From a practical pov, the Rohl Shaws 15" fireclay sink is the best prep sink. When installed, it perfectly fits Cook's Illustrated's highest rated colander (RSVP International) with the little handles resting on the counter top on either side of the sink.

That is amazing!!! And that is an amazingly beautiful piece of marble, too. I would put that on the run between the clean up sink and the range….wash, peel, swoosh, cook!!! Perfect. Thanks for the great photos!!

I don’t know, I think it’s one of those things that looks cooler compared to how it actually functions. Imagine peeling carrots…you’d have to stand at the short, shallow side of the counter and then peel them in only that direction. And the sink is so narrow I think the peels would fly all over the place. I can’t imagine washing much of anything in such a small, narrow space. It must be that the sink has a very specific purpose of which I’m clueless …it can’t be for veggie washing!

Agree with Springroz….that marble is gorgeous!

Ive seen elongated sinks like that which are used as ice buckets, but they don’t have a disposal in them. I’m stumped.

That's a nope for me. Too narrow. I drain pasta in my prep sink and there is no way my colander is fitting. It's not deep enough either. How do you rinse anything with the water coming out down in the trough area? Also there is not enough counter space on either side to do anything. This is all for looks but not functional as a prep sink.

I think the idea might be that you prep already washed items next to it and scrape your scraps off your board into the trough, then run the water to wash them down into the disposal. The narrowness, though, would require some practice to hit the target. Also, why would you want to wash items in one sink, then transfer them to your cutting board and move to a different sink. There's something I'm missing with regard to practicality.

And following our plumber's suggestion, after yet another trip to unclog, we don't put our peelings down the disposal, but into the trash or compost. We just use the disposal for small dish scrapings when cleaning up. Oh well, it sure looked cool in the house.

Strikes me as a "futuristic" type sink. Pretty cool!

“And following our plumber's suggestion, after yet another trip to unclog, we don't put our peelings down the disposal,”

Then you don’t have the right disposal. A disposal must be 3/4 hp or 1 hp to be powerful enough to grind everything to a liquid. I’ve had powerful disposals for decades and not one kitchen sink clog. I use it constantly - peelings, chicken bones, rinds.

Mmiller, maybe that’s how they used it. but it does have a disposal, and it is in the working area of the kitchen, so I wouldn’t want it for the bar service.

And, for the disposal. maybe we could use a different one, but composting works fine for the bigger bits, and the disposal handles the crumbs just fine. If we ever replace it, we will definiteky consider something more powerful. Thanks!

Reminds me of Subway!

Our plumber says they hit paydirt during the holidays (my words, not his) because of people putting potato peelings down their garbage disposer. we use ours like bpath. small bits only. but we also have septic.

love that marble. the sink is a no for me.

cool looking, but we avoid putting anything down our disposal due to the impact on water quality-DH was with EPA and involved in the Clean Water Act. :-)

@cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA) could you expand on what the water quality issues are with putting food down a garbage disposal?

Our plumbers over the years, and in different houses, have always said the same: nothing fiberous down the disposal. Can it handle it? Probably, but better in the long run to avoid.

We don't put any prep waste in the disposal because plumbers are expensive and not having a sink while you wait for them to arrive is a huge inconvenience. Even if your disposal turns it into a liquid slurry, that can turn into a big gluey greasy clog further down the line. Now- if your plumbing is all modern and installed by competent people, and all the pipes slope downhill, I'm guessing you'll have fewer issues.

Multiple plumbers over the years have said no peelings down the disposal. We compost all of that anyway, so it‘s not going in the disposal. I like the idea of that prep sink bpath.

Maybe this would serve more as an adjunct to a cleanup sink!

Cool prep sinks are aesthetically pleasing, great prep sinks are highly functional.

There is a reason it was discontinued. Totally useless.

Looks totally useless to me.

Prep sinks as a rule make no sense. They take up VITAL counter space. Totally unnecessary in a home kitchen.

Another no. It is too narrow. I'd also rather see a full island with no cut-out. A sink is okay in some cases, but not a prep sink. For me prep sinks are like pot fillers, not needed and not used when you have.

I don't see the need for a prep sink, either, but then I've never had one. I might, however go for a sink that has one large side (that fits a roasting pan) and a smaller sink on the other side.

A prep sink makes complete sense in my kitchen. There are many times when 2 or 3 of us are in the kitchen working on meals. All prep takes place at the island and the prep sink is used almost daily. We cleanup as we go and with a prep sink it leaves the cleanup sink free to take care of any dishes that need washing.

@vinmarks I agree. Some kitchens function better with prep sinks (my old kitchen would have benefitted greatly from one and I would have used it ALL THE TIME). Some don't (in my new kitchen, a prep sink would be a waste). In this particular case, I don't know if it's needed, but it definitely isn't positioned well. I would hate to have a huge swath of counter practically unusable right across from my range. But in a lot of kitchens - particularly L or U shaped kitchens with wall cleanup sinks on one short side and the fridge on the other - prep sinks can be very beneficial. Making blanket statements about whether or not prep sinks are useful without knowing the layout of a particular kitchen is pointless. They get designed for a reason, and usually that reason isn't that people like paying for more plumbing.

