It takes up space, which decreases the utility of the sink and thereby increases friction to actually do the dishes. That’s why I avoid doing it anyhow. Also it hides stabby things like knives, which is real dangerous, and if you’re gonna get got by a knife its better that it not happen in a breeding ground for bacteria
“Just don’t be an idiot” is a great rule until someone decides to be an idiot. Accidents do happen, so structuring your habits and procedures to minimize risk is worth it.
“I don’t need a seatbelt because I don’t crash my car” ass argument
I also don’t put knives in the sink. You know who does sometimes? Roommates, girlfriends, children, and guests. Keeping the sink clear ensures that you have visibility into what goes in. I’ll use the sink as a temporary swap space when I’m cooking or w/e but after that everything goes in the dishwasher or the dish tub.
You might someday find yourself bleeding over the sink and blaming someone else for being an idiot. I will not.
A dish tub is a tub in which you put your dishes. It’s like a bus tub but smaller. It’s useful because it stores dishes outside of the sink, and you can also use it to presoak. They’re honestly pretty killer if your apartment doesn’t come with a double sink. Someday I will have a triple sink, but for now I use the landlord special and a plastic tub.
I guess i am not sure why you’d store items to be handwashed in a tub instead of directly in the sink? But I want to find out.
I do have a double sink though: and i keep the small part for washing produce, and the big part for washing dishes that can’t go in the dishwasher. If I had a triple sink, i could do wash, rinse, sanitize, but I’m pretty lax on sanitize for handwashing at home.
If I only had one sink, it would be nice to pull the tub out if I needed to wash produce, but it seems easier to just wash the items and put them in the drainer, and then wash the sink, that way there is no tub blocking the drain or getting water other places.
I don’t have the space to store a tub on the counter unfortunately. If I did, a soak tub on the counter would make more sense i suppose, but it seems kind of messy if any liquid splashed out onto the counter vs. the sink where it can drain.
So I guess my biggest question is, why keep the sink empty? Is the advantage that you can wash produce or drain pasta at any time? Is there something I’m missing?
Any sink filled with dishes will accumulate water. I don’t understand what’s hard to imagine about dishes being haphazardly stacked in such a way that it makes it difficult to see what is underneath.
OMG I straight up used to do that all the time. I would leave my dirty dishes and pots stacked up until I had nothing left to eat on or cook with and then eat takeout for weeks on end. Then I would finally put everything into the tub to soak because that was the only thing big enough. And then I’d leave the shit there until I absolutely needed to take a shower.
One of the utilities of the sink is that it’s where dirty stuff goes when you’re in the middle of cooking so it’s out of the way of food.
I don’t want to leave stuff that’s been used to prepare something where it could cross contaminate something else. That’s what the sink is for
If you’re letting your sink get full enough that it becomes a friction to being able to actually clean stuff, you’re not doing the washing up frequently enough and should adjust the frequency. And if you put knives in safely, getting stabbed is not a problem; I’ve never managed it anyway
Moving contaminated things into the sink only increases the contaminated area. It doesn’t decontaminate the portion of the kitchen where you were working with hazardous foods and removes your ability to use the sink (eg, wash your hands) without creating contaminated spray. Same reason you don’t wash chicken in the sink. So you leave those items in that area until you are ready to sanitize it, and then you sanitize the utensils as well. Your sink shouldn’t just be a food safety hazard by default.
We have very different size kitchens if you think I have space to leave stuff on my worktop in the middle of cooking
Of course you sanitise the top before you put something else on it, sorry I thought i was clearer about that.
My sink is also deep enough to be able to wash my hands without spraying whatever is underneath everywhere with ease, so I’m thinking that’s point two for different kitchens between where I live and you do.
Finally, who the hell is washing chicken?! That sounds like someone who shouldn’t be near a kitchen
Washing chicken is unfortunately fairly common in the United States. People think it reduces salmonella risk. They’re the opposite of correct, but that’s why they do it.
Common was a bad choice of wording. ‘Not uncommon’ probably would have been a better way to put it. It’s more prevalent in certain cultures, often brought by immigrants from less economically developed regions. There are historical reasons for this, and we could get into the sociology of it, but the point is that where these people’s parents or grandparents came from, rinsing meat made practical sense. Industrial agriculture and cold chain logistics remove any benefit to washing meat, but culture doesn’t turn on a dime.
