We use our prep sink ALL the time. Cleanup (taking care of dirty dishes) happens at the main sink and almost everything else happens at the prep sink. (Filling and draining pots, washing vegetables to cook or for salads, adding water to baking projects, washing gooey hands from baking projects, filling the water pitcher, filling the pet dishes, adding water to the blender or food processor when necessary, etc., etc.) The location is important to make these multi-purposes possible. People who don't use their prep sinks usually have them in an out-of-the-work-path area.

I considered a pot filler, but having the prep sink across from the stove I thought would make it redundant, and I prefer the idea of having a faucet over a drain. The sink does so much more for me than just a pot filler would.

I have been a lifelong believer in dbl basin sinks, but now wish I had a large single basin for the cleanup sink, because the prep sink lessens the need for separate basins at that location.

rhome, I went with a large single basin sink for that reason :) It really is nice!

The only people I know who regret their prep sink didn't put a disposal in it. Ours is used daily and we will never have a one sink kitchen again! We also use our pot filler quite often, and don't regret that little luxury at all.

We actually regret not putting in a third sink in our small kitchen. A new gadget came out after we'd started our counters so we couldn't add it, but it's a small stainless basin sink about 4x8, which sits in the back of your prep counter. It has an auto disposal with water (no faucet sticking up) so you can cut your vegies, food, etc., and just sweep it into the back of the counter. I will have one of these in our next kitchen!!!

As to the whole "sink without a drain" thing...you don't have a drain at your fridge, nor your dishwasher line...and those fail a lot more often than pot fillers :) Prepare for the issue (I have double valves and water alarms on all water lines) and you will eliminate 90% of your worries.

I think how much you use both of these items depends on factors that may vary -- like your layout, the number of cooks, the type of cooking you do, your layout (yes, again), etc.

We gained a prep sink in the island by moving the cooktop across to the wall. That not only made the prep sink possible, it also made it essential to make the rest of the layout work well. We use ours all the time.

We debated the pot filler too and decided to put it in. I'm glad we did, especially not realizing how slow the smaller faucet we put at the prep sink would be to fill a large pot (the pot filler is very fast). When I find the right combination of size, features and looks, I will probably replace the prep faucet and that might include a faster flow rate, but for now, that is the main reason I'm so glad we have the pot filler. Doesn't hurt that it is handy and looks great. If you get one, a double valve or at least a very handy emergency shutoff is important. We have both.

We had a double bowl sink before our reno and I KNEW that a really wanted a second sink---our old kitchen was horrible in many aspects but the desire for a second sink was one of the main driving forces for finally getting the renovations done. It seemed as though our sink was the greatest road block when more than one of us cooked in the kitchen. We needed a second faucet as much as a second sink so that 2 of us could be prepping veggies at the same time. Now that we have 2 sinks (and faucets) I tend to think of them as the "large sink" and the "small sink" since both are used during prep and clean up. Both are equally important and their placement at the opposite sides of the room makes the space more efficient. Even when I'm the only one in the kitchen I feel as though the easy access to water at both ends makes cooking a lot easier (and the small sink is placed where others can wash their hands and get drinking water without invading my cooking zone.)

As I noted above, I KNEW ahead of time that a second sink/faucet would improve the function of our kitchen....I used to fantasize about it as I waited to use our old sink. The fact that you haven't envisioned the boon of a second sink makes me wonder whether you would gain the same type of advantage. Maybe one sink is fine for the way your kitchen functions. Some people find them a waste.

When I weighed the positives and negatives of a pot filler in our kitchen I decided the negatives surpassed the postives. Yet many who have them love them.

I have opted to have neither after looking at both. On the pot filler, I won't use it as I would rather fill pots with already boiling water from the insta-hot at my sink or at least very hot water. On the prep sink, I would have liked one, but need the under cabinet space in the island more and did not have room for another "sink" cabinet. In my island, I wanted tray pullout, open basket veggie drawers etc and put warming drawer there, so no room for basic sink base cabinet....

We don't have a potfiller, but we do have a prep sink and we use it all the time. We do almost all of our prep at the island, and I find it much more convenient to have the water so readily available. We did get a disposal in the prep sink, and I agree that it is a must. We also put hand soap in the dispenser at the prep sink, so we do most of our hand washing there. As others have mentioned, I empty pots of hot water at the prep sink, as well. Finally, I use the prep sink as a place for ice during parties, which is so very convenient! I am SO glad we got a prep sink and I really value the added functionality my kitchen has as a result.

"The only people I know who regret their prep sink didn't put a disposal in it."

We can't do disposals, so whereas I'm sure they're nice, (and I know Igloochic wasn't implying it as necessity), it's not essential to have one in order to love your prep sink. :-)

Do you ever have more than one person cooking at the same time? Then IMO you *need* a prep sink. We use ours all the time. Love our potfiller too. We don't have a disposal in the prep sink as our municipality collects composting so we have spot for that right next to the prep sink.

