Breville Sous Chef 16 Peel & Dice Food Processor

OK, I worked in mostly high-end restaurants for around 30 years or so. I know a lot about food processors. What they can and can’t do as what they do well and what they don’t do well. For a home food processor at the price I paid, I am completely satisfied with my purchase. Breville’s customer service had been outstanding even during COVID. I do plan on getting the other two dicers, as well as the one that came with it, which is beyond compare. I worked both the front and back of the house and performed every job that there is to do in a restaurant. I have been a Chef, a Bartender, a Waiter, a manager a sommelier, and so on. I can sharpen and use knives and have a set of Dick Steel knives that are as good as you can buy. I can dice onions much faster than a food processor, as long as there is only a small number, this is where people seem to have a disconnect with exactly what a food processor is for. Getting out a food processor to dice one onion is like using a bulldozer to clear a 5 ft sidewalk of snow. It is absurd. I can probably have the onion diced and the board and knife cleaned before you could get your food processor out and set up. Food processors also can not do what a good, especially a good vacuum blender, can do. My point is that a food processor, no matter how expensive or what kind will do what a food processor is meant to do and nothing else. It is best if you have used one before buying what is in my opinion the best home food-processor available today. No, they don’t cut french fries… Remember the old Vegamatic? They cut fries, or a good mandolin, even better a wall-mounted, lever-actuated french fry cutter, with a big industrial potato peeler next to it and the water hose for the peeler and a big worktable. You can cut 100 Lbs. of raw fries in 15 minutes or less if you know what you are doing, then you need a deep frier to blanch the fries and a deep frier to cook them, you can use the same one, but have to use different temps. I hope I have made my point.
What is a food processor good for? Making a small amount (1 loaf) of bread or pizza dough in about 3 or 4 minutes. Many other things as well. One thing the Breville excels at is dicing small Spanish onions, you know, the strong ones that are 2 maybe 3 inches across and make you cry. They fit in the shoot and are diced in no time and will dice 5 lbs in a matter of a few minutes with no tears. Nothing on earth is better at making mayonnaise than a food processor. They also will puree things quite well as long as you don’t need them super fine, like a food mill would render, and you don’t need connective tissues removed like a food mill does when making things like forcemeat or very fine sausage stuffing, or don’t need the cells of what your pureeing crushed like a 40,000 RPM flat-bladed Vacuum blender(i.e. – smoothies). They slice, dice, puree, make emulsion sauces, and much more. If you are cooking for 2 people, get a tiny food processor if you have to have one. This one is best used when you are cooking for 4 to maybe 30 people or processing a lot of things as in canning. Shredding cheese! Another strong point of a food processor, remember you want to shred cheese that is very cold and fairly hard, or partially freeze it first, otherwise, you end up with a mess. The cheese MUSt be cut to fit in the shute I would like Breville to come out with a cheese grating plate, you know, the side of your stand up shredder that has little star-shaped things punched in it, the side that grates lemon, lime, and orange rinds into powdery stuff, are very hard cheese into powder. Food processors shred, not grate for the most part. I tested the peeler and it works on small potatoes quite well, but I usually leave the skins on those as they are tender, and the carrot peeler is, well, interesting, but takes longer than a good ceramic peeler or a coarse brass or stainless steel vegetable brush to get the skins off, I keep mine for stock anyway. It excels at mincing garlic or anything for that matter. The motor is the best I have used other than a 240-volt Industrial Robocoupe ($they can cost $10,000) and Hobart makes a buffalo-chopper that will chop 500 lbs of onions in no time, but who does that kind of thing at home. All I am saying is know what a food processor is actually capable of and also what it will save you time at. If you know those 2 things, then your way beyond most people, and there is no better 16 cup food processor anywhere near the price than a Breville.
Lastly, a comment on the motor. A 1200-watt induction motor is a very powerful, high torque motor. no brushes! Just a control unit that turns Ac to DC and uses MOSFETS to make it a spin. Just think of the Tesla car, same thing. A tesla has 4 motors, not sure of the wattage, but it can go from 0-60 mph faster than almost ANY supercar and it’s a 4-door sedan. That is because it uses a variable speed DC-induction motor like the Breville Food Processor. No, they are not the SAME motors, just the same type. There are no gears needed, it all depends on the power supply and the motor driver. That is why a Breville can run at the same speed whether it is empty or has food in it, as long as there isn’t too much food in it, lol. It is beyond the scope of this review, suffice it to say, it has an outstanding motor. There is gear driven RPM reducer for certain set-ups. I am not sure why Breville chose to do it with gears and not electronically, probably due to the cost of using a high amperage, low voltage power supply, but hay, it works like a charm.
I thought of one last comment, I haven’t tried the Cream Whipper, but don’t try to whip egg whites for meringue in it, won’t work. You cant whip egg whites in plastic or anything that has a trace of oil in it. Copper bowl, inside and out is best, like when cooking sugar for jams or Real Buttercream Frosting where softball cooked sugar is needed. Same for caramel. I am not sure why egg whites don’t whip in plastic, or if there is any fat in the bowl, including egg yolk in your whites.
I HIGHLY recommend this machine for any cook who had experience with food processors.
Happy cooking,
Brian Burke Jr.
P.S. – That’s My Fredrick Dick honing steel hanging to the left, they also make the best steel knives you can buy, in my humble opinion. (I didn’t rate “Thickness” ??? Don’t have a clue why it is part of the rating. If your blades ever get dull, get new ones, they are not the kind you can sharpen really. New they are razor sharp, so be carefull.

Excelente producto, acabado resistente y motor potente.

I recently purchased the Breville BFP820BAL The Sous Chef Peel and Dice Food Processor, and I have to say, it has exceeded all of my expectations. This machine is a game-changer in the kitchen and has made food prep so much easier and more efficient.

First of all, the design of this machine is sleek and modern. The silver and plastic finish looks great on my countertop, and the 16-cup capacity is perfect for making meals for my family of four. But what really sets this machine apart from others is the Peel and Dice feature. This is an absolute game-changer for anyone who spends a lot of time chopping and peeling vegetables.

The machine comes with three different chute sizes for different sized fruits and vegetables, and it even has a separate chute for potatoes. This means I can easily and quickly peel and dice a wide variety of fruits and vegetables without having to spend hours doing it by hand. It’s also great for making things like salsa, where you need a lot of small, evenly diced vegetables.

But the Peel and Dice feature is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what this machine can do. It also comes with a wide variety of other blades and discs, including a micro-serrated S-Blade, a dough blade, and a whisking disc. I’ve used these to make everything from dough for pizza crust to whipped cream, and they all work beautifully.

Another great feature of this machine is the adjustable slicing disc, which allows you to choose the thickness of your slices. This is perfect for making things like potato chips or thinly sliced vegetables for stir-fry.

One thing I really appreciate about the Breville BFP820BAL is how easy it is to clean. The various parts are all dishwasher safe, and the machine itself is easy to wipe down with a damp cloth. The storage box that comes with it is also a nice touch, as it keeps all of the parts organized and easy to find.

Overall, I cannot recommend the Breville BFP820BAL The Sous Chef Peel and Dice Food Processor enough. This machine has made food prep so much easier and more enjoyable for me, and I know it will do the same for anyone who invests in it. It’s definitely a bit of a splurge, but in my opinion, it’s worth every penny.