Why was the "Science + Sous Vide" Thread Locked?

  • Some of the links on this forum allow SMF, at no cost to you, to earn a small commission when you click through and make a purchase. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
SMF is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

deltadude

Master of the Pit
Original poster
OTBS Member
Jun 3, 2008
1,529
37
Sacramento Area
I read the majority of posts in that thread, and really didn't see anything inflammatory, or provocative, in fact I wanted to comment, and discovered the thread is locked?

I have been a member on this forum for 5 years, and seen locked threads and some very heated discussions, but honestly do not understand why a moderator chose to lock the thread I'm referring too. 

It would be nice if a moderator is locking a thread that the final post have some kind of explanation, otherwise it just looks like a moderator got pissed off and uses his moderator capabilities to be heavy handed or possibly even unfair.

If the reason is due to food safety and the concept that sous vide done by home cooks without the proper knowledge, and SMF wants to not further bad information, then I do have a problem.  However I will reserve comment until someone from SMF responds.
 
I'm a mod on the board and don't have any idea who locked the thread or for what reasons. After reading the thread i can see it is a train wreck waiting to happen....but this doesn't really answer your questions. I guess we will have to wait for someone who knows the answers to respond to your post. 

Len
 
I'd like to see that thread continue also....I always figurred Sous-Vide was a train wreck waiting to happen but this thread has me at least thinking it might be maybe doable without killing the family off.
 
Sous vide is not any more dangerous than making jerky. There are very specific rules you must follow and due diligence is needed for anyone cooking by any means. Be knowledgeable and do your homework
 
Some of these topics that can be risky or even hazardous need to be handled with care and that is what this is.. we have a discussion about it in the mod forum as we speak.

Having said that, we are going to unlock the sous vide thread and allow discussion to prevail but the moderators and admins will be watching it carefully to make sure that everyone is aware of the risks and the correct steps that must be followed (per our best interpretation and understanding of the USDA) in order to make this safe or safer.

How risky it is can be a matter of perspective I suppose but I am willing to allow the discussion for now as long as it stays on a straight and narrow path and folks can agree to disagree where necessary. We also ask that you don't use the argument that this is safe or ok simply because folks have been doing it for hundreds of years. As we all know, grandma and grandpa did a lot of things and that don't make it safe, ok or even right. No offense to those who have gone before us.

So with no further adieu, I will be unlocking the sous vide thread shortly.
 
I hope this attitude of "we don't want you to get hurt so we lock it" is not coming from folks who disagree with the very same attitude when government is involved.

 Let people sort it out. Unless there are name calling or terrorist activity why bother being a dictator?
 
I hope this attitude of "we don't want you to get hurt so we lock it" is not coming from folks who disagree with the very same attitude when government is involved.

 Let people sort it out. Unless there are name calling or terrorist activity why bother being a dictator?
Unlike government, this forum does not have free speech and is certainly not a democracy. The two clearly do not compare in my opinion.

There are many topics that we do not discuss on this forum simply because folks cannot seem to discuss it without letting their tempers get the best of them. Two of those topics are politics and religion which you will find on some forums but nothing more than a reference or a joke on SMF.

Food safety is a heated topic and, like religion, can be understood and interpreted in different ways and sometimes, rather than confuse folks with a lot of different opinions and heated discussion, we choose to not allow the topic but rather to have our own safety experts advise the new folks on their combined, agreed upon, understanding of safe methods of cooking at low and slow temperatures as well as other food safety related topics.

Forums and websites have to be careful what they allow if for no other reason than that we should feel responsible for the material that we allow to be distributed. Whether we could actually get sued if someone got sick or worse from following false information on the forum is left to be determined but I would feel responsible and therefore, I am cautious of my own volition.

This is the way I decided to run the forum a long time ago and it has served us very well in my opinion.
 
I understand this is your house and I am a guest here but as a guest I don't want  to be constantly reminded not to stick fork into wall outlet or not to crack any coffee china on a table. Give me benefit of the doubt that  I am mature enough to understand what is right and what is wrong.

And for those who don't understand simple warning should be enough. No need to shut down fun party.
 
