I'll ramble about various thoughts that struck me from reading your last two. If you have a prep sink, you won't really be working much in the big cleanup sink to really notice where the drain is. Now that I have a prep sink and am not prepping over dirty dishes, I rarely notice where the drain is or isn't. The way my space is set up, after meals we walk from the table past the island to get to the cleanup sink with dirty dishes. I usually have the compost bucket still on the island from prep so it's easy to scrap in to that on the way past to the cleanup zone. If its not out already, it's quick to grab it from under the prep sink. I feel silgranit is a workhorse material also. There is nothing to baby. It also cleans easily, doesn't stain, and takes a beating. Hot water, heavy pans, tomato sauce, anything. I can't imagine silgranit can't do anything stainless can do, except not scratch or have constant water marks. ;). They are nothing like cast iron or porcelain either. I'm sure I said it already, but my sink material is one of my most favorite things about the new kitchen. Don't judge silgranit by a plastic sink you saw 10 years ago!! They are not anything alike. I compost almost every bit of food, but am really, really pleased to have GDs at both sinks. I'd hate to be dumping out a grungy drin basket full of bits of grossness from the prep sink. If anything, I think I generate more gunk at the prep sink than cleanup. I have a double can Rev-a-Shelf garbage pullout. It's another of my most favorite things in the new kitchen. I thought it was 15" or 18", but just went to measure. The drawer front is about 16.5" but I think the actual mechanism is 15". Most of the house's garbage and all of the recycling (we have mixed in our municipality) is handled here. I find it plenty for us so didn't need an additional can under the cleanup sink. My garbage is close to my cleanup sink, but, as I mentioned, plates get scraped into the compost and not the garbage. As I mentioned, having a center rear drain on my super single doesn't bother me. If I had to do it again now knowing what I know, I'd probably do the offset drain. I've never had a prep sink or a single bowl sink either so this is all new to me. I sure do love it though! Having a separate prep zone with sink makes an enormous difference in the way my kitchen functions and how I function in it. P.S. I like the way you're focused on function and are trying to work out all the little details now. OCD is good. :)

I settled on the Orca, after so many raves here, and I'm very happy with it - two years in. I love the bottom grid; it keeps everything cleaner (except the grid, which does need scrubbing from time to time) and it fixed the height problem for me, by elevating the "bottom" an inch.. I haven't found myself using the shelf option. It's a busy sink (family of 6) so nothing would be able to drip dry there. Re-reading this post 2 years later, tho', I am going to consider pulling it out and putting a bowl of something there that I'm working with (the compost while I peel?) The quality is excellent and I like the width. We have both a faucet and a filter and that gives us two streams of water, which is handy. I rarely have trouble washing something flat, just my widest baking sheets. With my extra counter depth, I could have gotten a larger sink (or at least rectangular) but I like that the swoop of the Orca allows the faucet to nestle in and be slightly closer to the front - seems more ergonomic. Overall, I'm pleased, and while slightly embarrassed that I obsessed over something for so long, I am a serious researcher and am glad I explored all the options. Good luck!

I'm new to Gardenweb and have broken ground on a huge remodeling project - taking our tiny home from 800 sq ft to 1800 sq ft and including new kitchen and master bathroom. I'm currently looking for the perfect large, white, single-bowl, undermount kitchen sink. I never paid attention to sinks, always put up with whatever I inherited, and now I see that they are one of the most important decisions in the kitchen remodel. I have to install mine in the island because of the floor plan - no choice. Stainless and silgranite do not fit the feel of my "white" cottage kitchen. I prefer an off-set drain, but I think I would not mind the center drain with a large sink. I really like the Kohler "Riverby" but had to rule that one out because it requires a 36" minimum cabinet base, per Kohler website. The prices of these are all around $600. I have narrowed it down to three options and listed the interior bowl sizes: 1) Rohl "Allia" -- 28.5x17.5x10 (off-set drain) Fireclay sink Requires 33" minimum cabinet base per Rohl customer service rep 2) Kohler "Bakersfield" -- 27x15x8.5 (center drain) Cast iron w/enamel Requires 33" minimum cabinet base per Kohler website 3) Kohler "Cape Dory" -- 29x15x8.5 (center drain) Cast iron w/enamel Requires 33" minimum cabinet base per Kohler website There were some threads about the fireclay sink that concerned me (crazing or cracking), so I contacted Rohl and was very pleased by their quick response and their assurances about the product. Seems it was a very minor percentage of their product with defects and they resolved the problems for the customers (it was also the Shaws sink and not the Allia). I was also told that if a cast-iron sink chips, it is bound to rust, but if a fireclay sink chips, there is a repair kit. Fireclay is also almost impossible to stain. Since it looks like fireclay and cast iron are both very good products, I would like to know if people with any of these 3 sinks can post pics of the sinks in their kitchens and/or speak about how satisfied (or not) they are with their selection? Specifically, are the Kohler sinks wide enough at 15" deep to not splash and deep enough to hold lots of dishes? Are the center drains in the Kohler in the way? Is the Allia sink too deep or fragile? Any help or advice would be appreciated, especially if there are any GWbers who have owned both brands/materials. Thank you!

If you search the Forum (using either the search box on the bottom of the Forum thread list page or Google - see the "Read Me" thread), you will find various threads discussing sinks people have. I, for example, have a Ticor S405D sink. It's a double-bowl 16-gauge sink w/a brushed finish. It came with a strainer and SS sink grid for each bowl. It was also much less expensive than many of the labels out there and thicker (the lower the "gauge" number, the thicker the SS.) Things to look for in a SS sink: Gauge (18-gauge or thicker) Chromium/Nickel content (at least 18/10) Brushed rather than polished Good soundproofing Single- or Double-bowk (or even Triple-bowl)...this is generally a personal preference. However if your sink base is less than 33" wide, then I recommend a single-bowl b/c the bowls in a double-bowl may not be big enough. Drain offset...at least set toward back. If it's a single-bowl, then it would be nice to have it on one side rather than the middle. The offset (back and/or side) is to maximize usable space under the sink inside the sink base. Here is a link that might be useful: Read Me If You're New To GW Kitchens!