Prep sink or compromise on sink being on a different run?

[Dianalouise]

Struggling with our kitchen design…our long run is not long enough to hold both our hob and a sink meaning our sink and dishwasher are on a non adjoined run. Means that for draining pains, we will have to carry the pan over a bit of floor (like 4 or 5 steps) to drain them…which with boiling hot water and heavy pans doesn’t seem like a great idea. We’ve tried all ways to incorporate the sink in the same run but it just looks rubbish.

I was browsing ideas and spotted those very tiny prep sinks which I think might be a solution but don’t know anyone who has one and not sure how practical it would be. I think I could incorporate a prep sink on the hob run and still have main sink on the other run. It’s not ideal as it will take up prep workspace, but might be a better solution?

Does anyone have one of those tiny prep sinks and Is it actually useful for draining? Or could you live without it?

Five steps doesn't far but with a big pan of boiling water more than a couple isn't ideal. Would the doubling up of pipework compromise your choice of units under the second sink?

You could have a prep sink that has a cover which doubles as a chopping board. We have a prep sink near our dishwasher for this reason and it is very useful but does get slightly gross as it is mostly used for draining things for the dishwasher rather than cleaning pots. Due to my slovenliness it therefore gets cleaned less often.

it depends what you need to walk across to get to the other run. Is there a doorway between the two runs where people will come in and out regularly? If so the prep sink sounds good. Otherwise it’s fine to have them on different runs. We obsessed about our design and agreed that as the two runs were a right angle and no one would be likely to walk past when moving boiling water, then it would be fine. It has been fine! I really value prep space next to the hob.

I have never lived in a house where the sink and oven are that close - it's never occurred to me and I've never had any issues

What do you have at the moment?

Had that distance in previous houses and never an issue.

but if you can fit a prep sink in they are a nice thing to have. Friend has one that mostly seems to be used for ice for parties.

Our hob and sink are not on same run but you just turn the corner as it were , and you can pop the pan down on the corner bit of bench if it's heavy to move

Our sink and hob aren't on the same run but the sink (double) is immediately adjacent to the corner, there's one corner cupboard between sink and hob, and there's absolutely no issue with draining pans. Having one unit between was deliberate, as it means that one person can be standing at the sink and one at the hob without being in eachother's way. We have a trivet stand on the worktop above the corner unit and if a heavy pan needs draining it's easy to slide it onto the trivet and then it's right there next to the sink.

I wouldn't use a little prep sink for draining the water off eg a big pan of pasta - it would splash boiling water everywhere. A prep sink might be nice for rinsing off fruit & veg if the sink is full of dirty pans but I don't think it's worth the space it takes.

We’ve got the sink on a different but adjoined run so it’s literally one step and over the corner join (ie not over open floor) so it’s easy and I’d never really thought about it until architect pointed out new set up could be problematic re distance and draining (he didn’t design the kitchen!)

Added challenge there is a utility door between the runs in the new set up so not ideal (but we maybe just need to be super conscious when carrying heavy full pans!)

inserting prep sink would definitely impact the rest of the design as it would interfere with much desired pan drawers which can’t really go elsewhere….hmmmmm…..it’s not a cheap refurb…don’t want to get it wrong!!

Our hob is on an island and the sink on the external wall. To drain a pan I carry it to the end of the island, round the corner of the island and then the sink is in front of me. I have never seen a problem with this, though if the pan is heavy I sometimes put it down on the draining board before I pick it up to drain it.

The corner of the room that this happens in is away from all traffic though. Not sure if I'd feel differently if it was a busier corner of the kitchen.

How big are these pans you are trying to move?

Can you move sink up or hob down so they opposite each other, so you just turn around?

😂😂😂 yes I suspect I’m a bit soft! No big vats or anything like that…think large pots for potatoes for Sunday roast.

I carry my pans across a corner to drain. It's always been fine. My DM who is elderly and not strong carries hers directly from one side of the kitchen to the other without issue.