Agree that unqualified blanket statements are pointless (and simply incorrect many times because other factors are not even considered).

I LOVE having a prep sink (I actually have 2), but size really does matter! The way I function in the kitchen, the typical small prep sink is not very useful…and actually aggravating to use. If I can’t easily wash celery, romaine lettuce, leeks or other large and bulky items, it’s simply poor function. I have one of those smallish prep sinks (13x16) and it annoys me EVERY day. I designed my own kitchen so it’s fully my own fault, but knowing what I know now, I would never go smaller than 21” (interior dimensions) for a prep sink. And space permitting, that’s what I would recommend to anyone considering one.

@User - I just wanted to say I loved what you said about unqualified blanket statements are pointless, and often incorrect! People here saying no prep sink, and the like. Also, if a person does a lot of entertaining, say for business purposes, or that is just their lifestyle, I think that the sink that was pictured to hold champagne etc would be used often. Many people on this forum make statements viewed from their own personal narrow experience and do not want to imagine that others have different lifestyles or different needs. Or people here don't educate themselves on the alternatives. We could do a whole thread just on blanket statements on this forum ("granite counters always stain", "white cabinets are a trend", "disposals will always clog", "apron front sinks are bad", "you must take your cabinets to the ceiling no matter your budget or how tall your ceiling is", "SZ fridges are the One and Only and must be paneled", just off the top of my head).

anj_p, when you put food down the disposal, it adds nutrients to the water which are not filtered out at the treatment plant. The problem with that is that the nutrients lead to alga bloom in our rivers which lowers the oxygen levels for the aquatic life of the river. We often drive along the Potomac and the green of the algae is is apparent. Our rivers are cleaner that they were back when I was young, but they are not CLEAN. At least they aren't catching fire now though.

I have started using a non-profit company run and manned by vets that brings and picks up a bin every week for all my food scraps (even things like the turkey carcass). I pay $25/month and Ithink it is well worth it since I don't have a good spot for my own compost pile.

I will ask my husband what other issues apply here.

@cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA) Thank you! I appreciate the additional information. We generally only use ours for scraps left on dishes etc. that don't get scraped off when we dump them in the trash, so I hope our contribution to this problem is minimal. I would love to compost - I tried it back when I had a newborn (not the best time) and I was too inconsistent hauling it to the compost site (and it gets SO GROSS if you aren't on top of it). I read that they are starting food scrap composting next year, so I will definitely start doing that. Thanks again!

@cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA) - good information, but lawn and garden fertilizers are much more dominant sources of water pollution in urban watersheds. So if one is to be proud of not using a kitchen disposal due to water pollution, then one must also not fertilize their lawn, flowering plants, or vegetables, or actually even have a grass lawn (which need too much water, and the required lawn mowers add to air and noise pollution), and should instead have only native plants in their yards. Phosphorous in fertilizer (even "natural" fertilizers) will runoff into streams, lakes, sewers, aquifers, etc. and deplete the oxygen in water and contribute to the formation of algae blooms.

In addition, people righteous about not using a kitchen disposal should not wash their car in a public car wash since car washes are still allowed to use phosphates in their detergents to clean the cars. @cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA) - wondering if you wash your car? Even washing a car at home will cause the soap to runoff into the neighborhood sewer system and onward into the watersheds. Detergent phosphates lead to the over nutrification of our streams, ponds and wetlands in volumes far worse than kitchen disposals contribute.

Not sure who struck a nerve, but geez. In case it was me, and in my defense I said:

For me prep sinks are like pot fillers, not needed and not used when you have.

I don't proof read comments, and I certanly don't go around making blank statements. I should have written "I have" instead of "you have." I could care less if anyone else has one, uses and loves theirs.

Lake Erie turns green every summer and that's from farm fertilizer runoff causing excessive alge growth. Unfortunately, as long as the farm lobby remains more powerful than the sport fishing lobby, it will continue.

@Allison0704….it was not YOUR post I was referencing in my post. You qualified your statement. It was the post just before yours.

A friend of mine who is a mechanical engineer and designs sewers for the Los Angeles Water Department told me that the less you put through the garbage disposal the better, and so I put almost nothing there. Clogged sewers are expensive to repair.

Also, I rarely peel anything. I certainly never peel potatoes, celery, or carrots and simply scrub them instead. You lose vital nutrients when peeling potatoes - a point that was made clear to me when I accidentally toured Brigham Young's winter home in St George, Utah. The guide (who dragged us from the porch into the house for the tour) told use that potatoes used to be a primary source of food in the 19th Century and that the men would eat the potato peelings and give the peeled potatoes to the women, thinking that it was the polite thing to do, but the women suffered from malnutrition because of it and died while the men remained healthy. This may be folklore or an exaggeration, but he was pretty convincing when he told the story.

I do peel some fruit, especially apples, and then put the peelings in the trash. If I had a compost heap, I would put them there. I'm much less likely to peel vegetables than fruit.

I like the long rectangular sink as an ice bucket, but I really do not like huge islands. However, I cook alone, since I am not feeding a crowd - just my brother and me. I also do not entertain in the kitchen, except for the outdoor kitchen, which is where I generally entertain anyway. It's always much nicer to be outside here than indoors.