important!) and 12 cup capacity. This review will cover the most important features of this product in detail so it’s easy for anyone to see what makes it such a great choice for home cooks everywhere.
See The Breville Sous Chef in Action!
Breville Sous Chef Features
Feature 1: 1,000 Watts of processing power!
Something that sets Breville apart from other brands is their commitment to powerful engines in all of their appliances. This machine is extremely powerful. Why is power so important? Modern appliances need to be able to work with food that comes in all shapes and sizes. This machine can handle soft, hard, sticky, fresh, frozen, and whole foods of various types without any trouble.
This is my favorite feature. It was actually somewhat difficult to find a food processor that was over 700 watts. I want power! I don’t want to burn up the engine because it can’t handle what I’m asking it to do. Knowing that I would be chopping, shredding, and grating hard veggies, nuts, and frozen bananas, I looked specifically for a machine that was up to the task. Seriously. This thing goes through those foods like butter.
Feature 2: Safety lock prevents the motor from operating unless the bowl and lid are correctly locked in position, and the large feed pusher is inserted.
The Sous Chef sets itself apart from similar products by adding a safety lock to prevent injuries when you’re slicing or shredding. When this feature is activated, no power will be transferred to the food processor until the bowl and lid are properly locked in place.
My kids love to prep food with me. That’s actually really important to me. I want my kids to grow up enjoying making food, not just sitting around and waiting for me to yell, “Dinner!” The fact that this has to be firmly locked in place before the motor can work ensures that something can’t go wrong if my littlest decided to reach up and push the button. If it is locked and he pushes the button while my back is turned, the worst that can happen is the thing turns on. And the blade will be safely locked inside the machine.
Breville also throws in a cover for the S-blade. While not completely necessary, this thing is sharp and it’s nice to know I’m not going to accidentally slice my hand open when I reach in to get the blade.
Feature 3: Stainless steel spindle and blades for best in class performance.
Some brands use plastic spindles and blades that can damage quickly when they’re used with hard foods. That won’t work for our needs! Breville’s stainless steel components will handle any type of food. They won’t wear out prematurely.
Feature 4: Dough Blade for kneading dough and pizza crust.
What does this model offer that others don’t? The best food processor should be able to handle any task. You’re probably looking at a food processor for slicing, chopping, and grating, but what if you want to make a homemade pizza? Talk about a fun activity to do with your kids! Make up a quick dough, toss it in the Breville to get the consistency just right, roll it out, and let everyone go nuts adding their own ingredients.
Feature 5: Multiple discs and blades for customizing your meal.
When it’s time to prepare any type of meal, you don’t want to have to dig through drawers or cabinets looking for discs that you don’t have. With this best food processor, two different discs and a micro-serrated S-blade are included that can slice, shred, julienne, puree and knead to give you the best results with any type of meal. The shredding disc is reversible, basically giving you two discs, and the adjustable slicing blade has 24 settings, which means you’ll never have to worry about chopping your vegetables in a way that will make them all cook evenly.
Feature 6: Extra large feed chute with small, medium, and large pushers.
This is super handy. You can go from sliding skinny carrots to a medium-sized cucumber, right into a beet without having to stop and switch lids! Any time you can save is definitely a bonus!
Feature 7: Start/Stop and Pulse buttons
I like that this appliance keeps things simple. Honestly, I don’t want to learn and perfect a whole bunch of different settings. When I’ve had appliances in the past that had a lot of buttons, bells, and whistles, I never used them. Typically I find one or two settings that I like and I’m set.
Pressing the Start/Stop button once turns the machine on. It will run until you press that button again. Simple.
The Pulse button does just that; it pulses. I like the pulse button for chopping nuts and frozen foods that are going directly into the bowl. I use the Start/Stop button for things that I’ll put down the chute.
Feature 8: Dishwasher-safe.
If clean-up takes forever, you’re likely not going to break out the machine very often. Breaking down the Breville and tossing some of the parts straight into the dishwasher makes clean-up a breeze.
