JUMP TO Section Chevron icon It indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes previous / next navigation options.- Design and specs
- Setup process
- Review of the Breville Sous Chef 16 Pro Food Processor
- Cons to consider
- Should you buy it?
- The bottom line
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- I avoided food processors because they take up counter space and are a pain to clean.
- The versatile $400 Breville Sous Chef Pro changed my relationship with food processors.
- In addition to being easy to use and clean, it makes homemade mayo, nut butter, and pesto a snap.
Breville Sous Chef 16 Pro Food Processor Check price at Amazon Check price at Williams Sonoma Check price at Breville I hated using food processors. Sure, they make quick work of food prep, but it's a pain dragging the processor out of the cupboard, cleaning up afterward, and putting it away again. But, after testing seven models last year, the Breville Sous Chef 16 Pro Food Processor (model BFP800XL) earned the top spot in our food processor guide and a place on my counter, as I use it nearly every day.
I like how powerful the motor is, making nut butter in two or three minutes and dicing mirepoix in seconds. It does this while operating quietly, and most of the parts are dishwasher-safe for quick cleanup. Read on to learn more about what sets the Breville Sous Chef apart.
Design and specs
- Accessories: 2.5-cup processing bowl, mini processing blade, reversible shredding disc, variable slicing disc, julienne disc, French fry disc, emulsifying disc, disc spindle, dough blade, storage case
- Bowl capacity: 16 cups
- Liquid maximum 12 cups
- Weight of base: 15.6 pounds
- Dimensions: 18 x 10.5 x 9 inches
- Feed tube size: 5.5 x 2.75 inches
- Motor power: 1200 watts
- Dishwasher-safe: Yes
- Warranty: 1 year + 25 years for the motor
Setup process
Setting up the Breville Sous Chef 16 Pro for the first time is intuitive, to a point. You remove the packaging, put the bowl on the base, the blade in the bowl, snap on the lid, and make sure the food pushers are inserted in the feed tube. Then, you plug it in, press power, and choose pulse or start.
I kept putting the bowl on the base incorrectly. You need to install the bowl so the handle is facing you. Otherwise, it doesn't run. Another issue I ran into was operating the food processor without the large pusher in place. For safety reasons, you must at least partially insert the large pusher into the lid for it to operate.
Review of the Breville Sous Chef 16 Pro Food Processor
I put food processors through several tests, including shredding cheese, grinding beef, emulsifying mayo, slicing potatoes, chopping vegetables, kneading pizza dough, and making pesto. The Breville Sous Chef 16 Pro Food Processor was among the best in every category, except pizza dough.
Check out some of the results:
The Breville Sous Chef 16 Pro ground chuck for hamburgers quickly and evenly, without crushing the meat pieces (which can lead to tough hamburgers).
I hate cleaning food processors, especially after meat-heavy tasks (so much fat and meat grunge). Fortunately, almost every part of the Sous Chef is dishwasher-safe. However, Breville recommends washing by hand to extend the life of your unit. At the very least, I recommend washing the sharp items by hand to keep them sharp.
Pesto turned out delicious and had a uniform consistency.
The Breville Sous Chef's performance was particularly impressive considering how quietly it runs. I measured 67 decibels from two feet away, quieter than a shower.
I made mayo at least 12 times with great results every time. For this task, I employed the included emulsifying disc.
I started by putting the emulsifying disc in the work bowl and added my ingredients. Then, as the processor ran, I slowly drizzled olive oil through the small feed tube. The finished product was better than anything I've found in the store.
In addition to an emulsifying disc, the Breville Sous Chef is the only processor I've seen with a variable-slicing disc. The disc has a dial on its base with 24 settings ranging from 0.33 millimeters to 8 millimeters, so you can slice items to the precise thickness you desire.
While there are a few larger pieces, the Breville Sous Chef Pro did better than most food processors at chopping carrots, onions, and celery.
Most ingredients fit in the large feed tube, so I didn't have to cut them before shredding or slicing. And the large S-blade comes within millimeters of the sides and bottom of the bowl, making it hard for food items to avoid it, leading to uniform chopping.
