*Lassen Annual BBQ Cook-Off

2018-08-17 – 2018-08-18 · Susanville, CA · 📍 195 Russell Ave

Grand Champion: BULL MARKET BBQ (685.2344) · 27 teams

Reserve Champion: 🥈 OLD TOWN FRANKLIN BBQ

🥇

BULL MARKET BBQ

685.2344 · Master Series — Overall

🥈

OLD TOWN FRANKLIN BBQ

683.9544 · Master Series — Overall

🥉

CYNICAL BBQ

682.2632 · Master Series — Overall

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.

20.00 median 652.00 685.23 🏆

How the meats cooked

Every board on one scale — the bar runs last score to first, the dot is the median.

Chicken 177.70
Pork Ribs 176.00
Pork 173.70
Brisket 178.30

20.00 178.30

Winning score by edition

What it has taken to win here, 2018 to 2021 — this edition picked out.

Entries

4 judged meats

Top score

685.2344

Winning margin

1.2800

GC over RC

Field average

622.35

20.00685.23

median 652.00 · last place to winner

Perfect 180s

Tightest race

Pork Ribs

1.1544 pts across the top 5

Top-10 cutoff

668.4340

20.00685.23

10th place overall

Field spread

665.2344

winner to last place

Most consistent

BULL MARKET BBQ

avg finish 4.50 across 4 meats

Double threats

teams with 2+ top-5 calls

Widest winning margin

Brisket

won by 8.6172 pts — CYNICAL BBQ

How hot was the win?

Top 81%

beats 19% of 4707 Master Series wins in the data

Form held

Moderate

ρ = -0.58 between pre-contest rating and finish

Field strength

1547

avg power rating going in · stronger than 35% of contests

Top-rated in the field

SON OF SMOKE

rated 1784 pre-contest

Storylines (6 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.

A razor-thin finish

1.2800 points between champion and reserve

Closer than 77% of the 4,742 championships in the data

The Grand Championship was decided by 1.2800 points — closer than 77% of every championship in the data.

BULL MARKET BBQ
OLD TOWN FRANKLIN BBQ

An upset on the books

17-in-100 shot on pre-contest ratings

The ratings favoured the top seed the other 83 times in 100

BULL MARKET BBQ came in rated below the field's top team, SON OF SMOKE, and took the Grand Championship anyway — roughly a 17-in-100 shot on pre-contest ratings.

champion 1510
top seed 1784

Won without a category win

4 of 4 meats called to the stage

BULL MARKET BBQ won the Grand Championship without winning a single meat — 4 calls from 4 boards, best of them 2nd. Consistency beat fireworks.

Chicken 2nd
Pork Ribs 2nd
Pork 10th
Brisket 4th

A first Grand Championship

6 tracked contests to get there

This was BULL MARKET BBQ's first Grand Championship in the data — it arrived at their 6th tracked contest.

Photo finishes

Tie closest of 10 calls decided inside half a point

Chicken places 2–3: BULL MARKET BBQ and SHIG NINJA BBQ tied on 175.4400 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Pork places 8–9: RICKY P'S MEAT CANDY BBQ COMPANY edged CANYON RIDERS BBQ by 0.0004. Pork Ribs places 6–7: BONE RUBBIN BBQ edged JIMMY'S BACKYARD BBQ by 0.0116.

Chicken 2–3 · tie
Pork 8–9 · 0.0004
Pork Ribs 6–7 · 0.0116
Brisket 8–9 · 0.0116

A double category winner

2 category wins in a day

PIRATES OF THE PIG won Chicken, Pork Ribs — a double.

Chicken 1st
Pork Ribs 1st

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)

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
2018-08-17 ← this one	Susanville, CA	195 Russell Ave	27	685.2344	BULL MARKET BBQ	OLD TOWN FRANKLIN BBQ
2019-08-16	Susanville, CA	195 Russell Ave	25	675.9768	Cynical BBQ	Smokey and the Pirate
2021-10-15	Susanville, CA	195 Russell Ave	11	678.2284	7 Sins BBQ	KICKEN ASH AND MAKEN FLAMES

What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)

Category	1st	5th	10th
Chicken	177.7028	173.7256	168.6400
Pork Ribs	176.0000	174.8456	171.4056
Pork	173.7028	169.1200	166.8572
Brisket	178.2972	167.4172	165.1084