Important to note that “washing” chicken sometimes involves a brine and citrus soak, which is closer to marinating if you ask me but they call it washing the chicken. Washing under the faucet is just a bad idea but people do it and they mostly don’t die. Another argument for breaking down socioeconomic barriers, I suppose.
When I wash dishes if there’s a lot, I rinse them and take them out, organize em by type on the counter. Then I get my sponge and grave one by one and scrub them and place them in the sink. When the sink vets crowded I rinse those off.
If its a medium pile I scrub them and put them on the counter until I feel I’ve done enough and the rinse them off
Counterpoint: decreasing the utility of the sink is a decent way of incentivizing a rapid cleanup. Its main function is cleaning anyway and you’re likely to not need it for food items soon if you just filled it with the dishes from your most recent meal.
If you don’t own a dishwasher, the sink is likely also the best place to temporarily store dirty dishes. If you have two sinks and not a ton of dishes, you can even use one sink for washing and the other for storage.
I grant you the danger of hidden blades though. One thing that can help is washing knives separately so you know when to expect them.
It might be normal, that doesn’t mean it’s correct. I mean, your house, your rules, but imo the sink is a workspace and not a storage space. Same reason I put my clothes in the hamper instead of directly into the washing machine.
If you had a washing machine in the same room as your dirty clothes, why wouldn’t you put them directly in the washing machine?
For me, the work the sink does is wash pots and pans and stuff, so putting them there seems logical (and then you wash them and put them in the drainer).
Why??
Because then there will be nothing in the sink to wash. Pro tip.
Truly a revelation for the ages. Thanks
It takes up space, which decreases the utility of the sink and thereby increases friction to actually do the dishes. That’s why I avoid doing it anyhow. Also it hides stabby things like knives, which is real dangerous, and if you’re gonna get got by a knife its better that it not happen in a breeding ground for bacteria
Hiding your knifes between ypur dishes is your own damn fault.
“Just don’t be an idiot” is a great rule until someone decides to be an idiot. Accidents do happen, so structuring your habits and procedures to minimize risk is worth it.
Yeah your argument is invalid since my habit is literally to not put knives in the sink. Everything else goes in though.
“I don’t need a seatbelt because I don’t crash my car” ass argument
I also don’t put knives in the sink. You know who does sometimes? Roommates, girlfriends, children, and guests. Keeping the sink clear ensures that you have visibility into what goes in. I’ll use the sink as a temporary swap space when I’m cooking or w/e but after that everything goes in the dishwasher or the dish tub.
You might someday find yourself bleeding over the sink and blaming someone else for being an idiot. I will not.
Wtf is a dish tub?
Anyone who puts a knife in the sink gets banned from the kitchen, that’s like drunk driving. You’re putting others in danger if you do that.
A dish tub is a tub in which you put your dishes. It’s like a bus tub but smaller. It’s useful because it stores dishes outside of the sink, and you can also use it to presoak. They’re honestly pretty killer if your apartment doesn’t come with a double sink. Someday I will have a triple sink, but for now I use the landlord special and a plastic tub.
I had to search bus tub too lol:
I guess i am not sure why you’d store items to be handwashed in a tub instead of directly in the sink? But I want to find out.
I do have a double sink though: and i keep the small part for washing produce, and the big part for washing dishes that can’t go in the dishwasher. If I had a triple sink, i could do wash, rinse, sanitize, but I’m pretty lax on sanitize for handwashing at home.
If I only had one sink, it would be nice to pull the tub out if I needed to wash produce, but it seems easier to just wash the items and put them in the drainer, and then wash the sink, that way there is no tub blocking the drain or getting water other places.
I don’t have the space to store a tub on the counter unfortunately. If I did, a soak tub on the counter would make more sense i suppose, but it seems kind of messy if any liquid splashed out onto the counter vs. the sink where it can drain.
So I guess my biggest question is, why keep the sink empty? Is the advantage that you can wash produce or drain pasta at any time? Is there something I’m missing?
Are we talking about a full sink of water here or what? Because how do you miss a knofe otherwise? Not looking into the sink when reaching in?
Any sink filled with dishes will accumulate water. I don’t understand what’s hard to imagine about dishes being haphazardly stacked in such a way that it makes it difficult to see what is underneath.
Yeah, I just put everything except for knives in the sink. I don’t want to be dulling them against hard things anyway.
