What I’ve learned from my research:When you consider a stainless steel sink there are a few key features to explore including: design, quality, and functionality.  There are many different materials to choose from, but for this article I will concentrate on stainless steel and more specifically the thickness of metal used to build the stainless steel sink and what is the best kitchen sink gauge.

The thickness of the sheet metal used to produce a sink is termed its gauge.  The gauge of sheet metal for most sinks ranges from 22 -15 gauge.  The smaller the gauge number, the thicker the sheet metal will be, so it stands to reason that the best kitchen sink gauge will be on the smaller side of the range. Quality residential sinks range from 18-16 gauge while commercial quality sinks are 15-16 gauge.  When manufactures refer to the gauge of their product, they are referring to the thickness of the sheet metal before the manufacturing process begins.

Most stainless steel sinks are manufactured using a process called deep draw forming where a sheet of metal is drawn down into a form through a series of steps called reductions.  Each reduction stretches the sheet metal deeper and deeper into the form, so what started out as an 18 gauge sheet of metal will not end up being 18 gauge throughout the entire finished product.  The industry standard is to state the gauge of the metal that the manufacturing process started with.  Since this is the standard practice, it makes it fairly easy to compare one sink to another.

It is my opinion that the best kitchen sink gauge to consider is either 15 or 16, if the price fits your kitchen budget.  Don't get too hung up on which it is, 15 or 16 guage, because they will both perform well in a residential kitchen.  Good luck on your project!