Most of us don't wash dishes - we use the DW. Scrape into the disposal and load the DW. Only use the sink to wash large roasting pans, some good pots, and good knives. Everything else goes in the DW.

You don't fill a 30" wide, 10" deep bowl with water. You do what hand washing needs to be done with a brush or sponge and may fill a bowl, pan or dishpan with some working water -- all depends on your needs and work habits.

My husband didn't think he could adjust to not having a second bowl filled with water when washing dishes, but he'd never give up the big single bowl now.

I do still wash dishes....several times each week. And so I chose a Franke Regatta, a double sided sink, that's deep on each side. The larger side (9+ inches deep) holds the garbage disposal, and I have sink grids in both sinks which I really like. The smaller side is about 8 inches deep.

I've lived with my double sinks for 5 years, and am not sorry I made that choice. I've not had difficulty washing the occasional really large pan (the depth of the sinks helps that), but I know that is is not as convenient a wash as a single sink. But I don't use/wash those pans very often.

For my day-to-day cooking and clean up (wine glasses, pots & pans or Tupperware I don't want to put in the dishwasher), the double sink works best for me. I wash in the deepest, largest side, and then drain on the slightly smaller side, and the grid comes in so handy for that. Plus, I never have dishes drying on the counter top. Everything looks neat & tidy at all times.

It really is a very personal decision about how you work in the kitchen.

We don't even have a wide sink right now---just a little 20" one---but it's DEEP---10+ inches including the counter. When we first moved in, my husband thought he wanted a double bowl (he's the dishwasher in the house, until we finally get a real one when we remodel!)---but after three years with the single deep bowl, he won't go back. He measured it in every direction and dictated where it needed to be bigger (width) and where we had to maintain the same dimensions. We don't fill it with water, though---dishes are usually washed in a stack and then all rinsed. (Initially, DH actually used a dishpan on the counter, but gave that up fairly early on.) He likes to stack the dirty ones on the counter alongside the sink so they don't block the drain; I like to put them in the sink itself so they're out of sight. The new wide sink will let us put them in the sink without blocking the drain, so it's perfect. :)

Notably, though, we don't (and won't) have a garbage disposal, which might change things. You might check out the sinks with "smart divides" like Blanco makes---they have a very shallow divider between the bowls, so you can use it as a big sink or as two smaller sinks. Lots of the stainless companies also make inserts for their sinks that effectively turn a single bowl into a double bowl, too---I like that idea a lot. HTH!

I gave this a lot of thought last year and came to the conclusion that a single wouldn't work for me. I always have a lot of things that I handwash (bread machine pan, pizza stones, wooden items etc. As a test, knowing that seeing things out draining on the counter on a towel or rack would drive me crazy (as well as take up counter space) for about a week, I tried to see if I could almost immediately put away everything that I had handwashed. Drove me crazy. I much prefer to just let them drain largely out of sight down in the draining side of the sink and put them away when I get around to it.

Like OP I had a triple and went back with a new undermount on the remodel. I love having the center section free to pour out something liquid, dispose of food scraps, strain pasta, set a colander full of fruit or just wash my hands without having to do it over either the dirty or clean oidishes.

My large side (Elkay eluh4020) is 18x14 and 9.5 deep so there isn't much that won't fit easily.... for the couple of times a year that I might have something bigger than 18x14 to wash there is always my laundry sink!

Going against the tide, but still loving the triple! NOT missing the old abovemount with ancient faucet however!!!

I have a 36" sink. I keep a dishpan in the left side, that's where dishes and other stuff go before they go into the dishwasher. I've always used a dishpan even when I've had double bowl or smaller sinks. I don't like putting things directly on to the bottom of the sink, because of the slope towards the drain, everything falls over. Having a dishpan keeps the right side of the sink, and the disposal, free for whatever else I want to do in the sink.

I rarely wash anything by hand, that's what the DW is for. I never liked my old, double bowl sink, it was too limiting, I couldn't even fill my big canning pots in that sink. I like the flexibility that a large sink gives me.

I went from a triple-bowl sink to a large single-bowl main sink and an island prep sink (with disposals at both), and I'm very glad I did. We only hand wash pots and pans, knives, and a few other items, so filling a dishpan and having a place for a dishrack have not been a concern. We have runnels on one side of the sink for drying those few items. What has been great is to have plenty of room to pile up dishes when dinner with company is over and not being able to see any of them. What's also been great is having plenty of room to maneuver inside the sink so that there's not a mess around the sink when DH is finished with washing the pots and pans.

gbsim, I have the exact same sink you have and use it exactly as you described. I , too, handwash fine china, crystal, large bowls, things that don't fit in the dishwasher, etc. and let the drain deep inside the other sink. I have sink protecting stainless steel grates on the bottom of both sinks and they work like dish racks. I love my center dish disposal, but hubby tends can't seem to scrape all of the food into it and ends up getting food into all three openings. I constantly have to clean food out of all 3 openings and often chide him about being more careful. Thus, he wants the next sink to have the disposal in a larger opening.

