Free Stainless Sinks May Not Be So Free

The quote below is an excerpt from a Kitchen & Bath Industry group discussion on LinkedIn.

I emailed the author, Steven Conneen, to ask his permission to quote him here (Thanks Steven).

Apparently, just as in times past when consumers are in a money-conserving mood, the market is being flooded with cheap products to meet demand - in this case poor quality stainless steel sinks.

Think twice about installing a no-brand stainless steel sink UNDER a granite, quartz or solid-surface countertop. The cost of removing it when it rusts or discolors will be FAR MORE than any savings you enjoy today. In fact, it may be impossible to remove it without destroying your beautiful tile backsplash.

Those of you that have grown up experiencing only high quality stainless sinks don't know how bad they can get.

Sinks that are to be undermounted should be ONLY high quality, "lifetime sinks", such as Elkay, Franke, etc. Corian, quartz and Siligranite sinks also can be termed "lifetime sinks".

In fact, you should question ANY free product offered as an enticement to get you to buy, unless the offer is from a manufacturer of the products (ie. Free Elkay Faucet with the purchase of an Elkay Sink, or Free GE Hood with the purchase of a GE range and dishwasher).

Peggy

As a manager of a high end plumbing showroom in the Northeast we have gone to great lengths to educate our plumbing/ contractor and retail customers and that's the key. It takes some work but you have to hit it from all angles. We work hard to educate the architects, designers, builders or anyone involved in the spec about quality and the opportunity to make more money.

It seems like such a waste to spend thousands of $ on beautiful stone counter tops to cheap out on the sink and faucet.

One of our biggest obstacles right now is actually with the granite companies. There has been huge influx of import (sub-quality) stainless steel sinks from Asia which these companies can buy for a fraction of the cost of the Elkay, Franke or KWC sinks. They'll even throw it in at no charge to hook the consumer on the granite purchase.

What the consumer doesn't realize is that these Asian sinks are not true 304 grade Stainless steel sinks with an 18/10 chromium/nickel content. Fortunately we've had some customers come in looking to replace their Asian sink because it is starting to show rust.

I now encourage all of my customers to bring refrigerator magnets with them to the counter places to test the chromium/nickel content in the sinks. The lower the content the higher the concentration of ferrous iron which will cause the magnet to stick to the sink.

Savory Onion Crackers(Low Fat)

Did you try Savory onion crackers from Red chillies site? I did and I just loved it. I am always looking for low fat snack recipes to go with tea. This one fits the bill. I made some changes to her recipe. It came out crispy and delicious. Onion gives a wonderful flavor to the crackers.

I replaced white flour with whole wheat flour and also added rice flour for crunchiness.
I eliminated butter and baking soda.

Makes about 18 crackers

Ingredients:
Whole Wheat Flour(chapathi flour)-1.5 cups
Rice flour-1/2 cup
Water-1/4 cup
Oil-1/2 cup
Salt-1 tsp
Onion finely chopped-1 medium
Green chillis chopped-1
Hing-1/4 tsp(optional)
Jeera(cumin)-2 tsp
Coriander leaves(cilantro)-a handful chopped finely



Method:
Mix all the above ingredients except oil and start kneading.
Add oil little by little and knead the dough for 5-10 minutes. It should be very soft like a chapathi dough. Make small balls.
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Line the baking tray with foil. Place a ball and flatten it out with your palm into thin circles.
Repeat the same with other balls.
Bake until golden brown. My oven takes longer time to bake than it should normally take. I baked it for about 45 minutes. The actual recipe says 25-30 minutes. Keep an eye on the oven and check if it is done after 25 minutes.

These can be stored in an airtight container for a few days.

Papaya Marmalade

Home-made jams give a nice flavor and is free of preservatives and artificial colors and sweeteners. Home made jams have the intense flavor of the fruit used. Making jams is not that difficult. Now a days I have almost stopped buying jams. Pectin is the one which imparts the glossy look and texture to jam. Take care to add a fruit juice which has high pectin content along with the main fruit. Once you get the hang of it, you will never go for the shop bought ones.

You need

Papaya pulp - 3/4 cup

Sugar - 1 cup

Juice of 1 orange

Orange zest - 1 tspn

Crushed cloves - 3 nos (optional)

Wash and peel the papaya. Chop into cubes and give a run in the mixer till it is pulpy. You can add sugar also along with the cubes.

Mix all the ingredients in a MW safe bowl. MW for 25 minutes. Keep stirring at every 5 minutes. Mine took 28 minutes. Since Ii have added some orange zest, its called marmalade. Glossy,yummy, papaya marmalade is ready. I refrigerate since no preservative is used. It stays good for three weeks. It has not lasted longer than that at my home.