We are getting ready to change kitchen counters to granite, and DW wants to switch from a double to a single large bowl, whereas I think the double better suits her ‘lifestyle.’
So for all you guys who do lots of kitchens, what is the popular vote?
“I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.” Invictus, by Henley.
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Replies
Blonde or brunette?
I know it has nothing to do with sinks, but the opinions are the same when it comes to single or double bowls.
As far as function goes, that depends on what you & your wife do in the kitchen.
A large single bowl fits my MIL, but with what I do a double bowl works for me.
My main reason is to have the disposer in a seperate bowl than the bowl I'm doing prep work in.
Also with a single bowl you either have to prep over dishes or be really anal about getting them out of the sink.
A large single bowl fits my MIL, but with what I do a double bowl works for me.
Either your mother-in-law is mighty tiny or that's some big sink. Can't she use the bathtub like other people?
Having plumbed quite few research facilities I have put in some big sinks that have interesting names of equipment attached to them.
Like ------ "beagle grinder" & "baboon disposer"
We have a single bowl, 10" deep. Works great. About 50 - 50 on the one's I've done the past few years.
John
I like a large single bowl - I think it more versatile - I certainly wouldn't begrudge someone else their different opinion -
how you feel about your wife's opinion is something about which I have no opinion....
poular vote means nada
Who uses the sink? You or her?
The user gets what the user wants
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Actually, since we both work, we both cook, so we both use the sink. We've spent years using a double. Pots and pans get washed and air dry, often for days. I can't see that changing. Maybe she could change and keep the bowl empty, and she would probably work at it for a few weeks, but I just have a feeling there would eventually be even more clutter on the counter than there is now.
But, what the heck. Since we woun't be here that much longer, maybe we'll just go with the single.
Thanks"I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul." Invictus, by Henley.
I have had both. What I've concluded is that I like the versatility of double bowl sinks. BUT.... the individual sinks are too small. Presently I have a 33" wide and 9 inch deep double bowl SS Kohler sink. If I could have fit one in, I'd rather have a 50"/60" inch wide double sink. Might look very "commercial kitchen", but I think it would be more useful. When things get busy with a big meal needing many bowls/pots etc things get crowded fast.
Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
"What I've concluded is that I like the versatility of double bowl sinks. BUT.... the individual sinks are too small."I believe you have identified the crux of the matter - the other item has also been identified - dirty dishes residing in the sink - I have an answer for that - no dirty dishes are allowed to be stored in the sink - I don't care how high or wide they are piled on the drain board/counter - there is to be none in my way when I go to use the sink - some people/relatives require training on this point - - "there's enough for everyone"
That's not entirely what I meant. I have a dishwasher to put the dirty dishes into.
"When things get busy with a big meal needing many bowls/pots etc things get crowded fast."
It's while actively cooking and preparing that the double sink gets crowded. Many times it's not easy to load the dishwasher while in progress of cooking. Need more elbow room.
Now, when guests/family put dishes/bowls etc into the sink (or on counter) that have food still on them..... that gets my Krebs cycle in stress mode!
Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
Consider a double with asymmetry. Smaller sink hooked up to the disposal. Use it for rinsing things while the other sink is occupied. In this arrangement, the larger sink is adequate for even the largest pots and cookie sheets, etc.
That is what I have and was going to recommend.But this has come up before and it seems that most people put the disposal on the big side.And I have Kohler CI one that they still make. But they no longer make a cutting board with hole for the small side. But they have one for the big side.Strange in my mind.Disposal goes in the small bowl..
William the Geezer, the sequel to Billy the Kid - Shoe
I support MGMaxwell. For some time we've had a composite sink as part of an Avonite counter top, and it has a smaller bowl for the disposer and a larger bowl for larger cleaning requirements -- a single stem faucet serves both. After this for years, I'd never, ever consider a single bowl as an alternative or even two identical bowls. Things can soak in the larger bowl over night ( I burn food sometimes ), and the other, smaller bowl is available for normal use, including the disposer.
You can increase the versatility of the large sink by keeping a plastic dishpan handy--you can set it in the large sink to substitute for having two bowls.
split the difference.
Either look at a sink that has one large & one small, or maybe the Kohler "Smart Divide" sinks.
I'll have to look into the smart divide thing, thanks.
Personally, if you don't have a desposal, which we don't, I don't see the usefulness of the small sinks. I did a kitchen a few years ago where I replaced a Kohler three basin CI sink, and they wanted it replaced with just a two basin. The third, middle-little sink, just got in the way, in their POV.
Thanks."I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul." Invictus, by Henley.
I hear what you are saying about the tiny bowls. I was thinking more something like this:
http://www.blancoamerica.com/index.html?p=KITCHEN_SINKS
The smaller bowl isn't very tiny.
Either way I've never used a smart divide, only seen it.
Personally, I like the double bowl, one side larger than the other. When we're cooking (both of us cook, often together), we'll have the large side where the dirty pots/dishes go, and the smaller side is used for rinsing food, washing vegetables, or getting more water, etc, all those things you need an 'active' sink for as you cook.