Last edited:
You can have all the "safety rule bending" conversations you wish in private messages.  If there are a couple of people interested in this topic and admin feels the general population will not be served by understanding only parts of it then why not suggest a private message exchange?   I know I have often worked out techniques that could be misunderstood with other members before publicly posting them. 

Please understand that you are only one of thousands of people that may read a post over it's lifetime and information you may consider mundane and trite may be informative to others with less experience.  I'm tired of talking about the 4 hour rule but you can sure bet next time someone talks about slow smoking sausage without a cure the 4 hour rule will be discussed.
 
Jeff deserves credit, he is one forum owner / super admin that pays attention to what is happening on his forum.  I am a member on another Huddler Forum and that owner, is rarely visible or contributes, he just likes his forum's advertising to keep paying him.
 
All this talk about it has educated me, that's for sure; I even know now how to pronounce it right! 
icon_mrgreen.gif


(like callin' hawgs but with an accent!.... " Souuu - Veeee!")
 
I'd like to see that thread continue also....I always figurred Sous-Vide was a train wreck waiting to happen but this thread has me at least thinking it might be maybe doable without killing the family off.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: vortreker
It is not about those that have a lot of experience, it is about those that don't.  I came here one day to understand what I was doing wrong and looking for guidance.  When it comes to food safety, I would prefer all be cautious - my endeavors to make Delicious food for others should never have a casualty or even a person ill.  When my wife and I had a disagreement on how much time was reasonable for uncured jerky, I told her, "One batch of jerky that makes our loved ones sick is one too many."  The reputation of this forum draws folks here with the expectation that the information is respected and reliable - and generally safe.  If there are areas that have inherit risk or considerable controversy, as a community, we need to ensure that our discourse does not lead anyone to harm.  Not one to want unwarranted censure, let us all ensure our conversation promotes the advance of this craft but with food safety foremost.
 
For the record, I did Not lock the thread. I made my opinion known based on what I have learned and enjoyed learning what others believe to be true. However as per instructions from my Bosses I am not beyond shutting down any thread or deleting any post that is either completely unsafe or a disparaging comment toward another member. Just because what your research says and what mine says are different don't make either one of us 100% right...JJ
 
Last edited:
I must say .. hats off to the admin and mods .. I have not read the thread yet .. but now my curiosity is peeked .

Safety is priority .. and common scents ..
I know on our board we do our best to help people as well .. especially with safe canning practices and food handling .. < gardening site ..  safe usage of chemical or organic applications

which some subjects get out of hand .. especially the Genetically altered seeds the government is trying to force us to use ..  ... anyhoo we let it go until we feel its gone on enough or people start deleting their accounts because they get to over heated
th_crybaby2.gif
laugh1.gif
has happened and yes we let the pm's fly
 
I just checked in "to see what condition my condition was in"  .Now who sang that?? Kenny Rogers then Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings redid it.Anyway I  came to this late, not savvy enough to understand locked threads & live in a country that started as a penal colony for the people the English wanted to put as far away as possible,so we aren't that big on rules & regulations!

We see a bit of this sous vide stuff here because we get British TV cooking shows & I think thats where it started.. I am a bit wary of it but counter balance that with a cast iron stomach that I  got from spending 6 years at Agricultural school ,live in ,locked gates,milk cows,feed pigs etc before & after school,food parcels sent from home sort of deal .People do really dumb things somebody has to call it it for what it is so this forum isnt seen to be validating something something that is risky.

Better safe than sorry,over rated cookery anyway.Bloody English who put them in charge of the stoves in the first place
laugh1.gif
.
 
Forums/web sites are not part of a democracy.  Owners of said items are benevolent dictators.  I know, I own a site with a 15k+ member forum.  It is VERY hard to balance free exchange with the overall good.  Anyway...

I have never heard of sous vide, and I thought I knew a lot about cooking.  Interesting, but after all of my biology and chemistry classes and can actually envision little yeasty beasties growing like crazy before temps reach a somewhat safe level.  But it is a very interesting thing to read about. 
 
SmokingMeatForums.com is reader supported and as an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

Latest posts

Clicky