A new contest record
682.3088
highest overall ever cooked here
682.3088 is the highest overall score this contest has ever produced — past the 670.8460 THE BASIC BBQ TEAM set in 2016.
- old record 670.8460
- set 2016 by THE BASIC BBQ TEAM
Salt City BBQ Festival 2018
May 18–19, 2018 · Syracuse, NY · 📍 NY State Fair Grounds
PRIORVILLE BBQ won Grand Champion at the Salt City BBQ Festival on May 18, 2018 in Syracuse, NY at NY State Fair Grounds, scoring 682.3088 in a field of 34 teams. BIG RAZ BBQ took Reserve Grand Champion with 678.2632. Category winners: Chicken — PRIORVILLE BBQ (177.7372); Pork Ribs — GALLOWAY'S HELLFIRE BBQ (170.8800); Pork — MILLER'S BACKYARD BBQ (177.1428); Brisket — PRIORVILLE BBQ (175.4172). This is the 4th of 4 editions of this contest on record; the 2017 edition was won by GOOD SMOKE BBQ.
The contest at a glance (read off the scored boards)
How the field scored
Overall totals, every team on the board — tall stacks are where the pack sat.
562.13
median 626.73
682.31 🏆
How the meats cooked
Every board on one scale — the bar runs last score to first, the dot is the median.
- Chicken 177.74
- Pork Ribs 170.88
- Pork 177.14
- Brisket 175.42
122.78
177.74
Winning score by edition
What it has taken to win here, 2015 to 2018 — this edition picked out.
Entries
34
4 judged meats · 2 ancillary
Top score
682.3088
Winning margin
4.0456
GC over RC
Field average
626.66
562.13682.31
median 626.73 · last place to winner
Perfect 180s
0
Tightest race
Pork Ribs
4.0456 pts across the top 5
Top-10 cutoff
638.2172
562.13682.31
10th place overall
Field spread
120.1828
winner to last place
Double threats
5
teams with 2+ top-5 calls
How hot was the win?
Top 86%
beats 14% of 4715 Master Series wins in the data
Came back for more
51%
21 of 41 teams from the previous edition returned
Form held
Strong
ρ = -0.66 between pre-contest rating and finish
Field strength
1,535
avg power rating going in · stronger than 26% of contests
Storylines (7 found in this contest's numbers)
Everything below is read straight out of the results — the number on each card is the one that made it a story.
An upset on the books
23-in-100
shot on pre-contest ratings
The ratings favoured the top seed the other 77 times in 100
Priorville BBQ came in rated below the field's top team, GOOD SMOKE BBQ, and took the Grand Championship anyway — roughly a 23-in-100 shot on pre-contest ratings.
- champion 1633
- top seed 1840
Photo finishes
0.0112
closest of 8 calls decided inside half a point
Pork Ribs places 1–2: GALLOWAY'S HELLFIRE BBQ edged BIG RAZ BBQ by 0.0112. Brisket places 9–10: SHORTSVILLE SMOKERS edged MILLER'S BACKYARD BBQ by 0.0116. Pork Ribs places 4–5: LET YOUR MEAT SHINE THROUGH BAR-B-QUE edged MILLER'S BACKYARD BBQ by 0.0228.
- Pork Ribs 1–2 · 0.0112
- Brisket 9–10 · 0.0116
- Pork Ribs 4–5 · 0.0228
- Chicken 4–5 · 0.0344
A double category winner
2
category wins in a day
PRIORVILLE BBQ won Chicken, Brisket — a double, and took the Grand Championship on top of it.
- Chicken 1st
- Brisket 1st
How the title was won
3 of 4
meats called to the stage
PRIORVILLE BBQ took the title on 3 calls from 4 meats, with 2 outright wins — their weakest board was pork ribs at 12th.
- Chicken 1st
- Pork Ribs 12th
- Pork 3rd
- Brisket 1st
A contest record in chicken
177.7372
best chicken ever cooked here
PRIORVILLE BBQ turned in 177.7372 in chicken — past the 171.9656 that had stood across 3 earlier editions.
- old best 171.9656
- across 3 past editions
Back to defend
1
past champions back in the field
Past winners of this contest cooked this edition: GOOD SMOKE BBQ (won 2017).
- GOOD SMOKE BBQ · 2017
Score curves (score by finishing position — steep cliffs mean a spread field, flat lines a knife fight)
Category showdown (top / average / median score per meat)
Score distribution
Biggest rating movers (power-rating points won and lost at this contest)
Did form hold? (pre-contest rating vs overall finish — ratings called it if the dots climb to the right)
This contest over the years full contest page →
| Date | Where | Venue | Teams | High score | Grand Champion | Reserve Champion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 15, 2015 | Syracuse, NY | Syracuse, NY 13210 | 21 | 661.1660 | Priorville | GOOD SMOKE BBQ |
| May 20, 2016 | Syracuse, NY | Clinton Sq | 32 | 670.8460 | THE BASIC BBQ TEAM | GOOD SMOKE BBQ |
| May 19, 2017 | Syracuse, NY | NY State Fair Grounds | 41 | 667.9544 | GOOD SMOKE BBQ | THE BASIC BBQ TEAM |
| May 18, 2018 ← this one | Syracuse, NY | NY State Fair Grounds | 34 | 682.3088 | PRIORVILLE BBQ | BIG RAZ BBQ |
What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)
| Category | 1st | 5th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 177.7372 | 167.9656 | 164.5600 |
| Pork Ribs | 170.8800 | 166.8344 | 159.9884 |
| Pork | 177.1428 | 166.2628 | 161.6684 |
| Brisket | 175.4172 | 168 | 164.5484 |
Official results on kcbs.us ↗
Master Series
Overall
34 entries · top 682.3088 · median 626.7258
Chicken
34 entries · top 177.7372 · median 158.2628
Pork Ribs
34 entries · top 170.8800 · median 154.8744
Pork
34 entries · top 177.1428 · median 157.1198
Brisket
34 entries · top 175.4172 · median 157.9772
Ancillary categories
Run by the organizers alongside the sanctioned contest. These are judged on their own terms and do not count toward the overall score, so they're kept out of the meat stats above.
Master Series — Bacon
11 entries · top 173.1200 · median 159.9312
Master Series — Dessert
11 entries · top 180 · median 169.1544 · 🔥 perfect 180