Buying the Best Undermount Single Bowl Stainless Steel Kitchen Sink

Stainless steel kitchen sinks are an obvious choice for kitchens, because they have a great pro look and they clean up quickly. Though there are several varieties are available, either at local stores or online stores, but there are some obvious factors that affect the quality and value of a steel kitchen sink.

Stainless steel- what it is

In simple words, stainless steel is steel that has been alloyed or combined with other elements. Result, the metal, named stainless steel, has more beneficial properties than the steel.

Mainly, two elements you found very frequently in stainless steel sinks they are chromium and nickel. They enhance the quality of the steel, giving it strength and corrosion resistance.

Stainless sinks are usually labeled with the amount of chromium and nickel contained in the steel. It generally designed by a ratio like 18:8 or something equivalent. For this particular example it means the steel contains 18% chromium and 8% nickel. The higher the percentage of these elements presents in the steel, the better the grade of stainless steel.

In general the grade of the stainless steel is specified by its series number like 300, or 304. This is a good quality stainless steel with 18:8 to 20:10 chromium/nickel content.

The key point of discussing all these is, either if you’re an expert or if you’re new to this conception, you’ll be able to understand some of the key characteristic of stainless steel. And without doubt this will help you to judge the quality of stainless steel kitchen sinks when comparing various brands and their specifications.

1. Best gauge for stainless steel kitchen sinks: You, of course, want a silent type, strong, heavy duty stainless steel kitchen sink. The sinks are made using sheets of metal, and the thickness of these metal sheets is measured in terms of gauge. The lower the gauge, the thicker and more durable the metal, while higher gauge are associated with thinner steel.

In general, high-gauge stainless steel like 22-gauge or more, are more prone to denting and vibrating. So when you compare them with a 16-gauge or 18-gauge stainless steel, the high-gauge steel produces more noise and they are more prone to denting. Plus high-gauge stainless steel sinks could be thin around the edges, making them outfitted to support the heavier weight of a quality faucet.

2. The depth: Usually, a 6-inch-deep sinks splash and can’t hold much, while they’re cheap to make. A 9-inch or 10-inch deep, on the other hand, would be a great choice. As they can hold a lot and if the counter space is limited they’ll be a big plus. In fact, shape of the sink matters too. You get more volume with straight sides, square corners, and flat bottom, plus the soft angles allow easy cleaning and good drainage.

3. Insulation and coatings: High quality stainless steel kitchen sinks usually comes with sound insulation and coatings features. It reduces the sound of running water and clattering silverware, and also reduces the condensation buildup on the bottom of the sink which could lead to moisture problems in the base cabinet where the sink is installed in.

Though not all stainless steel kitchen sinks comes with these features especially the high-gauge stainless steel kitchen sinks.

4. The ingredients: The grade of the stainless steel is usually specified by its series number like 300, 304, etc. For optimal durability, corrosion and stain resistance, you want 300 series, or more, or about 18:8 chromium/nickel content. Usually, if the sink holds magnet, it’s not a 300 series stainless steel.

5. Finish: Most stainless steel kitchen sinks usually come with two types of finishes. One is shiny, and the other is brushed or satin finish. While the shiny finish sinks look great in the showroom but in real world they are extremely difficult to maintain. In fact, they’re prone to fingerprints, smudges, and scratches. While on the other hand the brushed or stain finish sinks do a better job in hiding water spots, and fingerprints. So they would a better choice for easier maintenance.

Like virtually any product there are some pros and cons and stainless steel kitchen sinks are no different.

Let’s check out the pros first.

• Durability: With reasonable care a high quality stainless steel kitchen sink would last forever. They’re made from heavy duty corrosion resistance steel which is harder and tougher than other materials and it won’t crack, chip, or wear out.
• Affordability: Of course, there are some high end triple bowl stainless steel kitchen sinks are available with a price tag of over a thousand dollars. But there are plenty of quality sinks are also available with affordable price tags that provide the same benefits of stainless sinks.
• Look: Depending on your perspective and taste, stainless steel sinks look great in almost any type of kitchen.
• Easy to clean and sanitary surface: Stainless steel sinks are very easy to clean and easy to maintain, plus the nonporous steel gives little refuge to bacteria and other nasty elements.
• Bigger bowl capacity: Stainless steel is relatively light yet strong comparing with other metals such as cast iron or other materials. So forming a bigger bowl with large capacity would be possible with sinks that are made of with steel while that might not be feasible with sinks that are made of with other materials.

Now lets check out some cons of steel sinks

• Not completely resistant to scratching: Though steel is a tough lightweight metal but still you can put scratch in stainless steel sink. Such as scrubbing the sink surface with a steel wool could put scratch in a stainless steel sink.
• Need maintenance: If you want a showroom-clean sink at most of the time, you need to commit some time regularly to clean your sinks, though they’re very easy to clean.

They say the most important factor behind choosing the right size undermount stainless steel sink for your kitchen is balancing the sink size with the available space in your kitchen. You want a steel sink that can accommodate your biggest pots and pans, while fit perfectly with your existing countertops and cabinets.

For a small kitchen measuring around 150 square feet, as a general rule of thumb a standard 22-inch by 24-inch sink will fit your kitchen perfectly. Usually, very large kitchens do well with multi bowl sinks.

There are many stainless steel kitchen sinks are available from many manufactures with wide variety of specifications. And choosing the best could be a very time consuming task and sometimes very confusing too. Most of them are made of with cheap high-gauge stainless steel and above all they’re not at all functional overall.

Our extensive research finally led us to Kraus undermount single bowl 16-gauge stainless steel kitchen sink. It’s a perfect blend of good finish, durability, price, and overall functionalities. It’s made from heavy duty 16-gauge stainless steel. And at this price without doubt this is a plus. Plus it’s also comes with two types of sound absorbing materials – rubber pads and a coating on top of that.

Especially if you combine that with the fact that the stainless steel sink also comes with a stainless steel bottom grid and strainer basket, it’s worth every penny.

At a glance:

• 16-gauge premium grade t-304 stainless steel construction
• Features scratch-resistance and commercial grade premium stain finish
• Size 31 1/2 inches L, 18 3/8 inches W, and 10 inches Depth
• Plus limited lifetime warranty

The net is full of rave reviews about this Kraus stainless steel kitchen sink. Most customers say this is the best stainless steel kitchen sink you can buy for your home at this price. And they’re very much delighted after using this product. In fact, on Amazon this stainless steel kitchen sink scores 4.9 out of 5 from the customers who bought this product.

Here are some of the comments to date:

"After reading many reviews and searching for a kitchen sink, we bought this one. What an amazing price. What an outstanding sink! If you love to cook and have large cookie sheets, baking pans, and soup pots you will love the size of this sink. It is so easy to clean! The corners are rounded making cleanup a breeze. This sink is for the practical cook. I highly recommend this Kraus sink."

"Used is for a couple of month now. Like the size and ease of cleaning. Would definitely buy other Kruas products."

"High quality, great finish and the included grate is a real bargain."

"This sink is great! The grid comes with the sink (not extra cost like many others), it's packed very professionally and the delivery was excellent."

You can buy the Kraus undermount stainless steel kitchen sink from Amazon. When comparing prices with other online merchants what I can tell, Amazon do currently have the best deal especially with the free 2 day prime shipping option.

Click below to view more details about this stainless steel kitchen sink on Amazon.