71 all-time KCBS records — every one with a holder, a number, and the date it was set, read out of 5,485 scored contests and 1,031,439 result rows. Beat one and you appear here the next morning.
Overall scores are only ever ranked against their own series — Master out of 720, Backyard out of 360 — so the overall-score records here are Master boards unless they say Backyard. The Backyard series keeps a full record board of its own.
State and provincial record books are here; outside North America, every country has its own page under Regions →
The biggest — and smallest — numbers anybody has ever put in front of six judges.
B' Mackin BBQ at 21st Annual Burnt Offerings BBQ Contest Sep 12, 2025
35-team field · won the contest
Four meats, six judges, one afternoon. The biggest total anybody has ever assembled.
Swine-O-licious BBQ at RTrowbridge Memorial Cook Flyin (BACKYARD) May 17, 2024
won the board
Held jointly by 4 — nobody has beaten it.
The Backyard board runs on its own scale, so it keeps its own record — pooled with Master it would never surface at all.
HOTTY TOTTY BBQ CREW at Don't Be Cruel BBQ Duel Mar 15, 2013
won the category with it
Held jointly by 10 or more — nobody has beaten it.
The best chicken anybody has ever turned in. 180 is the ceiling — every judge at the table handing back a nine — so a tie goes to whoever got there first.
POLITICAL PORK at Apple Blossom Barbecue Contest May 3, 2013
won the category with it
Held jointly by 10 or more — nobody has beaten it.
The best pork ribs anybody has ever turned in. 180 is the ceiling — every judge at the table handing back a nine — so a tie goes to whoever got there first.
CAJUN BLAZE at Sam's Club National BBQ Tour Mar 1, 2013
won the category with it
Held jointly by 10 or more — nobody has beaten it.
The best pork anybody has ever turned in. 180 is the ceiling — every judge at the table handing back a nine — so a tie goes to whoever got there first.
Butts A Blaze at Don't Be Cruel BBQ Duel Mar 15, 2013
won the category with it
Held jointly by 10 or more — nobody has beaten it.
The best brisket anybody has ever turned in. 180 is the ceiling — every judge at the table handing back a nine — so a tie goes to whoever got there first.
Colorado Bulldawg BBQ at NorUt KCBS BBQ Championship Sep 18, 2026
finished 2nd, behind Tuffy's BBQ
A day this good takes a Grand Championship almost anywhere. These are the ones that ran into somebody having a better one.
Gone Fish-n at Nassau Bahamas Smokin' Hot BBQ May 2, 2014
and still beat 23 other teams
The days the judges gave nothing away. Somebody still had to win, and this is the smallest number that ever did it in a real field.
6th Annual KCBS World Invitational - MASTER SERIES INVITATIONAL May 25, 2024
81 teams · won with 708.5488
What it cost to walk. At these contests a total that wins most weekends was only good enough for tenth.
2nd Annual Alva Police Department Cars, Concerts and BBQ Contest May 5, 2023
15 teams · top score 713.1428
Judging tables are not interchangeable. At these contests the whole field scored high — not just the winner.
2015 BBQ & Brew (BACKYARD CONTEST ONLY) Mar 13, 2015
17 teams · even the win only took 656.4912
The other end of the same measurement: the contests where hardly anybody got a good card all day.
Mulkey's BBQ Sep 25, 2026
50 contests · best 709.1200
Anyone can catch one good day. This is the highest anybody has averaged across a real career.
SMELLAQUE at Porkapalooza BBQ Festival Aug 14, 2021
over ROCKY MOUNTAIN SMOKERS
Not a contest so much as an exhibition — the runner-up in each of these was closer to tenth than to the winner.
GETTIN' BASTED at Rock'n Ribs BBQ Festival Apr 19, 2013
over BURNT FINGER BBQ
A whole weekend — four meats, twenty-four judging cards — decided by a rounding error.
Plus 33 championships where the top two finished dead level on points and the KCBS tiebreaker decided it — counted here rather than listed, because a board of identical 0.0000 margins says nothing about who nearly won what.
Grand Championships, reserve finishes, dynasties and droughts.
GETTIN' BASTED Jul 10, 2026
from 480 contests · first in 2013
The headline record of the sport: how many times a team has walked away with the whole thing.
GETTIN' BASTED Mar 6, 2026
from 480 contests · 85 titles
Second overall is the hardest place to finish. These teams have done it more than anybody.
