Breville Sous Chef 12 Plus Food Processor BFP680 review

The 12-cup Sous Chef with a nested mini bowl

The Breville Sous Chef 12 Plus BFP680 is an earlier U.S. model, not one of the current Paradice listings. Breville identifies the Brushed Aluminum configuration as SKU BFP680BALUSC and now marks it discontinued. Its principal bowl is rated at 12 cups; the package also includes a separate 2½-cup mini processing bowl. That second bowl, rather than a larger motor rating or a special dicing attachment, is the model’s defining difference from the one-bowl BFP660 Sous Chef 12.

The mini bowl is useful when a small quantity of herbs, aromatics, sauce ingredients or crumbs would spread thinly across a large bowl. It nests inside the main bowl and uses its own mini blade. Breville’s manual is specific about the limits: do not put the main-bowl spindle or processing discs into the mini bowl, and do not use the mini blade in the large bowl. The main bowl’s 12-cup rating applies to a different setup; a 2½-cup bowl is not a way to process a large batch in smaller increments without added washing and assembly.

Tool range and package boundaries

The exact U.S. page lists a micro-serrated S-Blade, 24-setting adjustable slicer, reversible shredder, dough blade, spindle and storage case, alongside the mini bowl and blade described in the package text and manual. The slicer spans 0.3–8.0 mm; the shredder offers fine and coarse faces, not a separate medium setting. Three feed-chute widths—5 inches, 2¾ inches and 1½ inches—pair with the large, medium and small pushers. Use the narrower chute for long, slender ingredients that can tip, and keep the marked maximum fill line clear so the safety interlock can engage.

This is still a conventional slicing, shredding, chopping and dough set, not a dicer. Its standard list does not include a grid-dicing kit, French-fry disc or whisk. The storage case has a practical role because it gives the blades and discs a place to live, but it does not make the set maintenance-free: several accessories must be removed, cleaned and put away after use. For dicing from the box, compare an exact package that includes the grid and cleaner rather than assuming all Sous Chef models share accessories.

Capacity, dough and manual limits

Breville publishes an 8.5-by-15.5-by-16.5-inch body (width, depth, height), a 1,000-watt motor and 110–120-volt supply. The manual rates the large bowl at 12 cups for dry ingredients and 8½ cups for thick liquids. The full width and depth may matter more than the 16½-inch body height if the machine is stored on a crowded counter. Allow extra clearance to lock the lid, handle the chute and remove the pushers; the published body dimensions do not include working space.

For bread and pizza dough, the manual calls for the dedicated dough blade and caps the flour amount at five cups (700 g). It says to process in intervals and describes allowing the base to cool for an extended period between repeated recipes. For stiff mixtures such as dough, it warns against processing longer than one minute when the blade slows. These are useful boundaries for a dough routine, not evidence of a tested yield or a universal duty cycle. Breville’s U.S. product page lists a one-year product warranty and a separate ten-year motor warranty; the motor term does not mean the whole appliance has ten years of coverage.

The manual prohibits hot or boiling liquids. It also recommends unplugging and allowing about 20–30 minutes of cooling if overload protection stops the unit. Nut butter is documented in the manual up to 4½ cups of shelled nuts at a time, which is a task-specific ceiling and not a claim that the same volume is suitable for other processing. The 1,000-watt figure is the manufacturer’s published specification, not an independent measure of chopping speed, consistency or dough quality.

Cleanup and comparison with BFP660 and BFP710

The extra bowl is a meaningful benefit only if you will use the small-volume workflow often enough to justify another part to wash. Breville’s manual permits dishwasher cleaning for attachments, but says the processing bowl and lid should be handwashed and may go on the top rack only occasionally; repeated hot-water, detergent and pressure exposure can shorten the life of the plastic and interlock components. If regular dishwasher care for every removable part is essential, this package does not meet that documented requirement. The large pusher must also be in place for the safety interlock, and the sharp tools need protected storage.

Compared with BFP660, BFP680 adds the 2½-cup bowl, mini blade, storage case and die-cast metal base; it also has a wider and much deeper published footprint, while its body is half an inch shorter. The BFP660 is the simpler one-bowl set with a lighter published weight and smaller depth, though it is slightly taller. The more recent BFP710 returns to a single 12-cup bowl and does not list the mini bowl or included dicing grid; it has a different dimension profile and manual record. For a shopper who wants a small, dedicated chopping setup alongside a large bowl, BFP680 is the more flexible of these three on paper. If you only need a large bowl and standard discs, BFP660 or a current 12-cup alternative may be a better fit. This comparison is based on each exact U.S. model’s manufacturer page and linked manual, not personal ownership or hands-on testing. See Breville’s BFP680 U.S. product page and BFP680 instruction manual for the item list and safety guidance.