Please Read: Serious Efforts
In response to a thread posted, "Please Add a Professional-Level Efforts Topic" a number of Serious Eats members expressed the desire for a way to pose more practical questions and get the same response in kind. The author of the original post, mongoose, has generously worked with us to help define exactly what "Serious Efforts" are. Below is what we've come up with as a starting point, your feedback is naturally welcome! A new year is as good a time as any to try something new, so let's give this a go.
‘Serious Efforts’ posts are intended to draw on members’ practical experience. Regardless of level of experience, we all have something to offer, because we care about the food we prepare, and we (mostly) work in home kitchens, making any advice we offer particularly relevant.
Is your question a ‘Serious Efforts’ post? The answer is ‘yes’ if it specifically describes a more complex technical issue or problem for which you would like input from others, and to which you have not found an answer elsewhere (including searches of the SE database).
The title of the post should clearly indicate what you are asking other SE members (e.g. “Solution to croissant ‘slumping’?”), and the question itself should be concise and to the point.
Questions that are hypothetical or vague (“What can go wrong if I make croissants”) would not fall into the ‘Serious Efforts’ category.
Label your ‘Serious Efforts’ posts like this: ‘Serious Efforts: [your question title]’
Replying to a ‘Serious Efforts’ post: Please keep your responses objective, to the point, and based on first-hand experience. Humor is fine, as long as it doesn’t conflict with the delivery of useful advice.
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Comments are closed: 26 Comments:
Alaina, I'm quite certain this is precisely how we wanted it and it's definitely worth a try. I wonder though, if it would be possible to keep this post of yours "on top" somehow. Otherwise, in a couple of days it will be gone and new members (or whoever was away for whatever reason) will have no idea what "Serious Efforts" is all about.
brooke29 at 12:02PM on 01/07/09
Agreed! We've made it a "sticky" topic at the top of the main Talk page.
Alaina Browne at 12:04PM on 01/07/09
This sounds great - I'm so excited!
BangieB at 12:18PM on 01/07/09
Good job, I'm all for it.
simon at 12:23PM on 01/07/09
Thanks! You guys are brilliant, as usual!
brooke29 at 12:39PM on 01/07/09
Great idea and summary Alaina. I look forward to it's simplicity :D
hungrychristel at 1:09PM on 01/07/09
Great idea! I am looking forward to exchanging info and learning new things. Cheers from the sidelines!!!
JerzeeTomato at 2:02PM on 01/07/09
i also think it is a great idea.... there is so much information that we can have access to... and exchange.... looking forward to perusing it.
pooch at 2:27PM on 01/07/09
Looks to me like this will be very interesting.Looking foward to it.
onepercent99 at 3:20PM on 01/07/09
Excellent!
Traveller at 3:20PM on 01/07/09
Thanks mongoose for the idea - it sounds great!
nichole at 3:38PM on 01/07/09
We'll all rise to new levels of ability in the kitchen. How exciting. An exclusive archive of this topic might some day become a new "home-grown" textbook!
czken at 4:33PM on 01/07/09
What an excellent idea. So many times something goes kaflooey and the cook wants to know specifically what went wrong. i.e. Someone I know (who cooks very well) made a phyllo-topped meat pie and asked why the phyllo burnt. I asked where she set the oven rack. If the recipe directed the cook to put the oven rack in the lower third of the oven, the pie contents could cook but the phyllo topping wouldn't have been blitzed with intense heat if the rack were placed on the top third of the oven. (So the question would be: Serious Efforts: Cremated Phyllo Topping...)
It's culinary brainstorming...Yeah, baby.
therealchiffonade at 6:49PM on 01/07/09
Thank you! Looking forward to culinary answers for the sometimes puzzling problems occasionally encountered in the kitchen.
@therealchiffonade--"It's culinary brainstorming...Yeah, baby." What a great quote to sum up the idea of Serious Efforts!
dhorst at 9:09PM on 01/07/09
Delicious
MrChow at 9:14PM on 01/07/09
awesome...we will rock you.
sailordave at 10:38PM on 01/07/09
Happy New Year, yes, yes, yes!!!!!
pjracz10 at 12:41AM on 01/08/09
So who's going to do the honors and post the first "Serious Efforts" talk topic? :)
Alaina Browne at 12:11PM on 01/08/09
Thanks for stepping up, dbcurrie!
Alaina Browne at 4:14PM on 01/08/09
Love it!
foodismyspeciality at 7:31PM on 01/08/09
@Alaina, One small step for truffles, one giant leap for foodiekind.
Heh, but really, I didn't see your nudge until just now. But I feel like a pioneer!
Thanks to mongoose & SE for hammering this out.
dbcurrie at 8:49PM on 01/08/09
I'm going to advocate for thoughtful answers in the comments/replies to Serious Efforts questions. An opinion is always good, but knowing _why_ in those cases is even more helpful.
ccbweb at 2:31PM on 01/09/09
It's great in principal, but not everyone will understand, things will be said, feelings will get hurt, people will leave. People who tried to help, or join in on a conversation. I hope I'm wrong, but I see ugliness down the line. I'm staying away from it.
PerkyMac at 3:32PM on 01/09/09
@ PerkyMac: maybe, but I think that's the same set of things that happens pretty regularly on online boards (including this one occasionally). Hopefully, it won't end up being any more troublesome than any other post/question type on here.
ccbweb at 4:27PM on 01/09/09
I'll give it a shot, but my prior opinion stands--I would NEVER rely on serious eats for this kind of information.
Keight at 9:15PM on 01/10/09
A further request for folks posting Serious Efforts threads (which I think have been great threads so far!): please post your recipe/technique when you make your initial post. If everyone knows where you're starting from, you may well get more specific advice/information. Thanks!
ccbweb at 9:57PM on 01/23/09