This grid shows the progress of grinding nuts for butter in one-minute increments. The final nut butter (bottom right) took three minutes to make.
If you eat a lot of nut butter, the Breville Sous Chef 16 Pro Food Processor might pay for itself with how much it saves over buying premade nut butter.
Cons to consider
There's one piece you should avoid putting in the dishwasher: the large pusher. In hard-to-read black-on-gray, it says the large pusher isn't dishwasher-safe. I didn't notice this and found out the hard way when water seeped into the pusher. I was able to drain it, but learn from my mistake, especially since it's easy to clean by hand.
The discs are hard to clean because they have a lip around the perimeter that attracts debris that doesn't easily come loose. While all the discs store compactly, there are so many accessories that it's hard to keep track of, and the sidecar of attachments does take up a lot of space. If you only use your food processor a few times a year, it may be too much for you.
Pizza dough gave the Breville Sous Chef 16 Pro the most trouble. It didn't knead it as uniformly as I would have liked. The resulting dough was still usable, but it wasn't as well-mixed as other units I tested.
Lastly, the blade didn't stop immediately upon releasing the pulse button. Instead, it took a beat to stop. However, when depressing the button, the blade started quickly.
Should you buy it?
Two models came close to performing as well as the Breville Sous Chef 16 Pro: the Vitamix 12-Cup Food Processor Attachment and the Cuisinart 14-Cup Food Processor (model DFP-14BCNY). Both cost significantly less than the Sous Chef, but they aren't as easy to use, can't hold as many ingredients, and don't have as many useful accessories. Plus, the Vitamix attachment only works if you have the brand's blender.
Still, $400 is a lot of money for a food processor, and if I hadn't expensed it, I wouldn't be able to afford it. For this reason, I only recommend it for hardcore home chefs who can afford the best. If you want to learn about more affordable options, check out our food processor guide.
The bottom line
The Breville Sous Chef 16 Pro Food Processor is expensive, but it's worth it based on my experiences. The Sous Chef lives up to its name, serving as the top assistant in my kitchen. I've made countless dishes and meals that I wouldn't have had the patience to attempt without it, including coleslaw, cold Thai salad with zoodles, Larabar knockoffs, and more. If you can afford it and want to treat yourself, I strongly recommend the Sous Chef.
Pros: Powerful motor, quiet and easy operation, (mostly) dishwasher-safe, large feed tube, several useful accessories that fit in storage case, excellent blade placement, outstanding job of grinding beef, emulsifying mayo, and making nut butter
Cons: Shredding discs are heard to clean, pulse stops slowly, didn't knead dough well
Check price at Amazon Check price at Williams Sonoma Check price at Breville
James Brains Senior Reporter, Business Insider Reviews James is a Senior Reporter for Business Insider Reviews, specializing in sleep, HVAC, and kitchen appliances. He has tested more than 90 mattresses from startups like Casper and legacy brands like Tempur-Pedic, using his background in experimental psychology to develop objective tests and evaluate comfort, support, motion transfer, and more. He authors our guide to the best mattresses. In addition to being Business Insider Reviews' mattress expert, James has extensively covered air fryers, bidets, air conditioners, air purifiers, and anything you put on your mattress, including weighted blankets and pillows.He's a multifaceted writer who has covered everything from health and fitness to consumer technology. His mission is to help people get the most value for their money by guiding them in making informed buying decisions.James lives in Lansing, Michigan, with his wife, two kids, and a kitty. When James isn't testing products and writing for Business Insider, he runs a popular local Facebook group, Lansing Foodies; hosts a local news segment called Foodie Friday; and puts on the Olive Burger Festival.Contact info: jbrains@businessinsider.comLearn more about how our team of experts tests and reviews products at Insider here.Learn more about how we test kitchen products. Read more Read lessncG1vNJzZmivp6x7o8HSoqWeq6Oeu7S1w56pZ5ufonyowcidnKxnm57BpLTEp2abqpWrtq24xGaqqK2jYrCpscVmp6unXZu8sLCMqamom5WowLC%2BjKucr6GVrA%3D%3D