Proper Use Of A Double Bowl Kitchen Sink

Double bowl sinks offer advantages single bowl sinks can't provide, including increased storage capacity, more organizational ability and easier dishwashing. If you choose a double bowl sink, use it properly to gain the most from this kitchen appliance. Once you learn how to use it, you will see how this effective tool improves your cooking and cleanups.

A standard double bowl sink has two bowls exactly the same size, each placed side by side. When using this type of sink, store dishes in the side without the garbage disposal, if the sink has one. When the time comes to wash the dishes, scrape food into the side with the garbage disposal, stack the dishes on the counter and fill the other side with soap and water. Now you can soak and wash the dishes in the side with the water, and rinse them in the other side when finished.

When prepare food in a standard double bowl sink, always use one side for rinsing vegetables, fruit and meats. This way you can clean and disinfect this one area when finished, and germs from meat don't spread around the whole sink. The other side is ideal for peeling potatoes, carrots and turnips. This setup allows food preparation space for all parts of the meal. The meat and vegetables do not mix inside of the sink, so there is no fear of meat germs spreading onto raw vegetables used in a salad.

In non-standard double bowl sinks there is one small bowl and one large bowl. Washing dishes inside of a sink like this is a little more difficult. So to make dishwashing easier, use the smaller bowl only for rinsing. The larger bowl is suited for storing dishes, soaking and washing dishes. You can clean and rinse glasses in the smaller side, but if the bowl is shallower than the larger bowl, you risk breaking the glass on the sink or faucet. The larger bowl allows more room to maneuver long glasses and dishes.

When preparing foods in non-standard double bowl sinks, use the smaller size bowl to peel vegetables and rinse the fruit. The larger size bowl is ideal for filling pots and rinsing large vegetables like squash and bunches of grapes. If you have limited counter space, use an over-the-sink cutting board on the smaller bowl to perform food preparation like cutting vegetables or boning chicken breasts, which increases counter space while sacrificing the least amount of sink space.