I often find that you need to be able to run water, cold or hot, while you also are creating dirty dishes, some of them hot, and they need to go somewhere. I don't think we could function with a single sink.
About 2/3s of the kitchens we are doing are going to large deep single bowls.
Most double bowls are going into kitchens where folks like to wash by hand. Most
Single bowls are first choice for folks who like to cook with large pans and generate lots of dishes.
I have also installed the Franke double with two 22" bowls. Lots of interest in that one as well even though it requires a 48" base.
Bruce
Still our favorite by far, if you've got the space - The side bowls go all the way, front-to-back, so you can put a cookie sheet in them flat, to soak the #### off. Disposal under the center bowl. Mounting room for everything - big-arc faucet, single lever control, airgap, sprayer, filtered water spout, and soap dispenser.
Elkay Gourmet [Lustertone] Sink | LCR4322
Almost looks industrial, lol. But too big for the existing space, thanks"I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul." Invictus, by Henley.
Kitchen sinks are a pet peeve of mine; I think they're all designed by engineers and stylists - non of whom ever use them!
A single sink, with a bowl just large and deep enough to fully contain a dish rack, is generally all you need for general use.
A double sink, with both sides identical, is a waste.
Better is a large, shallow sink, one you can soak a broiler pan in, paired with a small, deep sink that you can soak glassware in. The smaller sink gets the disposall, as this is where veggies will be peeled and cleaned - while the frozen meat thaws in the shallow sink.
While you're at it, make a matching cutting board that is 'keyed' to fit over the sink. Better yet, make two.
A large, flat one for the large sink - to slice meat- and another keyed to attach to the small sink.
The smaller board will have a lip around it, and a hole at the sink end. This one will be used to chop veggies, then feed the waste to the disposall.
Whatever sink you get, there needs to be at least 18" of free counter on either side.
A final thought: who says both sinks need to be in the same place? Besides the plumber, that is? You might be better off with the two at opposite ends of the counter.
Do you use the cutting boards with an undermount sink? The boards would have to built thick enough to be flush (or above) the surface of the counter, especially when using a longer knife, I would think.
I've never given sinks much thought, and I've put in my share of them, but I'm inclined to the double bowl school of thought; I like to wash and air dry, and hate the sink of a dish strainer (drainer?) on the counter. Especially if those counters are worth a lot of money.
But DW is thinking single bowl. At least we'd be able to wash that lobster pot without making a mess out of the kitchen.
"I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul." Invictus, by Henley.
I came up with the cutting board idea simply because my other, severely limited, counter space usually has something else on it :D I then found that I really liked the way the cutting board was held in place by the edges of the sink. I expect this would work on an undermount sink as well.
As for the expense of counters ... IMO, a counter is supposed to get wet. I want water damage to be the least of my concerns. Then again, I also like Formica.
The fact is, there's no such thing as a 'perfect' countertop. You want marble, or wood, for rolling dough. Wood, or Formica, maybe Corian, if you're going to be using knives on it. Corian, marble, metal, or concrete if it's going to get hot. Wood or Formica if you'll be setting glassware on it. Formica does OK with wet, but metal is unbeatable.
In short, I believe this trend to having everything in the kitchen made of the same material is short-sighted - but that's a topic for another day.
Cutting board fits on the left-most pair of range eyes. Dish rack in the right hand sink bowl, compost bowl in the center sink bowl above the disposal.
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Forrest
Edited 11/9/2009 7:03 pm ET by McDesign
You've got to measure your largest broiling/roasting pan and find the sink that works. Our previous sink was a double that would not fit the big pans in flat so we had to wash and scrub them at an angle. My newest kitchen redo has a single sink large enough to fit the roasting pan in so it sits flat and can be soaked and scrubbed proper like. It is an undermount and we're happy, still I can see the arguments for others. A lot depends on the kitchen design and space allowances.
In the kitchen of the new house, we'll have countertop up each side, with an island in the middle (shorter than the countertops). Main cooking area will have one sink (single or double, wife hasn't said), handy for food prep, etc. Other countertop will have a single large sink, sized for a very large cookie baking sheet. Dishwasher will go under that second countertop, next to the sink. This will be the cleanup area, separate from the cooking area. That will keep "1st phase" cleanup ops away from "2nd phase" cooking ops, the biggest problem we have with large gatherings.
here's my favorite. kohler's executive chef.
available in solid surface(all brands) and stainless steel(franke mankes a stainlees steel)
http://www.us.kohler.com/onlinecatalog/detail.jsp?item=313202§ion=1&category=5&subcategory=36
I have one of these (Mother of All Sinks):
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bowl is 16" x 30" x 12" (you could wash a small dog in it ;o) ) plus a similar smaller island sink.
Jeff
Edited 11/9/2009 10:15 pm ET by Jeff_Clarke
Single bowl works well in our house (16" x 30" x10"). We do a lot of cooking with big pots and pans so cleaning them is nice with a single bowl. For doing dishes we have a plastic tub nearby that we put in one half of the sink to convert it to a double bowl. After having this sink for 3 years it'd be hard to go back.
I hadn't thought/heard of using a 'portable sink' within the sink. That might ease the compromise, thanks.
"I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul." Invictus, by Henley.