My Mum is the OG of early adopters. We had a Breville Kitchen Wizz on the benchtop as soon as they hit the shelf of our local department store and Mum never looked back, chopping and dicing her way through the 1980s like a domestic goddess. Me? I’m a rather simple – some might say random – gal in the kitchen and nowhere near the accomplished home cook my Mum was in her day. Like washing windows, my husband does most of the cooking at our house, but I make a mean minestrone, have perfected pavlova and keep homemade hummus in the fridge at all times for snacking. So it was with the essentials in mind that I jumped at the chance to try out the new Breville Paradice 9 when they suggested I take it for a spin. Say hello to your new kitchen bestie!
I started by channelling Mum’s salad prowess. Made with the food processor, Mum’s coleslaw became the stuff of legend in our neighbourhood and graced many a gathering when we were growing up. I moved on to my go-to hummus recipe and put it through its paces with a chilli con carne recipe, made with grilled sweet corn. Yum! Here’s what I thought.
Home Beautiful’s Breville Paradice 9 review verdict
- Our rating: (8 out of 10)
- Why we rated it a (8/10): It’s a bit fiddly to use and I’d only use the dicing blade for bulk food prep, but as a compact food processor, it’s fantastic.
Pros
- Sturdy base and see-through bowl
- The grating blade makes short work of coleslaw and carrots
- Use of the Bilt app for setup and handy instructions and storage tips
- Compact machine and bowl easy to store
Cons
- So many moving parts, it’s hard to remember where everything goes
- Those blades are sharp! Take care at all times when handling
- The dice aren’t as perfect as the pictures would have you believe
- Breville recommends hand washing, with only occasional use of the dishwasher
What’s so special about the Breville Paradice 9?
True to its name, this food processor makes short work of laborious tasks in the kitchen like chopping and dicing – particularly when you’re preparing meals in bulk or feeding a lot of people. What’s so special about the Breville Paradice 9 is its unique dicing attachment dices vegetables in one swift movement, collecting the food in a see-through bowl in seconds, saving time with endless chopping carrots, celery and other vegetables. The best part is that it is stored in its own caddy so you can leave it behind in the cupboard when using the Paradice 9 for other things.
Breville Paradice 9 materials and size
The Paradice 9 has:
- A hefty, stainless steel base with non-skip rubber feet to stop it moving around during use
- The base measures W17.5 x D22.5 x H39cm
- The chopping and mixing blades are made from steel or plastic and colour-coded for easy use and storage
- The main bowl is BPA-free plastic and holds a maximum of 9 cups
- 625W motor
How to use Breville Paradice 9 food processor
My advice is to read the instructions before using the Breville Paradice 9. I had a head start because I grew up with a Breville Wizz in the house so I’m familiar with the functionality. If you’re unfamiliar, assembling it will take some concentration and care – those blades are sharp!
My other tip is to download the BILT app to your phone and add Breville Paradice 9 to your list of products. This will give you a handy guide to set up and pack away – there are a lot of moving parts and I couldn’t remember where everything goes so I referred to the app several times.
Results from our test
I love this food processor. Once you get the hang of how to lock and load, you can chop and mix to your heart’s content. I love the visibility you get adding ingredients like lemon juice and olive oil down the shute while the machine is running and that you can watch whether everything mixing to your liking. My dice always came out a bit wonky – not at all perfect like the pictures, but that might say more about my technique than the machine. If you load the vegetables into the chute more carefully than I did, I’m sure the results will be better.
I love that it doesn’t take up much space on the benchtop. We have a Thermomix too, which has twice the footprint and I appreciated the extra preparation space. I also loved how it whipped up my hummus and the spicy chilli sauce, which is easy to pour straight from the bowl. Clean-up is easy, though the dicing blade is sharp and fussy to clean properly. Breville recommends handwashing for longer life, with only occasional dishwasher use and to be honest, I’d prefer to be able to chuck it all in the dishwasher and not think about it again.
What do the experts (read: my Mum) think about Breville Paradice 9?
These days Mum doesn’t cook a lot but many of her signature dishes are still easy to prepare with the help of her beloved Breville food processor, so I’ve got loads more recipe ideas to try with the help of the Breville Paradice 9. When I asked what else she still uses it for the list was pretty impressive. “It’s fantastic for pastry,” she says. She’d always made her own, so pastry made in a food processor was mastered quickly and it remains the only way she does it. “You don’t have to rub it in or dice it or anything – you just put the flour in, mix it to sieve, add the butter in and away it goes,” says Mum. She also uses it to make the stuffing for the rolled roast of pork, at Christmas.
Did somebody say Christmas? Add this baby to your wishlist.
Where to buy Breville Paradice 9 food processor
Visit Breville to learn more about the Paradice 9 food processor now.
This article originally appeared on Home Beautiful and is republished here with permission.