Breville Paradise 16: 2-minute review
When it comes to premium kitchen appliances, Australian brand Breville (known as Sage in the UK) is synonymous with quality and innovation (just ask my mum; she still uses her circa 1987 Breville mixer), and I’m sure the Paradise 16 Food Processor is no exception. It’s extremely well-built and has a powerful 900W motor with a 30-year warranty, so there’s a good chance one of my kids will inherit it and keep using it.
The Paradise 16 is essentially a beefed-up version of the Breville Kitchen Wizz 15 Pro, meaning it can handle a lot more than its predecessor, a five-star rated food processor. It was launched at the same time as the Breville Kitchen Wizz 16 (known as the Sage Kitchen Wizz 16 in the UK and the Breville Sous Chef 16 in the US), which is virtually identical but doesn’t come with what the Australian brand calls the Paradise Kit.
And it is this “kit” that distinguishes the Paradice 16 from other food processors I’ve tried. Use two attachments to perform precision dicing in two different sizes. It includes 8mm and 16mm dicing discs, each with a slicing attachment, performing 2-in-1 function simultaneously for perfect dicing. The kit also includes a potato peeler, but I found this attachment rather redundant. While you may be able to peel 6-7 potatoes at a time, the peeling will not be uniform and the potatoes need to be round and a certain size.
Aside from its peeling and dicing abilities, the Paradise 16 can help you with all of your common food prep tasks, including slicing, shredding, pureeing, kneading dough, whisking, etc. It even comes with a fryer attachment for cutting evenly cut fries.
The 16 cup / 3.6L bowl is perfect for large batches, but it also inherits the smaller 2.5 cup / 1L inner bowl from the Kitchen Wizz 15 Pro, perfect for smaller batches. It also comes with a mini chute that reduces the 140mm main chute to just 45mm, for when you don’t need to push large potatoes into the bowl below.
The Paradise 16 is surprisingly easy to use, and with a 900W motor, it’s pretty powerful. But it’s also pretty noisy and heavy. Breville doesn’t specify the weight of the base alone, but I’d guess it’s close to the 9kg/19.8lbs of the Kitchen Wizz 15 Pro with the bowl attached. And that doesn’t take into account the two big boxes packed with various attachments and blades. Yes, there are two boxes, so unlike the Kitchen Wizz 15 Pro, which comes with one box of attachments, the Paradise 16 will require a lot of storage space.
To get this kitchen pro, you will also need a significant amount of reserve funds, but pros aren’t cheap, right?
(Image credit: TechRadar/Gabriella Margerison)
Breville Paradise 16 review: Price and availability
Due in late 2023 List price: $699.95 / £579.95 / AU$899
There’s no denying that the Paradise 16 is an expensive food processor at $699.95 / £579.95 / AU$899, but if you take advantage of all its features and capabilities it’s a worthwhile investment. Its performance and durability also justify your spending. It’s truly a case of “you get what you pay for”, and in this case, you get a lot.
If you don’t need all the features that the Paradise 16 has to offer, you can opt for the Kitchen Wizz 16 (Sous Chef 16), which has identical features to the Paradise 16 but doesn’t come with the Paradice kit for dicing, priced at $499.95 / £469.95 / AU$729.
If that’s still too expensive, you can buy the Kitchen Wizz 15 Pro for £419.95 / $399.95 / AU$699. There are cheaper alternatives available from other brands such as KitchenAid and Ninja Kitchen, but none are as good as the Breville Paradise 16.
• Value score: 4 / 5
(Image credit: TechRadar/Gabriella Margerison)
Breville Paradise 16 Specifications
Swipe to scroll horizontally. Power: 900 Watts Settings: 1 Speed + Pulse Capacity: 16 Cups / 3.6L Blades: 9 Other Attachments: 6 (Spindle, Distributor, Brush) Dimensions: 45 x 28.7 x 23.4 cm / 17.7 x 11.3 x 9.2 inch
Breville Paradise 16 Review: Design
Similar design to the older Breville Kitchen Wizz series food processors, heavy base, and two large storage compartments for attachments.
Breville stays true to its design aesthetic. The brushed stainless steel base that houses the motor and controls has rounded corners for a slightly vintage look, but the base is heavy. Not only is it quite heavy, but it’s also a bulky appliance with a unit size of 17.7 x 11.3 x 9.2 inches (45 x 28.7 x 23.4 cm). You’ll also need two storage boxes for the various blades and attachments; each box measures 21.1 x 32 x 27.7 cm (21.1 x 32 x 27.7 cm).
One of these boxes contains the Paradise Kit with two dicing blades, 8mm and 16mm. Each blade comes with a pair of slicing blades that work together. The pairs of blades are color-coded for your convenience. The kit also contains a potato peeler. The other box contains other attachments: an adjustable slicer, a reversible shredder disc, a French fry disc, a quad blade, a dough blade, a mini blade, and a small 2.5 cup / 1L inner bowl.
