Well for sure this depends on the way you cook. I had a disposal some, um, must be 14 years ago now when it broke. I never replaced it, never missed it. Several mentioned I should put in a GD just for "resale" issues and the like but I wasn't interested. However there is power near the sink so another could do so should they wish in the future. But I can't imagine myself purchasing an appliance I don't like, need or use for a vague hypothetical possibility in the future having nothing to do with me: "resale" -- they can put it in if/when it is wanted.

So - I haven't for a moment cared. But YMMV for sure -- depends on you! I will note that the sink baskets to both my new sinks are far superior to those of yore. I really like the one on my Kraus, on my Blanco less-so. But they're both great.

For me, I have found that I prep and cleanup indiscriminately in both sinks. I have space for a small compost bucket at each sink and that's good -- I use em both, in both places and elsewhere. I think it's a little hard to anticipate how you'll use your new kitchen, so personally I'd recommend "enabling" both sinks for all. Again, YMMV!

We have a GD at our clean up sink, but not our prep sink. I do not in any way miss having it at the prep sink and it hasn't even been an issue. For us, not necessary.

There seem to be an outsized minority at GW who do not use GDs. In my area at least, this is highly unusual and would be regarded as a serious problem.

It kind of depends whether you enjoy thrusting your fingers into chicken blood water to scoop up tiny bits of avian kidneys, or lovingly stroking slimy pieces of squid tentacles. Also, if the shrimp digestive tracts that fell into the water while you were rinsing your hands do clog the drain, some bits of them will inevitably slip into the pipe when you get the water flowing again, where they will sit and provide an aroma you can enjoy for days to come.

I don't use a GD to dispose of entire turkey sandwiches the way some people do, but in addition to grinding up dinner leftovers it is also a tremendously useful pump, and I wouldn't want to cook without one.

Washable stainless steel bowl?

That's what I'd be washing all those delectable bits of offal in -- you can remove and clean it and thereby attempt at least to maintain a semblance of sanitation in your sink.

Moreover, if you're washing all that slime-laden stuff to begin with, I can only imagine doing so doesn't horrify you from the outset. Dunno. Again, YMMV.

No pipe aroma ever noticeable. I imagine this is an issue to bring up with your plumber but there have been several comments on here about the potential nastiness of what gets left behind in a GD too. I don't know the facts about this, about water traps in pipes or at the bottom of grinders and the like; don't know whether this is a parameter you can affect deliberately or with contractor's skill or whether with time these products have improved... I only know that smell has never been a problem from our drains.

It is curious, isn't it Marcolo, about the outsize of compost-using individuals here. I think because of the original nature of this site ("Garden"web), there may be a disproportionate number of growers/earthy types here? Dunno. Everything I try to grow croaks. Might have something to do with my complete inability to remember to water anything. :)

We are on a septic system-- it's hard for me to think I can be 20 miles from NYC and not be on sewer, but... -- so we don't have a GD. No bad pipe smells or anything, but we do have to take a little extra care that the wrong stuff doesn't go down the pipes. It's not a huge hardship. More of a slight inconvenience that you quickly get used to. That said, if we lived in a place where we could do a GD, we probably would.

We seriously debated whether we should even bother to put a GD in the clean-up sink, as neither DH nor I put food down the drain. We scrape plates and cutting boards into the trash and then put them into the DW. We finally decided to put a GD in the clean-up sink just in case someone else rinses items down the sink, but we are not putting a GD in the prep sink. When I rinse poultry, I expect to do so in the large clean-up sink. We don't eat shrimp or squid. I expect to use my island prep sink for washing fruits and veggies, hand washing, filling pots and draining pasta water. YMMV

In both cities we have homes in it would be considered a crime not to put one in any sink in a kitchen. On a personal note, I wouldn't even bother with a prep sink if there wasn't going to be a disposal. I have two friends who have put them in without GD and now use their prep sinks as glorified ice buckets at parties because aside from fresh water they're good for little else.

