Y'all know I'm a grilling newbie, and I purchased Steven Raichlen's
"How to Grill" book because it was my impression that his books are
highly recommended.

I'll agree that his how-to techniques are helpful. But does anyone
else find his recipes a bit over-fussed-with?

For instance, the first thing I made with his recipes was hamburgers
with garlic butter inside, so you've got a fat burger with something
in the center. Admittedly, my garlic butter was only about
half-frozen, but when I put them on the grill I had terrible flareups,
to the point where the outsides were black and the insides were still
raw--and that was quite a bit after the time that Steven said to cook
them on each side.

Today I tried his basic (?) chicken breast recipe. Calls for
sprinkling sea or kosher salt, cracked peppercorns and hot pepper
flakes on both sides of each breast, then pressing chopped garlic and
chopped rosemary onto each, then marinating them for 30 to 60 minutes
in lemon juice and olive oil.

Again, I made a mistake in cooking them today instead of yesterday, so
they marinated for a bit less than 24 hours--but until now, I always
found that the more marinating, the better. I grilled the breasts and
tried some, and I can't even taste the chicken, much less the
smoke!!!! The flavor is so intense that I have to eat slices of the
breasts in salad to be able to handle them.

What's the opinion here? Am I causing these problems myself, or are
Raichlen's recipes too zesty for even a zest-lover like myself?

Thanks,


Desideria