Breville Sous Chef Benefits
- Powerful enough to handle any task with ease
- Quiet
- Makes cooking feel more like a hobby than a chore. Seriously, it’s oddly satisfying and cathartic slicing vegetables with thing.
- Easy cleanup, which is critical for an appliance that you are going to use as much as this one!
- Processes food with ease, even when frozen or sticky ingredients are used
- Innovative design with an adjustable slicer, reversible shredder, dough blade, and all-purpose s-blade for any and all tasks
Breville Sous Chef Drawbacks
I’ve had this product for more than three months now, and I use it several times a week at least. So far, I love it!
The only drawback I have found so far is the price. I picked mine up on Amazon.com for $299. Different websites have slightly different prices, ranging from $299 to $349. I have Prime, so I didn’t have to worry about a shipping cost, just tax. This is actually their least expensive model, with others coming in at well over $400.
During my research, I found a lot of food processors for right around $100. After that, the market takes a pretty big jump and you’re already into the $200 range anyway.
The reviews on the less expensive models weren’t glowing. And given how long I’ve had my Vitamix blender, it just made sense to me to spend the money and do it right the first time. Yeah, it’s a gamble. I could spend the money and get a dud. But they offer a one-year warranty, so I figured I was covered against that.
After using the machine, I agree that it’s worth the cost.
Other Breville Sous Chef Models
Breville has three other models: The 12 Plus, 16 Pro, and the 16 Peel and Dice.
The 12 Pro is $30 more expensive than 12. For the extra money, you get a handy case for holding your blades and accessories. In hindsight, this would have been nice to have. Not essential, but nice.
The other two models have a 16-cup capacity and additional accessories, including discs for french fries, whisking, and Julienne-style cutting.
I chose the 12 because I knew I wouldn’t use the additional, fancy blades, and I don’t need the 16-cup capacity. The 12-cup more than fits the needs of my family (my wife and I and our two young sons). And I’m happy with the discs and blades the model 12 came with. I definitely use them, but can’t think of a time that I will regret not having the fancier discs.
That’s a Wrap
We all know that cooking at home is best for our health and best for our wallets, but sometimes we just don’t have the time or energy to make a meal from scratch.
The Breville Sous Chef 12 Food Processor has been designed with this problem in mind! This machine will help you cook healthy meals without having to spend hours in the kitchen. With features like an adjustable slicer, reversible shredder, and an all-purpose S-blade, you’ll never have to worry about hand-prepping vegetables again!
If you’re looking to have a healthier lifestyle but are overwhelmed by the thought of having to cook everything from scratch, now’s your chance to find out why so many reviews list Breville as the best kitchen appliance on the market! The Breville Sous Chef 12 Food Processor will have your vegetables ready for salsa, sauces, or juice in seconds. With only a press of a button, you’ll be chopping veggies up to turn them into healthy meals.
Breville Sous Chef 12 Food Processor FAQ
What is the warranty for the Breville Sous Chef?
According to Breville’s website, they offer a one-year limited product warranty and 10 Year Motor Warranty.
Will you use your processor several times a week, or only monthly?
It depends on what you want it for. I use mine a few times a week. I make nicecreams with frozen bananas, homemade energy bars, and I grate carrots and beets for salads. Think about what you do in the kitchen that could be done more easily with a food processor. If you can think of quite a few things then you’ll probably use this often.
What is the difference between the breville sous chef and the breville bfp660sil?
Sous Chef is the name of all of Breville’s food processors. Bfp (Breville Food Processor) followed by numbers represents the different models. The 660sil is the Sous Chef 12, which I review in this article.
The power of the sous chef makes it incredibly strong and fast, but does that matter to you?
This depends on the foods that you plan on preparing with this food processor. If you are going to process hard vegetables and frozen foods, you want a machine that is strong and fast enough to not only process the foods correctly, but to not burn up the motor.
Until next time,
Matt
Plant-Based, Plant Built
