It’s been a while since I last posted – I took some time away over the past year to have a baby and enjoy (and survive) the sweet newborn months. 👩🏻🍼🥰 I’m excited to be back and to start sharing more of my kitchen adventures with you again!
I’d been thinking about getting a food processor for years and years, but never committed because I could make do without spending the money and storing an extra appliance. However, with a little one now needing most of my attention and usually at least one of my hands, I decided it was finally time. My hope is that a food processor will make it easier and faster to bulk prep food, so I can prepare multiple meals at a time while also caring for a young baby.
I debated between the Cuisinart Custom 14-Cup Food Processor and the Breville Sous Chef 16, and ultimately chose the Breville. Both seem like solid machines, so I made my choice mostly based on the fact that the Breville is more powerfully built, and includes a mini bowl for smaller volumes and many more attachments (including an adjustable-thickness slicing disc!). While the Cuisinart costs $180 less upfront, each additional cutting disc costs $20-50, and each slicing thickness needs its own disc. Those extra costs add up quickly if you plan on using multiple accessories! I’m hoping this machine will have all I need and last me a lifetime. ☺️
Packaging
Our new food processor arrived in quite a large box.
Everything was packed securely with styrofoam inside, including:
- Motor base
- Bowl and mini bowl
- Lid with 3-part pusher assembly
- Attachments in storage case
- Cleaning brush and spatula
- Instruction manual
In my excitement, I nearly missed the cleaning brush and spatula hiding in the styrofoam – my husband found them for me! Good reminder to unpack thoroughly ☺️
The storage box for the accessories is practically as big as the food processor itself – you need ample storage space to keep this thing! I do appreciate that the box feels super solid, and it has a smooth and satisfying tactile sensation when opening and closing.
The box includes an informational guide to all the attachments along with visual instructions on how to install them for use in the food processor. Each attachment has a molded, labeled spot to sit securely in when stored.
I noticed that the smallest section of the pusher assembly doubles as a 4 fl oz (half cup) measuring cup. It’s a cute feature, but I have a feeling I’ll forget to use it. 🤣
Initial setup
The Sous Chef 16 has a main bowl that twists to lock onto the motor base, and a mini bowl that nests inside of the main bowl. The lid twists to lock on top of the main bowl and contains a 3-piece pusher assembly.
I noticed immediately that the processor bowl locks into place on the motor base with a satisfying tactile click that feels super solid. It may be a small detail, but I appreciate the sensory feedback and how secure it feels when locked in.
Once the bowl is in place, all that’s left is to insert your choice of chopper blade or spindle with a cutting disc, lock the lid in, and you’re ready to go!
Cleaning
All parts of this food processor (aside from the motor base) can be washed in the dishwasher – bowls, lid, pusher assembly, and attachments.* This was an important factor for me when choosing a processor, because with a little one in tow, I have even less time than ever to hand wash dishes. That being said, Breville recommends hand washing the bowls and lid to prolong their lifespan, so I try to do that whenever I can. It helps to know I can toss them in the dishwasher if I’m really short on time or energy, though!
I place all the attachments carefully in the top rack of my dishwasher, in positions where they feel secure and the cutting edges of the blades aren’t touching anything. All parts have cleaned up beautifully in my dishwasher after every use. I appreciate that food debris hasn’t gotten stuck in any tight crannies, which was an issue I had with my old Ninja food chopper (an old version of the Ninja Express Chop).
Since the mini bowl nests inside the main bowl and the top of the main bowl stays exposed to the contents, both bowls need to be cleaned when using the mini bowl. It feels a bit exasperating to have to clean an entire 16-cup bowl just because of some incidental splatter, but overall, I think it’s a minor inconvenience for an otherwise well-designed machine.
* Confusingly, the manual states in the “Before First Use” instructions that “All attachments except the geared spindle may be washed in the dishwasher.” However, the “Care & Cleaning” section says, “Spindle, blades and disks can be washed in the dishwasher.” Upon some sleuthing, I discovered that while there isn’t anything in the Sous Chef 16 called a “geared spindle”, there is a Geared Spindle Assembly accessory for the now-discontinued Breville Sous Chef 16 Peel & Dice. I surmise that the note about the geared spindle is leftover reused text from the Peel & Dice, and isn’t relevant to this machine.
First use
My first few jobs for my new food processor were to grate two blocks of hard cheese (parmesan and pecorino) and grind some graham crackers into crumbs for graham cracker pie crust.
Grating hard cheeses
For both cheeses, I used the regular chopping blade (“Micro-serrated S-Blade”) in the main bowl to process roughly cut cheese chunks into relatively fine bits.
The parmesan took only a few seconds to achieve the finely grated consistency I was looking for, and I was impressed by how quietly the machine ran.
I grated a whole block of Costco pecorino cheese next. I was very glad at this point that I had opted for the larger 16-cup processor, because I was just able to fit the entire block into the bowl! Again, the cheese processed down into fine crumbles with a mere few seconds of quiet operation.
Making graham cracker crumbs
My second task was to grind graham crackers for a graham cracker pie crust. Since I wasn’t grinding a large volume of crackers, I opted for the mini bowl with the mini processing blade.
I loaded the graham crackers in as whole squares. These were Trader Joe’s Cinnamon Graham Crackers, so they were on the thicker, sturdier side. It took about a minute or two to get these processed into crumbs small enough to hold together as a crust. I needed the crumbs to be uniformly fine, and I did notice that some bits got processed finely very quickly, while larger chunks of crackers remained elsewhere. I stopped to scrape down and redistribute the pieces a couple of times before getting the right consistency.
Since the graham crackers were hard, they unfortunately left a ring of scratches on the inside of the mini bowl – that’s the dark ring you see in the photo above. I’m a little dismayed that the bowl is already so scuffed up after first use, but I guess that’s the nature of using plastic for these kinds of tasks. Over years of use, I expect both bowls will develop quite a patina of scuffs!
Overall impressions
So far, I’ve been loving how quiet, powerful, and well-designed the Breville Sous Chef 16 is! It has processed everything I’ve thrown at it within a matter of minutes, if not less. Cleanup is also a breeze, thanks to everything being dishwasher safe.
Of course, this is only an initial unboxing post and not a full review, so there are many functions I haven’t yet tried. In particular, I’m curious how it’ll do with chopping up larger amounts of mirepoix for soups and sauces, and shredding large blocks of cheese or veggies. I can already tell that mirepoix chopped in the food processor won’t turn out 100% uniform, but I’m curious if it can produce chopped pieces that are comparable enough to the ¼-½” dice I usually do by hand.
I’d like to update with a more in-depth review after putting this machine to the test for a longer period of time. 😀 Let me know in the comments if there are any functions you’d like to see!