Thanks for everyone's thoughts.

My next question was going to be about stainless vs silgranite, but I see someone has asked that one so I'll wait and read.

I had a 60/40 double and now have a large single and I really miss the second sink. While I can now fit a cookie sheet flat (everything else fit in the 60/40) in my sink it doesn't make up for the loss of having a second clean sink for the frequent veggies & fruits I wash. I also used the clean smaller side to drain the occasional thing that didn't go in the DW.

There is less and less need for double-basin sinks now.

Dishwashers are quieter than ever, and do more than ever before.
They clean well when you give them unrinsed dishes.
There are loads of people who can't figure that one out; they still rinse dishes.
Recognize the DW for what it is.

People install TWO dishwashers now, one of which holds clean while the other is being loaded over X hours or days. This is one more indication why a single sink can be fine.

I complained in public forums five years ago about double-basin sinks being no good for washing large items, and since then many more manufacturers have come up with low-divide double basin sinks. This is a compromise. I like it. The smaller of the two is at a higher level, and gives you a small shallow basin along with one big sink. I would have liked to have a Blanco "Cascade" shape with a small landing pad that holds a bit of water. In the end I got a single sink with a smaller footprint.

Sinks are deeper now than ever before. The reason is that people can stash stuff they intend to let soak (+ rinse later), and not have to see the stuff from all angles when they are in the general vicinity of the sink. This works. When someone else leaves stuff to rinse later, other people seem pleased that the stuff is not in their field of vision when they walk by. The largest of the large sinks let you "work around" that stuff too, so you are not completely blocked. Many people with deep and large single sinks find they like being able to hang a colander over the sink rim, and rinse veggies. They can also hang a temporary wash basin over the sink rim and wash stuff over their one and only main sink. They can also place a temporary wash basin inside the sink (!). Ikea sells a soft rubbery one for $15 = http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40114212 . If you hand wash pots and pans, it's a lot easier in a single basin sink. In addition, rinsing large items is much easier in a single basin sink. It's also easier to wash them when they're flat on the bottom of the sink. Not only does the handle of a pan fit in the sink but the bottom of the sink is nearly flat. That comes in handy when you want to put a bunch of dishes/glasses in the sink.

People often think they won't appreciate a large single sink, because it supposedly means they can only perform one task at a time with it. As it turns out, this is not true. A lot depends on how you work, or how you are going to work. Not because it's better "per se"; if fewer basins were better, then 3 basin sinks would never be installed.

A pull out sprayer is handy if you go single basin. Or an articulating arm faucet like the Karbon.

Garbage disposers are common for some people, and not for others. It really depends. You can get a small second sink for this too. Buehl has a large D-shaped undermount sink with a small sink.

As to undermount verses drop-in, I really like being able to brush crumbs and stuff into the sink and not have to worry about that rim and getting crud underneath it or the caulking looking crappy.

hth

There was a nice thread about this not too long ago. It seems to have disappeared. I think bowl preference depends on how you work in the kitchen and do dishes. I use a large double bowl (actually it's more like a large single plus 1/3 of a bowl) The only issue, and it is a very minor one, is that I have to wash one side of a cookie sheet and then have to flip it over to wash the other side. Not a big deal for me.

While I am cooking and cleaning up I use my second bowl for draining veggies and pasta, using the disposal, washing hands, rinsing soapy dishes, etc. I use the main bowl for soaking and cleaning pots, pans etc. while I cook.

If I had a prep sink, the single bowl might work. I don't, so for the way I use my kitchen the double is right for me.

gneebee, you have also posted a query about the utility of a prep sink and you have indicated that like me, you are at a certain stage of life when the kitchen is either used heavily by a crowd or by just self and spouse.

As I said on my other response, I have not actually used our new second sink yet and my first sink is only half-plumbed, but thought I'd state my lack of regrets so far. I bought two Kohler sinks, one the Brookfield double basin model for dishwashing and double sink activities on the outside wall and the Mayfield large single basin sink for the "prep" sink on the peninsula a bit closer to the rest of the house--dining room, garage, outside door, deck, dog bowl. If I need it for large awkward scrubbing jobs like a turkey roaster or my dehyrator trays, it'll be there for me. Nuthin' petite about either of the sinks. We don't use a garbage grinder so no opinion on where to put that, but I can definitely keep a dishpan of soapy water for a long time and still do other sink activities. This was not any sacrifice of space because I have lots of counterspace. I looked at the low-divide double sinks and decided I'd rather have a deeper amount of suds.

I feel like the majority of those who have a single bowl sink also have a prep sink. I don't have a prep sink, therefore I need a double bowl. I like a 60/40 sink where one side is deeper/larger. That's the side I fill with dirty dishes (sometimes soaking) and the smaller side has the garbage disposal. That being said - in my laundry room which is off of the kitchen, I have a 33" large single bowl sink. I can use it to soak really big items if I want, or really yucky ones like the gas grill racks.