Westside BBQ Aug 9, 2025
across 53 contests, still waiting
The cruellest record in the book. Every team here has stood on the stage second, and never once first.
Sweet Cheeks BBQ May 14, 2021
7 titles from 25 contests
Winning often matters more than winning a lot. This is how often a team turns up and takes the whole thing.
TRUEBUD BBQ Nov 1, 2013
the 2013 season
Held jointly by 2 — nobody has beaten it.
The best year anybody has ever had. Four in a season is a career year; these went past it.
TRUEBUD BBQ Nov 20, 2015
career best
Held jointly by 2 — nobody has beaten it.
Winning one is hard. Winning the next one you enter, and the one after that, is the rarest thing in the data.
GETTIN' BASTED Jun 26, 2026
83 titles in all
Anybody can own their home contest. Winning in a dozen different states means the cook travels.
GETTIN' BASTED Jul 10, 2026
85 titles in all
A dynasty at one contest is one kind of record. Winning at thirty different ones is another kind entirely.
TIM'S FULL BELLI DELI at Grillin' in Grafton Jun 30, 2017
won 2014–2017
Held jointly by 6 — nobody has beaten it.
The contest a team has made their own — turning up every year and taking it home again.
TIM'S FULL BELLI DELI at Grillin' in Grafton Jun 30, 2017
2014–2017, straight
Held jointly by 3 — nobody has beaten it.
Defending a title once is an achievement. Nobody on this board gave one up willingly.
GRILLS GONE WILD IOWA at 36th Annual American Royal World Series of Barbeque- Open Oct 3, 2015
won it with 706.2972
Every Grand Championship counts the same in the standings. Not every one means beating this many people.
HICKORY BARBEQUE COMPANY at WV Coalfields Cookoff WV KCBS State Championship Jun 6, 2025
the title finally came in 2025
Proof it is worth going back. Every team here cooked for years before the call finally came.
LONESTAR SMOKE RANGERS Sep 4, 2026
2013 → 2026 · 10 titles
Staying good is harder than getting good. These teams were winning contests more than a decade apart.
GETTIN' BASTED Jun 26, 2026
in 18 states
Some contests hand out a state championship alongside the trophy. These teams have collected the most of them.
The four meats: who wins them, and who has been handed a flawless card.
GETTIN' BASTED May 8, 2026
across all four meats
Every category win is a walk to the stage. This is the longest walk in the sport.
BOOMERANG BBQ Dec 28, 2018
the 2018 season
One team, one year, and a stack of first-place calls that would furnish most careers.
BUNCH OF SWINES Sep 23, 2023
1 of them with the Grand Championship too
Held jointly by 7 — nobody has beaten it.
Chicken, ribs, pork and brisket, all first, all on the same day. Most teams never see one.
GETTIN' BASTED Sep 4, 2026
in 4 different meats · first in 2013
A 180 means all six judges handed back a nine for appearance, taste and tenderness. These teams have collected them.
Fat&Dumb BBQ at Shawnee Great Grillers State Championship Sep 27, 2019
Brisket, Chicken, Pork
Held jointly by 10 or more — nobody has beaten it.
One perfect card is a story worth retelling. Two before the awards ceremony is a record.
SLAPS BBQ Oct 14, 2022
the 2022 season
A whole year of turning in boxes nobody at the table could mark down.
2 WORTHLESS NUTS, NATURAL BORN GRILLERS at Marietta River City BBQ Jun 12, 2015
first in 2015 · 4 contests to complete the set
Held jointly by 10 or more — nobody has beaten it.
A perfect card in chicken, ribs, pork AND brisket. The date is the day the set was completed; the board is led by whoever needed the fewest contests to finish it.
CAJUN BLAZE at Sam's Club National BBQ Tour Mar 1, 2013
Pork · Mar 1, 2013
Where the 180 club starts. These are the oldest perfect cards anywhere in the data.
Smoke on the Shores BBQ Championship Mar 20, 2026
shared by 23 teams in a field of 125
Some tables run hot. At these contests the judges handed out flawless cards all afternoon.
Longevity — the teams who keep turning up, and keep turning it in.
GETTIN' BASTED Sep 4, 2026
2013 → 2026
Before anything else, competition barbecue is showing up. Nobody has shown up more often than this.
