Maxime Bilet, coauthor of the epic 2,400-page book Modernist Cuisine, spent years working with the sort of high-end machinery young cooks dream about. He also figured out how to translate some of the techniques he learned for the home kitchen, like this clever sous-vide salmon trick.

CHOW Tips are the shared wisdom of our community. If you’ve figured out some piece of food, drink, or cooking wisdom that you’d like to share on video (and you can be in San Francisco), email Meredith Arthur and tell us what you’ve got in mind.