Living with 1 sink in your kitchen

amother

Aqua

Tue, Dec 19 2017, 4:47 pm

How do people who are renting and can't add a second sink manage btwn meat and dairy?

happy12

Tue, Dec 19 2017, 5:02 pm

Dish pans on a rack in the sink.Never put dishes directly in sink.

ra_mom

Tue, Dec 19 2017, 5:07 pm

amother wrote:

How do people who are renting and can't add a second sink manage btwn meat and dairy?

Switch out racks and bins in the sink based on what you're cooking/serving. My grandmother did this with grace for 40 years even though she owned her home.

amother

Babyblue

Tue, Dec 19 2017, 5:12 pm

We are renting we use collapsable dish bins to wash the dishes in... it's super annoying
We both didn't grow up like this and we always tell each other when we build our dream kitchen we will have 2 sinks

cooksallday

Tue, Dec 19 2017, 5:13 pm

I do the same. We are renting and keep 2 bins under the sink, switch them out when doing milk or meat. Works well.

amother

Aqua

Tue, Dec 19 2017, 5:14 pm

Thanks, I am asking because I recently moved from a house with 2 sinks to a house with 1 sink and I don't have the option to add another. And even though I have a rack in the sink and I of course keep my dishes separate, my mom decided that my house isn't kosher enough for her to eat from anymore. I am having a very hard time accepting her decision especially bec I am not doing anything wrong. It really hurts and it feels like a form of rejection toward me. I just wanted to confirm that others do the same as I do Sad

ra_mom

Tue, Dec 19 2017, 5:16 pm

amother wrote:

That's awful. Of course you can keep a kosher kitchen with 1 sink.
Would separate bins on top of the separate racks put her more at ease? It sounds like more of her personal issue rather than a halachic one.

amother

Aqua

Tue, Dec 19 2017, 5:21 pm

ra_mom wrote:

I use the counter for Wtvr dishes can't go into the sink at that time and I have 2 separate drying racks for each. It might really be a personal issue bec I eat OUD at home and she doesn't. To her OUD isn't considered kosher... It just really upsets me that this is what religion came to. 20 yrs ago this wouldn't have even been a concern

Rubber Ducky

Tue, Dec 19 2017, 5:27 pm

Very few of our grandparents had separate sinks but somehow they managed to keep kosher homes. Could your mother be using this as an excuse and there's really something else bothering her? Perhaps she could ask her Rav or Star-K or someone who knows this stuff.

Tzutzie

Tue, Dec 19 2017, 5:52 pm

Op that is very sad. I'm sorry about your mother.

About the sink, my sister lived with a double basin sink for close to two decaded. Will your landlord let you change that?

Mommyg8

Tue, Dec 19 2017, 7:15 pm

amother wrote:

When I grew up, many people only had one sink. It's perfectly kosher if you use separate grates and/or bins. I'm really surprised at your mother. Maybe you can get her to ask her Rav if there is a real problem?

amother

Seashell

Tue, Dec 19 2017, 7:22 pm

Thats awful. What makes moms say such stupid things is beyond me. My mother lived like that 30 yrs and is super careful...asked a rav every step...and her parents ate in her home too and they're fanatics. That's so messed up. I'm sorry for the emotional challenge.

cozyblanket

Tue, Dec 19 2017, 7:22 pm

I used bins for 11 years. Its fine.
I'm so sorry about what your mother said. Do you two have good communication? If so if something else is bothering her, maybe speaking about it will reveal it. Or, if its just the sinks, a rav can set her strait.

amother

Red

Tue, Dec 19 2017, 7:39 pm

My father is a highly regarded and respected dayan and we lived with one sink for much of my growing up years. Tell your mother to not be holier than need be.

amother

Smokey

Tue, Dec 19 2017, 9:27 pm

ra_mom wrote:

Agree. It's definitely not a halachic issue.
My very right-wing grandfather who was a Rosh Yeshiva had only one sink in their house. And it wasn't even a rental.

amother

Indigo

Tue, Dec 19 2017, 9:56 pm

I use wash basins and sink mats, which I keep under the sink. I also scrub the sink and rinse between, as an extra precaution. There is NO WAY it is a Kashrus problem. Suggest that your other consult her Rav.

L K

Tue, Dec 19 2017, 10:20 pm

Op, I have experiences of living with one, two and one double sink, not eating from a shomer shabbos friend with one sink, yes eating at my non-shomer-shabbos mothers house (with one sink lol) etc.

I have a few points to make, triggered by recent observations of how ppl interact with their mothers.
One needs to remain respectful, even if mother seems to be incorrect, over-zealous, or extra-makpid. There's no heter to treat her disrespectfully. She's by the way free to choose to be makpid on whatever she wants.

My very machmir rav (he keeps every possible chumrah that's out there and then some more) wouldn't eat most foods cooked in his own sis-in-laws house, but would for instance let wife or kids do so. Same at my house- he would be fine sending his kids to me for supper or shabbos, yet himself would accept a coffee or fried latkas but I wouldnt expect him to eat meat by me. At the same time, he allowed us to eat at my super-honest non-frum mothers house, at our discretion, so we would eat cooked potatoes or fried mushrooms but not leafy vegetables. But I wouldn't eat there once my sister moved in and started cooking. I don't trust her as I do my mother. And cholov Stan creates additional problems. Get the drift? There are various nuances to consider.

I had an experience with a dear friend who became frum before I did and helped me with lots of yoddishkeit things, so I did have respect for her frumkeit but... She had one sink with racks, and I saw numerous times water go up somewhat when the dishes were in the sink. I didn't feel comfortable with that. She also had some foods that I felt needed a better hechsher. That added to discomfort.

I myself had it many times that water backed up in a sink with a stuffed drain trap. That's why I liked kashering my sinks for pesach even though I covered them in foil anyway. When hot water goes up it washes off everything from the sink sides, from between the foil and sink and deposits it on the dishes sitting in the sink. Same happens with one sink: water splashes off sides, goes up, dishes touch sink walls etc.
For this reason when I had one sink I would wash dishes and pots holding them up in the air, without placing them into the sink. Of course I guess you could use a basin, it would make it easier on your hands and arms and separate dishes from the sink.

Mommyg8

Tue, Dec 19 2017, 10:39 pm

Obviously, if hot water backs up then you have a problem, but honestly, when something like that happens, you realize you have a shayla. Basically, you need common sense. If you are not sure as to what is halachically ok or not, then ask. We washed dished either in the air, on the rack, or in a basin. Personally, I liked the basin best because I didn't have to worry about hot water splashing, etc. But that was a personal preference, I doubt it's halacha. And I'm assuming you should wash the sink in between meat and dairy - I used a sponge that was considered treif for that.

shanie5

Tue, Dec 19 2017, 10:46 pm

I have had only 1 sink for over 30 years. No water backing up, but even if it did, it would have to be Yad Soledes Bo (hot enough to burn your hand) to cause kashrus problems. Same with splashing.
I use sink racks to separate for dairy and meat.

crust

Tue, Dec 19 2017, 11:09 pm

Mommyg8 wrote:

Nowadays, the water coming from the sinks are never hot enough to cause shalos.