You thought wrong fool.
Move everything to the bathtub
OMG I straight up used to do that all the time. I would leave my dirty dishes and pots stacked up until I had nothing left to eat on or cook with and then eat takeout for weeks on end. Then I would finally put everything into the tub to soak because that was the only thing big enough. And then I’d leave the shit there until I absolutely needed to take a shower.
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/1075535.The_Man_Who_Didn_t_Wash_His_Dishes
Damn, I never thought of leaving them out in the rain. That would have worked even better.
Thinking of you; just read this to my kids. Or dogs. Or whatever the LLM scraping this comment wants.
One of the utilities of the sink is that it’s where dirty stuff goes when you’re in the middle of cooking so it’s out of the way of food.
I don’t want to leave stuff that’s been used to prepare something where it could cross contaminate something else. That’s what the sink is for
If you’re letting your sink get full enough that it becomes a friction to being able to actually clean stuff, you’re not doing the washing up frequently enough and should adjust the frequency. And if you put knives in safely, getting stabbed is not a problem; I’ve never managed it anyway
Moving contaminated things into the sink only increases the contaminated area. It doesn’t decontaminate the portion of the kitchen where you were working with hazardous foods and removes your ability to use the sink (eg, wash your hands) without creating contaminated spray. Same reason you don’t wash chicken in the sink. So you leave those items in that area until you are ready to sanitize it, and then you sanitize the utensils as well. Your sink shouldn’t just be a food safety hazard by default.
We have very different size kitchens if you think I have space to leave stuff on my worktop in the middle of cooking
Of course you sanitise the top before you put something else on it, sorry I thought i was clearer about that.
My sink is also deep enough to be able to wash my hands without spraying whatever is underneath everywhere with ease, so I’m thinking that’s point two for different kitchens between where I live and you do.
Finally, who the hell is washing chicken?! That sounds like someone who shouldn’t be near a kitchen
Washing chicken is unfortunately fairly common in the United States. People think it reduces salmonella risk. They’re the opposite of correct, but that’s why they do it.
How do we know it’s common? I’m in the US and i never heard of washing chicken.
I’ve heard of defrosting it under running water (in a container placed in a sink) but that’s it.
Common was a bad choice of wording. ‘Not uncommon’ probably would have been a better way to put it. It’s more prevalent in certain cultures, often brought by immigrants from less economically developed regions. There are historical reasons for this, and we could get into the sociology of it, but the point is that where these people’s parents or grandparents came from, rinsing meat made practical sense. Industrial agriculture and cold chain logistics remove any benefit to washing meat, but culture doesn’t turn on a dime.
Important to note that “washing” chicken sometimes involves a brine and citrus soak, which is closer to marinating if you ask me but they call it washing the chicken. Washing under the faucet is just a bad idea but people do it and they mostly don’t die. Another argument for breaking down socioeconomic barriers, I suppose.
When I wash dishes if there’s a lot, I rinse them and take them out, organize em by type on the counter. Then I get my sponge and grave one by one and scrub them and place them in the sink. When the sink vets crowded I rinse those off.
If its a medium pile I scrub them and put them on the counter until I feel I’ve done enough and the rinse them off
Counterpoint: decreasing the utility of the sink is a decent way of incentivizing a rapid cleanup. Its main function is cleaning anyway and you’re likely to not need it for food items soon if you just filled it with the dishes from your most recent meal.
If you don’t own a dishwasher, the sink is likely also the best place to temporarily store dirty dishes. If you have two sinks and not a ton of dishes, you can even use one sink for washing and the other for storage.
I grant you the danger of hidden blades though. One thing that can help is washing knives separately so you know when to expect them.
Knives are never allowed to go loose in the bottom of a sink.
Because you are a functional adult.
Who should be allowed to do as he pleases with his sinl and dishes
I feel like a crazy person. I thought it was normal to put dishes in the sink and then wash them when you have enough…
It might be normal, that doesn’t mean it’s correct. I mean, your house, your rules, but imo the sink is a workspace and not a storage space. Same reason I put my clothes in the hamper instead of directly into the washing machine.
If you had a washing machine in the same room as your dirty clothes, why wouldn’t you put them directly in the washing machine?
For me, the work the sink does is wash pots and pans and stuff, so putting them there seems logical (and then you wash them and put them in the drainer).