Raichlen created the TV show Barbecue University (aka BBQ U) which aired for four seasons from 2003 to 2006 on American Public Television.

Raichlen has won five James Beard awards for his cookbooks

Steven's first book "A Taste of the Mountains Cooking School" was released in 1986

In 1975, Raichlen earned a Bachelor of Arts in French literature from Reed College. He received a Thomas J. Watson Foundation Fellowship to study medieval cooking in Europe, and was offered a Fulbright Scholarship to study comparative literature. He trained at Le Cordon Bleu and La Varenne cooking schools in Paris.