Breville Sous Chef 12 Cup Food Processor review

Of all the models we’ve tested, the Breville Sous Chef 12 Cup Food Processor is one of the easiest to use. It’s clear that attention to detail has gone into every element of its design, from the buttons that glow only when the lid and bowl are appropriately installed, to the adjustable slicing disc with 24 settings. 

Paired with the 1,000-watt motor that powered through all of our tests, this machine is an excellent choice for most home kitchens as you will see in our Breville Sous Chef 12 Cup Food Processor review.

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Breville Sous Chef 12 Cup Food Processor review: Price and availability

The Breville Sous Chef 12 Cup Food Processor carries a higher price point, but when you consider its overall performance and its 10-year motor warranty, it’s value justifies the price. It is available from Breville and Crate & Barrel for $299.95. It comes in silver.

Breville Sous Chef 12 Cup Food Processor review: Design

The Breville Sous Chef 12 Cup Food Processor sports a sleek, modern design. Its buttons are large and easily accessed, and they light up to indicate when the food processor is ready for use. While this machine is only available in a silver finish, it has a chic appearance that will look good on most countertops. Its push-in cord storage is a convenient feature and helps to keep your counter tidy. Attention to detail has gone into the cord design; the plug has a hole in the center that makes it easy to remove from a socket. 

In terms of its design, this machine is comfortable and intuitive to use. The large handle on the bowl is easy to grip, and it locks into the base securely with minimal effort. The lid also aligns easily. The fact that the handle faces the front-center of the unit when in place makes this machine accessible for both left-handed and right-handed chefs as well.

This food processor is equipped with three feed chute options, so you can choose the size that’s right for the job. Its adjustable slicing disc also offers plenty of customization, contributing to this unit’s versatility.

This machine features a safety braking system that quickly stops the blade from turning if the lid is opened. The motor also features overload protection to ensure its longevity. In terms of safety, it also comes with a plastic protector sleeve for the blade, allowing for safe storage.

Measuring 7.5 x 8.5 x 17 inches and weighing 16.5 pounds, this is a heavier unit but it takes up minimal counter space. It has a secure, quality feel to it.

Breville Sous Chef 12 Cup Food Processor review: Performance

Despite only having one power setting, this food processor easily handled every test that we performed. Its 1,000-watt motor was plenty powerful for every task, but the unit only reached 81.9 dBA, making it one of the quieter machines we tested. 

The adjustable slicing disc features a dial on the underside. Twisting the dial changes the thickness of the cut. We sliced a potato and carrot, and both easily fed through the chute. The machine sliced the russet potato in three seconds, and the carrot in five seconds. Both tests resulted in even, consistent slices. 

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When grating a ⅓-pound block of cheese, some of the cheese did get stuck in the bottom of the lid, but was easily removed. The grated cheese was consistent, and the machine had no trouble with this test.

It also easily chopped an onion in a fast four seconds, resulting in consistent pieces and no large chunks.

This food processor particularly excelled when pureeing hummus. Even with its large 12-cup capacity, it pureed smoothly and created a consistent mix. The blade is raised up slightly, so some hummus did build up underneath it. Scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl once remedied this.

This machine also mixed cookie dough well and thoroughly. It completely blended butter and sugar in approximately 10 seconds, making it one of the fastest machines that we tested.

Its motor had no difficulty blending the flour into the wet mixture, and the finished dough was smooth.

Breville Sous Chef 12 Cup Food Processor review: Ease of use and cleaning

Plenty of details about this food processor make it a pleasure to use. Its bowl and lid align intuitively, but there are also helpful guides right on the unit to assist with alignment. Relatively little effort is required to lock them into place or to unlock them. 

All three buttons on the front of the machine also glow when the machine is ready to use. If a piece, like the lid or bowl, isn’t locked into place, you can tell instantly because the buttons won’t light up. This saves you some frustrating back-and-forth time and lets you focus on ensuring those pieces are properly aligned before trying to use the machine. 

This machine also features a convenient cord design. The push-in cord storage is helpful, but isn’t the smoothest or easiest feature to use; you have to fiddle with the cord’s alignment to get it just right. The plug on the cord does feature a handy hole through the center. This makes for a comfortable hold and allows you to easily pull the plug out of a socket without wiggling or really tightening your grip.

The adjustable slicing disc is another benefit of this machine. The disc offers 24 different adjustments, so you can choose the precise thickness of the slices. You do have to make these adjustments by hand by turning the knob on the underside of the disc. The ability to adjust the thickness with a knob on the food processor, itself, would be more convenient.

All of the components are easy to clean. The removable parts are all dishwasher safe. The base of the machine features a sleek style and is easy to wipe down.

Breville Sous Chef 12 Cup Food Processor review: Verdict

The Breville Sous Chef 12 Cup Food Processor excels in its overall ease of use, making it an ideal choice for both experienced chefs and for those who may be buying a food processor for the first time. Its motor is powerful and performed well and consistently in all of our tests. It is also a quieter unit and its features, like the adjustable slicing blade and glowing buttons, make it a pleasure to use. 

If you’re looking for a food processor with a larger capacity, consider the Magimix Food Processor 14 Cup, which was our winner. The performance between the two was similar, but the Magimix can handle a greater capacity.