Prep sinks normally are small and used on busy counters where you don't want to compensate for the lack of a disposer by having additional water holding devices take up room (ie bowls etc). They are also wonderful after a party for dish scraping etc. Heck just dinner scraping if you have a picky six year old (I am the type to put a turkey in the thing so I also recommend quality in a GD or they're a waste of time).

it's a small expense that could save you money down the road. If you don't use it, it won't hurt anything being down there in the cabinet. To make things easier...we have our prep sink in the island and it's operated by putting the drain plug into the drain and turning. This means no need for switches on or near the island which in my limited island space was a must. (It's an insinkerator). Even with a septic system I'd have one.

As far as using a bowl for the awful germy goober...you then have to wash the bowl and disenfect the sink you washed the bowl in to be perfectly safe. By using just the sink you save one step and a dirty bowl. Just sayin...

Marco...you crack me up LOL

I am not planning a GD for the prep sink. The Cleanup sink will have one. During the remodel we are in a small 2 bd cottage at the back of the property and there is no GD. We are a bit careful with using the stainer and disposing it but no problems so far.

Lalitha

Have always had one and would not have a kitchen without it. In our renovation, we'll have one in the main sink and one in the prep/entertainment sink on the second island, which will also house the 2nd dishwasher.

I don't have one in the prep sink and can't say that I miss it. However, not having a soap dispenser--now that I would miss! If I have chickeny hands, then I want soap right there.

Cj

DH really wanted a GD at our prep sink. I thought it was unnecessary and frankly a little excessive. The incremental costs weren't significant so I agreed. We've been in the kitchen a year and I admit it's one of the best decisions we made. Our prep sink is key to our fully functioning prep zone. Once I'm in the prep zone, I don't have to worry about what goes in the prep sink or having to remove things from it to dispose of elsewhere.

We chop, cut and gut at this sink so having the GD at the prep sink makes that easy and efficient. We also have soap at this sink to wash hands from the prep work.

So as with most things in a kitchen, if you need a GD at your prep sink depends on how you intend to use your prep sink.

I only have one sink, but I can't imagine prepping food and not having a GD in that spot. They're not a major expense. I do not send untold food debris down the GD. But for exactly the reasons Marcolo gave, I wouldn't be without one. Little bits of slimy offal, the hardboiled egg that had a chicken starting to grow inside?

People do not observe how they actually cook. That is one of the eternal truths I have gleaned from reading GW. Like the woman who insisted she didn't ever use any water when she prepped. She doesn't post here anymore, most likely because she and her family all died of dysentery.

Do you not rinse your hands in the sink while you are prepping? Do they never have sticky gobs of chicken fat on them, or ropy lengths of lamb silverskin, or strawberry shrapnel? Do you not rinse your knives while you are using them, to clean off milky residues or sticky fig innards or eye-stinging onion juice and bits? When prep is done, do you clean your cutting board by giving it to your toddlers to lick, or is it once under the faucet for you?

If you do all these things, why would you prefer, with a note of triumph no less, to intimately rub and pet bits of dead living tissue, chasing them around the sink bottom and the drain filter, picking them all out one by one, and embedding small slivers of liver up your fingernails for later discovery, rather than just hose all the crap down and blitz it with the push of a button?

Yeah. What Marcolo said.

One of the first tips someone gave us when we discussing our new kitchen with separate prep sink was to have a GD at each. Wish I could remember who proffered that advice as they'd get a nice, fat thank you gift. I compost most everything (bones, meat, tissues, veggies, fruit, etc), but its the little bits that escape the bin that I do NOT want to fish out of the sink with my bare hands. I have a low gross threshold. Love having two GDs!

Yes. Yes you will.

I enjoy them at both sinks. Not much gunk goes down, but I use often. Find it helps the water whoosh out quickly, I can easily wipe counters into prep sink, and don't need to worry about who puts what in down the drain.

Never had a GD, don't know anyone who does and am not even sure what they are other than they attach under the sink . . . is this so you don't have the strainer in the drain to catch the junk? If it is then I'm getting one. I despise cleaning that thing and that was one big plus of going down to a single bowl sink, having only one strainer.