Official results on kcbs.us ↗

Master Series

Overall

27 entries · top 685.2344 · median 652.0000

#	Team	Score
1	BULL MARKET BBQ	685.2344
2	OLD TOWN FRANKLIN BBQ	683.9544
3	CYNICAL BBQ	682.2632
4	THE CALIFORNIA GRILL BILLIES	681.6340
5	SON OF SMOKE	675.3600
6	JIMMY'S BACKYARD BBQ	674.8112
7	SHIG NINJA BBQ	673.1196
8	BAR-B-CUDA BBQ	672.6056
9	ROYAL SMOKIN' HOT	670.3544
10	PIRATES OF THE PIG	668.4340
11	BAR-B-Q'S-2GO	662.7652
12	MR. APPLEJACKS BBQ	659.9204
13	BONE RUBBIN BBQ	653.7144
14	SMOKIN' AXE BBQ	652.0000
15	GIT-R-SMOKED	648.4688
16	CANYON RIDERS BBQ	644.4684
17	SALTWORKS BBQ	643.3488
18	PIGGY D'S BBQ	641.5660
19	PETE'S MEAT BBQ	639.9196
20	RICKY P'S MEAT CANDY BBQ COMPANY	639.3372
21	RICKY K'S SMOKIN BBQ	633.6916
22	GNAW	633.0404
23	Sierra Smoke Pit BBQ	628.4340
24	Old Mill Eatery & Smokehouse	592.5376
25	JC'S SMOKING HOT GRILL	534.6396
26	THE SMOKING J'S	507.9544
27	We Be Smokin' BBQ	20.0000

Chicken

26 entries · top 177.7028 · median 165.1314

#	Team	Score
1	PIRATES OF THE PIG	177.7028
2	BULL MARKET BBQ	175.4400
3	SHIG NINJA BBQ	175.4400
4	SON OF SMOKE	175.4172
5	BAR-B-CUDA BBQ	173.7256
6	OLD TOWN FRANKLIN BBQ	173.1544
7	JIMMY'S BACKYARD BBQ	172.5828
8	THE CALIFORNIA GRILL BILLIES	172.0000
9	PETE'S MEAT BBQ	170.8456
10	ROYAL SMOKIN' HOT	168.6400
11	SALTWORKS BBQ	168.5372
12	BONE RUBBIN BBQ	168.5372
13	Sierra Smoke Pit BBQ	166.8456
14	MR. APPLEJACKS BBQ	163.4172
15	GIT-R-SMOKED	161.0972
16	BAR-B-Q'S-2GO	160.5256
17	RICKY P'S MEAT CANDY BBQ COMPANY	158.8572
18	CANYON RIDERS BBQ	158.8572
19	SMOKIN' AXE BBQ	158.2628
20	CYNICAL BBQ	157.6688
21	RICKY K'S SMOKIN BBQ	155.4056
22	PIGGY D'S BBQ	153.6572
23	GNAW	153.0972
24	Old Mill Eatery & Smokehouse	146.8344
25	JC'S SMOKING HOT GRILL	130.2512
26	THE SMOKING J'S	20.0000

Pork Ribs

27 entries · top 176.0000 · median 164.5484

#	Team	Score
1	PIRATES OF THE PIG	176.0000
2	BULL MARKET BBQ	175.4972
3	SHIG NINJA BBQ	175.4628
4	CYNICAL BBQ	175.4400
5	THE CALIFORNIA GRILL BILLIES	174.8456
6	BONE RUBBIN BBQ	173.1772
7	JIMMY'S BACKYARD BBQ	173.1656
8	BAR-B-CUDA BBQ	172.0344
9	OLD TOWN FRANKLIN BBQ	172.0000
10	ROYAL SMOKIN' HOT	171.4056
11	SON OF SMOKE	170.2744
12	MR. APPLEJACKS BBQ	166.8460
13	SALTWORKS BBQ	164.5828
14	BAR-B-Q'S-2GO	164.5484
15	GNAW	162.2860
16	SMOKIN' AXE BBQ	160.0344
17	RICKY P'S MEAT CANDY BBQ COMPANY	159.4056
18	THE SMOKING J'S	158.2744
19	PETE'S MEAT BBQ	156.5484
20	GIT-R-SMOKED	156.5372
21	PIGGY D'S BBQ	155.9544
22	CANYON RIDERS BBQ	154.2516
23	Old Mill Eatery & Smokehouse	152.6288
24	Sierra Smoke Pit BBQ	151.9200
25	RICKY K'S SMOKIN BBQ	149.1200
26	JC'S SMOKING HOT GRILL	129.6572
27	We Be Smokin' BBQ	20.0000

