Two sinks, and links!
This, above, is my main sink in my normal work area.
This, above, is my sink in the new work area across the room.
For an explanation of the layout/work areas and drawings of the floor plan and its changes, go to this post!
Because I overthought everything, why not share the workings of my mind? You are fine with that, right? I mean, maybe you too have a large family and wish to prepare a lot of your own food. Maybe you like to be hospitable and have tight quarters, making multiple cooks bump elbows. Maybe some of my ideas will help!
Okay, here we go!
My main work area is tight. There are paths to and fro, hemming it in, and doorways preventing me from having long counters and in general a space where I can spread out. However, as I explained before in that post with the drawings, it just had to be this way.
But what if I added another area to work in? What if the problem isn't the small main work area (which after all, saves you steps and helps you be efficient — I have been in vast kitchens that wore me out by the time I did all the hiking necessary to get from stove to sink to fridge!). What if the problem is someone coming in with a salad and saying, “Do you mind if I get this ready here?” and then blocking what you need to do to get the dinner on the table?
What if the problem is coming in at 5:30 on a summer afternoon with an armload of beets and tomatoes, plunking them down right where supper needs to be prepped?
What if the problem is the morning dithering over tea and coffee prep, not to mention feeding the cat while someone is scrambling eggs?
So I thought a sink over out of the way would be useful in my busy kitchen. Not everyone uses their kitchen to the extent we do. I have noticed this and I share all this in case you do too but are puzzled or flummoxed by the choices presented to you. Some people really do order out and eat out most of the time. We do not! A lifetime in the kitchen has made me realize I have to do things a bit differently.
Okay, the main sink first:
My criteria for this sink:
Stainless steel. I love other materials but I'm a real clutz. I feel SS is forgiving. I just don't want to be breaking glasses all the time. I also love how it cleans up.
Double bowls. Hear me out! If I'm opening up a chicken and you come in to wash the broccoli, I don't want chicken juices in the broccoli! And I don't want soap spraying over my chicken when you wash your hands. If I'm washing dishes by hand, I want to be able to fill one bowl with soapy water and the other with dishes to spray off while rinsing. I have always had two bowls and I love them.
Okay, granted, one big basin means you can wash your biggest pan out. True, if the sink isn't full of dishes! This way, I can wash a big pan in one bowl and have dishes stacked in the other.
Once I realized it existed, I wanted a low divide. Basically, this means we can have it both ways!
A sink that is easily washed out: that drains water and debris down towards the drain. My old SS sink with its sloped sides drained perfectly towards the drains, making it easy to clean out. I appreciated it so much after using others' fancy ironstone or enamel sinks, including my own mudroom utility sink. Well, I give this one about a C on that front. In theory, its bottom is stamped out to funnel water towards the drains (which, to give it its due, are set back rather than centered, which makes it so a big pot doesn't block a drain set in the center). In practice, it's not easy to get the water to move towards the drain — it's rather flat. This sort of drives me crazy, but at least it does eventually get there.
Large radius edges and shallowness. The pro of near-zero radius (the sink is like a box with sharp corners — this one has a minuscule radius or folded edge) is more room — if there is a generous curve, it's easier to clean, but less room the further down you go. Having near-zero radius means the bowl is capacious. The pro of a deep one is… it's deep — I can fit so much in there that a whole dinner's worth of dishes sort of disappear without me actually doing them.
I guess I was stuck in the last century and just didn't realize this about new sinks. All I could imagine was the con: fatigue as I, a short person, bent over to do my dishes.
But these days an undermount sink (which I wanted for ease of cleaning the counter) is just going to be deep. I didn't anticipate the racks inside of it raising the working height an inch or so. So I'm okay with the depth after all, all things considered.
The low-radius issue is a definite habit-changer for me. I have to work harder to clean the sink out — really clean it. However, I appreciate the extra room. So it's a wash (pardon the pun!).
At the end of the day, the sink that had all the criteria I wanted and was in the front-to-back depth I needed (19″ vs. 22″) was similar to this one (I think they change the name of the “company” because this has a different name from mine, but is the same number). This is NOT an affiliate link. I just thought you'd like to know.
By the way, it was also significantly less (like 1/3 the price) of other high-end sorts of sinks. I paid $340. This is a similar one on Amazon at an even better price (this is an affiliate link!).