Therefore, this appliance is best kept on your kitchen counter, plus you will need additional storage space for the attachments. You may be able to save space by storing the attachments out of the box, but we don’t recommend it – the blades are very sharp and accidents can happen.
(Image credit: TechRadar/Gabriella Margerison)
Whatever you’re using the Paradise 16 for, all the parts click together easily and set-up is incredibly intuitive. The bowl and lid are labelled so you know which way to turn to lock them in place. The main bowl has a clearly defined pour spout and the chute can be configured to suit a range of food sizes, from 140mm wide to 45mm wide.
The magic happens in the heavy base, which has three large buttons for power, start/stop and pulse, as well as up and down buttons for setting the timer, which is displayed on a small screen in the center of the base.
We recommend consulting the user manual, as the Paradise 16 comes with a number of attachments. While the manual doesn’t provide recipes, it will help you understand which blades can be used for what purposes, and how to get the best results from the peeler.
• Design score: 4.5 / 5
Breville Paradise 16 Review: Performance
Easy to assemble Powerful and loud Extremely versatile
Being a busy mom, I quickly got to grips with it as soon as I got my Breville Paradise 16 and started trying out all of the attachments to see which ones would most streamline the cooking process.
While I didn’t use the dicing kit very often, I found the others very useful, especially the S blade (Breville calls it the Quad blade), which I use often for chopping, blending, and pureeing. With the Quad blade attached, the Paradise 16 effortlessly pulverized coarse cooked vegetables and created the smooth, creamy texture I was looking for in my soup.
I found the slicing discs of various thicknesses to be very useful when preparing salads – uniform slices make beautiful presentations and also ensure even cooking in gratins. I also often used the shredder discs to make a quick batch of coleslaw or to hide veggies in a bolognese sauce – very handy for adding extra nutrition to a meal without the kids noticing.
(Image credit: TechRadar/Gabriella Margerison)
The julienne blade was a bit of a novelty, but it was great for making carrot stick snacks and side dishes, and the plastic dough blade was amazing for kneading dough for the kids’ homemade bread and pizzas – it saves time and effort.
But my favorite attachment is the French fry cutter. Fresh French fries are always a hit in our house, and the Paradise 16 makes it quick and easy to make fries for a last minute snack or family meal.
The biggest disappointment is the peeling attachment. It’s useful, but it’s hit and miss. Breville says it’s best for potatoes, but I was hoping it would work with other fruits and vegetables. Unfortunately, the produce that needs to be peeled has to be a certain size, so it’s not ideal for those who buy the “odd bunch” at the farmer’s market.
(Image credit: TechRadar/Gabriella Margerison)
Let’s talk power. The Breville Paradise 16 boasts a 900-watt motor, which is pretty powerful. When I tested it, this power delivered incredible speed and efficiency to any task. This power also makes the device quite loud, recording an average of 85dB in most sound tests measured using the Decibel X iOS app. This is roughly the same noise as a busy road or a noisy bar.
I used the Breville Paradise 16 to prepare a variety of dishes, and each task was completed quickly and with professional-level precision, cutting prep time in half.
That being said, sometimes food would spill from the small bowl into the main container, which was a hassle and took a lot of time to clean up.
• Performance score: 5 / 5
Should I buy the Breville Paradise 16 Food Processor?
Swipe to scroll horizontally. Attributes Notes Score Value It’s expensive, but worth the investment for professional kitchens and large families. 4/5 Design The Breville food processor is similar, but if you can stand the weight, the design is not bad. 4.5/5 Performance Powerful, speedy, and performs several functions with ease. 5/5 Overall, if you’re on a budget, this is the ultimate food processor. 5/5
…then buy it
Do not purchase if…
Also consider
If you’re not sure if the Breville Paradice 16 is right for you, we’ve listed some other options below to consider.
How we tested the Breville Paradise 16
(Image credit: TechRadar/Gabriella Margerison) Over the course of two months, I used it for a variety of food-prep tasks, testing how different blades performed, working with a variety of raw and cooked ingredients, and kneading flour.
Upon receiving my Breville Paradise 16, I immediately spent some time familiarizing myself with the various blades and spindles that came in the box, and I read through the user manual to get an idea of how well this equipment performs.
I’ve also used the food processor to prepare a variety of other dishes. Over the course of several months, I’ve used it to knead dough for homemade bread and pizza, to make fillings for quiches and sausage rolls, to make Bolognese sauce with hidden vegetables, vegetable soups, and to slice vegetables for fresh salads, as I mentioned at the beginning of the review. I’ve also used the peeler and grater attachments.
I noted how easy it was to clean the food processor’s various parts, attachments, etc. Breville claims the bowl is dishwasher safe, but the manual recommends not washing it regularly, so I only ran it through the dishwasher once to clean the small bowl, but hand-washed everything else.
Read more about our testing methodology
[First reviewed July 2024]
