The Kohler sink grid in my prep sink has the vinyl coating and I also worry about it. So far, I haven't had any problems but I rarely put a hot pan in it. If I'm cooling hard boiled eggs I usually add cold water/dump a little/add more cold water to cool the pan down. I drain pasta there all the time and so far so good...no damage. My Ticor main sink has the bare SS grids so I usually put my hot pans in it...but then again, that's the outside wall (and in MD it does get cold in the winter!)

I have a confession to make that I'm not very proud of. I had just redone the kitchen in our previous house when we decided to relocate. I had just put in the Franke Orca sink and was in the process of falling in love with a sink (hard to imagine). When I was packing up the kitchen, at the last minute, I threw both sink grids into one of the boxes and moved them with me. I thought, this new buyer won't have a clue that there are cool grids that go with this sink ... she'll never miss them. I knew we were building a home and that I'd be putting in a Franke Orca in the new kitchen. Those grids are expensive and I was trying to save money, but I feel guilty in hindsight. I think you need both grids. At least I find both useful. The only negative about the bottom grid is that it's too big to throw in the dishwasher.

Franke has three distinct branches in the US: 1) "FrankeKSD" - High end www.frankeksd.com you can see the Orca there - the accessory shelf is described. Linked below. 2) "Kindred" - middle quality. www.kindred-usa.com The Kindred Collection is fairly new, and offers some very nice sinks, including worktop sinks for those of you who are looking for one similar to mine. 3) "FrankeUSA" - lower end - higher gauge www.frankeuse.com These are the ones that big box stores sell - I wouldn't buy one, as most have 20+ gauge. I looked on all the sites, and the only sink on the three Franke sites which looks like the Orca is made by FrankeKSD. Maybe the ebay seller lists Kindred as Kindred is on some of the documentation? Hard to tell if it is a knock off or a great deal. I checked the listing - all the photos are the same, and they all say "open box." I'm not sure what to think about that. By the same token, the seller gets fairly good reviews. Here is a link that might be useful: FrankeKSD Orca Page

I went with a flush reveal also, and like it. I think that much of an overhang would be a disaster with breaking things hitting it, also. I am not sure what you would gain with a stainless steel bar under the overhang, wouldn't there be the same rim type effect under the bar? I do place my sink colander directly on my quartz countertop because I don't have the sink reveal to put it down into the sink and it works fine. No routing needed with mine. If you really want the larger bowl without losing counter space, consider an insert that will fit over the sink or half of the sink made of matching silestone or bumping out the sink a bit to get a sink that is larger front to back instead of side to side, and go with a deeper sink so you can fit more in without using up counter space. The Franke sinks with grids that fit half way up the sink let you use the grids as shelves and use the sink for more working space and still keep them out of the water or whatever else is in the bottom of the sink. Consider a negative reveal with some sink showing or a routed out area of the surrounding counter fit with custom cutting board that that will cover half or all of the sink and allow you to use the area as a counter top when you don't need the sink. Sue