On the other side of the kitchen, I have my vintage cast iron enamel sink. I don't know — I really wanted one! I looked high and low — and actually, not far from me is a guy who has a vast yard full of such things, but he is asking top dollar. I found one on Facebook Marketplace for $150 in near-perfect condition. (The guy with the yard-full was selling the same thing for $700). Considering the price of sinks, I think this was the way to go! (I had no idea, truly! until I started this process! to me the sink is just a thing that's there, not something to spend two thousand dollars on!)
The one thing you need to know is — you can't fix enamel, not really, so choose a sink that has intact and good enamel on it. If it has a little chip on the side that's fine, but you don't want the work area to be all cracked up. You can clean up and bleach out a lot of issues, but the enamel needs to be in good condition.
The lady threw in a brand-new faucet, but it turned out not to be right — it stuck out too far. So after a long hunt, I found this one on Amazon (affiliate link):
If you need a wall mounted faucet for your utility sink (standard or larger depth), message me and I'll send the other one to you for the price of shipping.
This new one is excellent. Very high quality and I love the swivel action and sprayer. (I'll discuss the faucet of the other sink below.) And I love the brass drain there… I have a stainless steel mesh strainer I can pop in it, but the brass is so pretty.
What can I say about this sink? What would you like to know? It's just so charming and practical for all those ancillary activities I don't want happening over in my work area, don't you think?
Okay, a quick discussion about the faucet on the other sink.
I know the trend right now is for brass faucets that have that antique look and I get it. So fantastic! I was sort of drawn in, until I realized they go for almost $2000. Yes, you can get one made in India. But consider: in the US kitchen faucets have to meet very high standards for delivering contaminant-free water for drinking. Who knows what that cheap version from overseas does? We started using our Berkey because we had to get water from our utility sink with its utility faucet. I don't think it was very clean.
But most of all — I found out when I had the kind with the pull-down sprayer that I am a pull-down sprayer kind of person.
The efficiency of it is beyond anything. Even though the one I used to have I considered almost ugly, I quickly became quite attached to it and quite hampered by a dinky side sprayer (and those always end up breaking) not to mention if the faucet itself doesn't swivel, I can't even with that. I have even seen on the fancy British site a sink set up with two separate taps for hot and cold and can we not talk about it? There are limits to vintage!
So this is the one I got. You can find it here on Amazon (affiliate link), but I bought it on Ebay for half price, new. It's nickel, and it's actually desirable to mix metals — looks more natural that way, as if the kitchen evolved over time.
I am happy not to have a lot of holes in my counter. I think it looks vintage enough without sacrificing efficiency.
Sorry that I keep on showing you my dirty dishes!
So you know how the sprayer has two settings (not found on a side-sprayer by the way). The soft one you can set it to is great for rinsing lettuce and strawberries etc. The other, more concentrated one is great for washing things without using a lot of water, similar to how the dishwasher works with its high-pressure spray. You press the button and a stiff spray comes out, so you can rinse down a bowl with dough or batter in it without wasting water.
This spray function is not as serious as the one on my old, cheap, ugly Home Depot special one. But it's fine.
Okay, I think we've truly exhausted the topic.
Or have we.
Let me know in the comments, which I sincerely hope are functioning for you now! MWAH!
bits & piecesLoved this piano ragtime version of Wellerman (sea shanty) by Scott Bradlee — fun variations! It will just make you happy to listen! If your child plays piano, teach him how to do a walking bass!!
A very nice round-up of books for spring (for children too) from Denise Trull. I want to read the Oscar Wilde one.I made these scones and they were ridiculously easy and extremely good.
John Cuddeback: Ten Words to Transform Our Home Life
from the archivesServe a good breakfast
Try this little secret of mine to get your children to obey cheerfully, instead of “because I said so.”
A few motherly thoughts about Holy Thursday and Good Friday
How to approach Stations of the Cross with children
liturgical living
Saturday of the first week of Passiontide; a blessed Holy Week to you!
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My book, The Summa Domestica: Order and Wonder in Family Life is available from Sophia Press! Also in paperback now! All the thoughts from this blog collected into three volumes, beautifully presented with illustrations from Deirdre, an index in each volume, and ribbons!
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