OK, so I imagine in my new kitchen that the prep sink will be used for prepping only vegetation, and that the cleanup sink will be used for meat. But someone pointed out that you never really know how you'll use your new kitchen. I don't currently have a prep sink, so I really don't know. Another wise observation was that you can't control the behaviors of the other people in the house. Because of this I'd better go ahead and "enable" both sinks for everything, as aliris19 suggests. I think I'll even put a soap dispenser there, though the cleanup sink is two steps away. Better safe than sorry. Thanks for all your thoughtful (and funny) responses!

I had a garbage disposal in my original kitchen. Here's what it did:

- ate my best sterling (always! never the stainless!)

- had a slimy rubber collar I had to stick my hand into

- cost $250 to repair, repeatedly, after it ate the sterling and jammed

When I renovated the kitchen, I had them remove it. Don't miss it. DH does, though. Says it's the worst decision I ever made.

Yes to the soap dispenser at both sinks! Don't you wash your hands before you prep? It's easier to do that all at one sink rather than washing hands at one and walking over to the other to pick up your chard. Do you wash your hands after handling raw meat? It's easier to do that at the prep sink rather than walking over to the cleanup sink for the soap.

yes to soap at both sinks and yes to dispenser at both sinks. If you can only do one sink I'd rather have it in the prep sink.

I admit to no prep sink, but had to address the septic thing.
I am on well and septic, but I have a garbage disposer.
I cook so seldom, living alone, that I need the garbage disposer to clean out the little bits of nothing that get in there and get stinky. Who knew?

I have always had one, as had my home growing up. To me it's one of those things that if you need it, it's there. If you don't, don't use it. And I also have a farm sink, so it's low, but I have a drawer under there that is really low in the back and goes under it.

It's not like it's expensive.

(Remember: that last comment from the Reuse Center Queen, since I'm legally indigent.)

Marco...perhaps it's the Pinot Gris talking but that last post nearly killed me! I tried to explain my wild laughter to my six year old and now I expect that dysentery will bet the topic de jour at kindergarten tomorrow.....thanks! I think lol

With all due respect, Breeze: no to the soap dispensers. I mean, it's =0.02 of course. But that's a definite no from where I sit. I realize I'm in the minority, or at least those of us not annealed to our soap dispensers are quiet about it, usually.

I don't get it though. Why pass up the opportunity for a pretty version of such an every-day work item? I have this soap dispenser I got from Cost Plus for about .25 because it had a chip in it. It's made of marble with flowers chipped (deliberately) out of it so the chips are a grey color and the outside is shiny-black. I absolutely love this thing. It makes me so happy to see and use it! I actually bought it for my mom to use on the occasional week here or there once per year that she might visit. And then I thought how silly it was for this lovely item to sit fallow the rest of the year, so now I have it next to my prep sink. It's heavy so it doesn't move around and I can adjust where it does go to make room for a compost bucket up top if needed or extra dishes drying as needed. It's pretty, it's flexible, it's changeable, not that I can envision wanting to...

At my other sink I have a beautiful hand-painted glass soap dispenser of Maine lupines, which lets me dream and wish wish wish they held the view out my window. sigh. You don't want to know what's really out my window....

If I'd bought an ugly matchy soap dispenser, it (a) would be on the fritz, probably and (b) would deprive me of the opportunity to enjoy this functional art.

So I'm just putting in a word for the minority: no GD, don't miss it; no soap dispenser, wouldn't want it. :)

Isn't it fun to disagree about such utterly subjective things? WWBITOTK? (What Would Belong In The One True Kitchen?)

i had one in our old house. i was crushed when dh told me i shouldn't get one in the new place, since we have septic. six years later and i could care less. it seems i spent more time trying to get things unstuck from in there and throwing lemons in the dang thing to get it to stop STINKING. i don't miss it at all.

We put a GD on our cleanup sink but not our prep sink...definite mistake! If you can only have one...put it on your prep sink...my recommendation. Both would be better.

Btw...we are on septic and our county allows it if it is one designed specifically for septic systems. Ours is an Insinkerator Evolution Septic Assist. We have not noticed any issues with our septic system since installing & using it.

As to soap dispenser, again...both sinks. I actually use the one at the prep sink much more. Between washing my hands many times while I prep & cook and washing fruits & veggies, it gets a lot of use!