SIMPLY MARVELOUS BBQ Sep 18, 2026
2012 → 2026 · 186 contests
Held jointly by 2 — nobody has beaten it.
Rigs wear out and cooks retire. These teams were still turning in boxes more than a decade after their first one.
SIMPLY MARVELOUS BBQ Sep 18, 2026
186 contests, 2012 → 2026
Held jointly by 2 — nobody has beaten it.
Not just a long career — a busy one, season after season, with no quiet years in the middle.
SIMPLY MARVELOUS BBQ Dec 31, 2026
2012 → 2026, no gaps
Held jointly by 2 — nobody has beaten it.
An unbroken run. Every single year, the rig came back out of the shed.
GETTIN' BASTED Sep 4, 2026
over 514 contests
The road warriors. Some teams cook one state; these have hauled the rig across the map.
Colorado Bulldawg BBQ Nov 11, 2023
the 2023 season · 4 titles
A season spent almost entirely in a parking lot somewhere, next to a smoker.
GETTIN' BASTED Jul 10, 2026
from 480 contests
The measure of a team that is always in it — not always winning, but always there at the end of the day.
PARKSTAD SMOKERS Apr 20, 2024
52 from 57 contests
Consistency, stated as a percentage. Turn up, and this is how often you were still standing at the end.
Westside BBQ Oct 18, 2025
and still running
No off weekends. Contest after contest after contest, still finishing in the calls.
Uncle Pig's Barbeque Pit at New Jersey State Barbecue Championship Jul 11, 2026
2013 → 2026 · won it 3×
Held jointly by 10 or more — nobody has beaten it.
The contest a team never misses — on the calendar in ink, every single year.
What the nightly rating pass says about the best days ever cooked.
IOWA'S SMOKEY D'S BBQ Sep 25, 2026
rated over 340 contests · now 1838
The rating moves on WHO you beat, not how many. This is the highest anybody has ever been.
SHAKE 'N BAKE BBQ Jun 26, 2026
rated over 245 contests
Who is actually best right now, on the numbers, with no credit given for reputation.
CHUNKY BBQ at New Jersey KnoQ-out: DAY 2-CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES Jul 31, 2020
from 1474 · 28-team field
One afternoon that changed how the numbers saw a team — beating a field far stronger than their rating said they could.
Angry Cock BBQ at Kora Kares for Kids Aug 16, 2025
over a 40-team rated field
The ratings said somebody else was winning this one. Nobody told the smoker.
National Pro BBQ Tour Championship Oct 6, 2017
50 rated teams
Not the biggest field — the best one. Every rig in the lot could have won it.
The season-long KCBS points race, decade after decade.
GETTIN' BASTED Dec 31, 2025
2018, 2020, 2021, 2025
The hardest trophy in KCBS: not one good weekend but a whole year of them, counted from January to December.
GETTIN' BASTED Dec 31, 2025
since 2015 · best finish #1
Winning it once takes a year. Being in the conversation ten years running takes something else.
GETTIN' BASTED Dec 31, 2025
Chicken, Pork, Brisket, Pork Ribs
The season-long championship of a single meat — chicken, ribs, pork or brisket.
Records held by the contests themselves rather than by the teams.
36th Annual American Royal World Series of Barbeque- Open Oct 3, 2015
won with 706.2972
The largest gathering of smokers the data has ever recorded in one place.
Myron Mixon - Jack's Old South - Cooking Class Oct 2, 2026
2014 → 2026
The institutions. These contests have been feeding judges for as long as the data goes back.
American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest Sep 27, 2023
3 editions · biggest 505
One big year is a fluke. These contests pull a crowd every single time they run.
BBQ Gives Back (Day 2) Mar 28, 2026
from 20 editions with a champion on file
The contests nobody owns. Turn up here and last year counts for nothing.
Iowa State BBQ Championship Apr 1, 2022
in a field of 48 · won with 689.6800
Held jointly by 3 — nobody has beaten it.
Out of 720 points, this many teams finished inside ONE of the leader. Any of them could have won it with a better garnish.
American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest Sep 27, 2023
487 teams cooking for it
What was actually on the table. Listed purses only — KCBS does not publish who took home which slice of it.
Aug 23, 2013 Aug 23, 2013
across 18 states and provinces
One Saturday, this many contests, every one of them lighting a fire at the same hour.