Eliz

We have a Prep Sink and use it all the time.

In our old kitchen, it wasn't the 2-cook issue at the sink, it was the 1-cook + 1-cleanup person that caused the bottlenecks! That and it seemed the sink was full of dirty dishes every time I needed the sink!

In my new/current kitchen, the prep sink is in the corner of the peninsula, is on the same counter run as the cooktop, and is next to the MW and refrigerator. This makes it ideal for prepping as well as accessing it from the DR. I use it for prep the majority of the time. No, there is no disposal on it and while I wish there were, it hasn't stopped me from using it! (The only time it's a pain is when I'm peeling a large # of potatoes...but then I just use the main sink for that task.)

Our main/cleanup sink is across a 6.5' aisle opposite the cooktop. It's primary use is to collect dirty dishes & be used for cleanup in general. It can also be used as an extra sink during prepping & cooking if needed...and when I had sixteen 13-yo Girl Scouts cooking in my kitchen one evening it sure came in handy!

One of the best things our new layout gave us was separate zones for prepping, cooking, and cleaning up. Without a prep sink it would not have worked nearly as well.

Thanks everyone for your input. I guess I have some thinking to do. It is hard for me to picture what I'll need in the kitchen. Our kitchen will be L shaped with an 8ft island. The long run will have the sink and stove, then a walk in pantry in the corner, and then the fridge on the very short run. I sort liked the idea of having an uninterrupted island. Would it be odd to have a prep sink beside the stove on the same bank of cabs as the primary sink. Then the pot filler could reach both the stove and prep sink. Or is better to have the two sinks on seperate runs?
My kids are still young (one still eating jars of baby food) so I don't really do much family style cooking yet. But someday those boys will be teenagers and if they are anything like their mom, they will love to eat :) Right now I do all of the cooking while my husband breaks up fights and keeps filling my wine glass!!

With 8 ft of island, even with a sink, you should be able to have quite a bit of uninterrupted workspace. How deep is your island? I'm afraid if you put the prep sink on the same run as the sink and range that you'll limit your counterspace for those 2 areas too much.

Plus when the kids get older, they'll hopefully help you in the kitchen and having everything crowded together means the people/workers will all be crowded together and running into each other to get to things they need.

Another thought is that the kids may need to wash their hands or do things like watercolors at the island and having a sink handy to that area will be nice.

Can you post your layout? I really do think you are looking at your kitchen through today's eyes, so maybe you can let some of us who are past the baby stage advise you a little. You'll want to get the most and best use out of every square inch of your kitchen. Uninterrupted island space, in some cases, means good workspace, but in other cases, means it's fairly useless counter while other areas are crowded.

My island is about 7 feet long (a little more because of overhang and the shaped ends). I have a 15" wide prep sink, near a foot on one side and a little over 5 feet of uninterrupted space on the other side. You'd have another foot. I have served large buffets, baked about 500 cookies in a day and other projects with that island. Your added foot could be nice, but I wouldn't feel I needed a second added foot more than a prep sink.

I agree that seeing a layout would help see how useful the prep sink would be in that arrangement and where the best placement would be.

We decided against the pot filler because our prep sink is just a step and turn away from our cooktop. My reasoning was that I had to lift the pot of water to empty it so it wasn't a priority to avoid the filling at the sink and lifting to the cooktop. However, depending on your layout a 3rd source of water can be useful. Our main sink and prep sink are spaced so both can be easily accessed from the refrigerator so both can be used for both prep and clean up. But because the refrigerator is on a separate run of cabinets about 10 steps from either sink, and because it is part of our breakfast/sandwich prep area as well as the baking and small appliance center, we decided to get the ice and water in the door of the refrigerator. I often need a small amount of ice water to add to my pastry crust, my children like ice water with meals, DH uses crushed ice for sore throats, etc. So it made sense for use to have that 3rd quick source of water and ice where it was used often. HTH.

Thanks everyone for sharing your input. I don't know if I can post a layout, as I am a computer dummy! :) I will try though.
It seems like a prep sink may be worth it in the future even if I can't have a disposal in it. Those of you that have them seem to love them. I do have a friend that has one and never uses it but it is near her bar area and perhaps it is a location issue. I will continue to try and peck away at posting a layout.

I'm in the minority, we have one sink- and it's fine. We also have three children who are in and out of everything and one sink is still great. Our kitchen is on the smaller side (11 x 21), so I think part of the reason for not going with more sinks is size, but for many reasons- space, etc. I'm really glad we only have one sink. We are mid reno though, so when it's all done I may pine for another sink, but I don't think so.

I do have to confess, if I was to add another plumbing addtion to our kitchen, I'd do a pot filler. I do lots of canning and the idea of filling the pot right at the stove, heaven. However, another sink doesn't seem like that big of a deal for me. Fortunetly, a pot filler isn't an option, so I didn't need to think it through too much!
Good luck-