Pork

26 entries · top 173.7028 · median 165.1200

#	Team	Score
1	THE CALIFORNIA GRILL BILLIES	173.7028
2	BAR-B-Q'S-2GO	172.5828
3	CYNICAL BBQ	170.8572
4	MR. APPLEJACKS BBQ	170.8344
5	OLD TOWN FRANKLIN BBQ	169.1200
6	JIMMY'S BACKYARD BBQ	168.5372
7	SMOKIN' AXE BBQ	168.0000
8	RICKY P'S MEAT CANDY BBQ COMPANY	167.3944
9	CANYON RIDERS BBQ	167.3940
10	BULL MARKET BBQ	166.8572
11	GNAW	165.7144
12	SHIG NINJA BBQ	165.6684
13	SON OF SMOKE	165.1200
14	GIT-R-SMOKED	165.1200
15	PIGGY D'S BBQ	164.5372
16	Sierra Smoke Pit BBQ	164.0228
17	ROYAL SMOKIN' HOT	163.4288
18	BAR-B-CUDA BBQ	163.4172
19	RICKY K'S SMOKIN BBQ	162.8572
20	THE SMOKING J'S	161.6800
21	PIRATES OF THE PIG	159.9312
22	BONE RUBBIN BBQ	157.7028
23	SALTWORKS BBQ	157.1200
24	PETE'S MEAT BBQ	155.9200
25	Old Mill Eatery & Smokehouse	142.2400
26	JC'S SMOKING HOT GRILL	138.2056

Brisket

26 entries · top 178.2972 · median 162.2570

#	Team	Score
1	CYNICAL BBQ	178.2972
2	OLD TOWN FRANKLIN BBQ	169.6800
3	THE SMOKING J'S	168.0000
4	BULL MARKET BBQ	167.4400
5	PIGGY D'S BBQ	167.4172
6	ROYAL SMOKIN' HOT	166.8800
7	RICKY K'S SMOKIN BBQ	166.3088
8	GIT-R-SMOKED	165.7144
9	SMOKIN' AXE BBQ	165.7028
10	BAR-B-Q'S-2GO	165.1084
11	SON OF SMOKE	164.5484
12	CANYON RIDERS BBQ	163.9656
13	BAR-B-CUDA BBQ	163.4284
14	THE CALIFORNIA GRILL BILLIES	161.0856
15	JIMMY'S BACKYARD BBQ	160.5256
16	MR. APPLEJACKS BBQ	158.8228
17	PETE'S MEAT BBQ	156.6056
18	SHIG NINJA BBQ	156.5484
19	PIRATES OF THE PIG	154.8000
20	BONE RUBBIN BBQ	154.2972
21	RICKY P'S MEAT CANDY BBQ COMPANY	153.6800
22	SALTWORKS BBQ	153.1088
23	GNAW	151.9428
24	Old Mill Eatery & Smokehouse	150.8344
25	Sierra Smoke Pit BBQ	145.6456
26	JC'S SMOKING HOT GRILL	136.5256

*Lassen Annual BBQ Cook-Off

The contest at a glance (read off the scored boards)

How the field scored

How the meats cooked

Winning score by edition

Entries

Top score

Winning margin

Field average

Perfect 180s

Tightest race

Top-10 cutoff

Field spread

Most consistent

Double threats

Widest winning margin

How hot was the win?

Form held

Field strength

Top-rated in the field

Storylines (6 found in this contest's numbers)

A razor-thin finish

An upset on the books

Won without a category win

A first Grand Championship

Photo finishes

A double category winner

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 →

What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)

Official results on kcbs.us ↗

Master Series

Overall

Chicken

Pork Ribs

Pork

Brisket