The 2015 season Dec 17, 2015
across 55 states and provinces
The high-water mark for the sport itself — the year the calendar was fullest.
Somebody has to run the table. These are the ones who have run the most.
Charlie Brinza Jun 25, 2027
2019 → 2027
The people who make a contest a contest — table captains, score checkers, keepers of the rulebook.
Jeanne Titus Jul 8, 2027
over 181 contests
A rep who works ten states has spent a lot of nights in a lot of motels.
Charlie Brinza Nov 5, 2025
the 2025 season
Thirty contests in a year means most of a summer spent beside a scoring table.
Bill Jones Mar 24, 2028
2019 → 2028 · 129 contests
Careers measured in decades, spent making sure everybody else got a fair shake.
Dave Rogers Sep 25, 2026
at 141 contests
How many separate teams have taken a Grand Championship at a contest this rep was running.
Where the sport is deepest, biggest and busiest.
Missouri Feb 4, 2028
344 separate contests on the calendar
Where the sport actually happens, counted by contests put on the ground.
Kansas Sep 25, 2026
across 396 scored contests
Not where the most contests are — where the deepest ones are.
Missouri Sep 18, 2026
over 452 contests
The size of a scene, counted in the people who have actually turned up to cook in it.
| Team | GCs this season |
|---|---|
| Rough Cut Q | 5 |
| PUDDLEDUCK BBQ | 5 |
| B'S QUE | 5 |
| Cynical BBQ | 4 |
| TRIPLE H BBQ | 4 |
| ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN | 4 |
| JANKY LEG BBQ | 4 |
| DAWGS BBQ | 4 |
| Colorado Bulldawg BBQ | 4 |
| WAG'S BACKWOODS BBQ | 3 |
| Year | Series | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 ↗ | Backyard | DAWGS BBQ 🏆 | 1,356 |
| 2026 ↗ | Master | JANKY LEG BBQ 🏆 | 2,682 |
| 2025 ↗ | Backyard | Electro-Que-ted 🏆 | 1,414 |
| 2025 ↗ | Master | GETTIN' BASTED 🏆 | 2,826 |
| 2024 ↗ | Backyard | WEEZ'S GROOVIN' BBQ 🏆 | 1,404 |
| 2024 ↗ | Master | CHUNKY BBQ 🏆 | 2,734 |
| 2023 ↗ | Master | JANKY LEG BBQ 🏆 | 2,773 |
| 2022 ↗ | Master | Uncle Pig's Barbeque Pit 🏆 | 2,761 |
| 2021 ↗ | Master | GETTIN' BASTED 🏆 | 2,804 |
| 2020 ↗ | Master | GETTIN' BASTED 🏆 | 2,670 |
| 2019 ↗ | Master | B-S BBQ OUTLAWS 🏆 | 2,774 |
| 2018 ↗ | Master | GETTIN' BASTED 🏆 | 2,840 |
| 2017 ↗ | Master | CLARK CREW BBQ 🏆 | 2,850 |
| 2016 ↗ | Master | PORKY BUTTS BBQ 🏆 | 2,846 |
| 2015 ↗ | Master | CLARK CREW BBQ 🏆 | 2,843 |
| 2014 ↗ | Master | WARREN COUNTY PORK CHOPPERS 🏆 | 2,936 |
| 2013 ↗ | Master | WARREN COUNTY PORK CHOPPERS 🏆 | 2,940 |
| 2013 ↗ | Master | TRUEBUD BBQ 🏆 | 2,940 |
| Category | Entries | Avg score | Avg winning score | Perfect 180s | 180s per 1,000 entries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brisket toughest room | 173,705 | 162.22 | 177.11 | 1,261 | 7.3 |
| Pork Ribs | 194,178 | 163.62 | 176.64 | 849 | 4.4 |
| Pork | 175,804 | 164.30 | 177.22 | 1,380 | 7.8 |
| Chicken | 189,292 | 165.16 | 177.40 | 1,788 | 9.4 |
Sorted by average score — the category at the top scores lowest across the whole field, which usually means the judges are hardest to please there.
| State/Prov. | Events | Scored | Avg field | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MO | 600 | 461 | 37 | its record book → |
| KS | 537 | 409 | 56 | its record book → |
| GA | 418 | 218 | 38 | its record book → |
| CA | 360 | 262 | 34 | its record book → |
| TN | 295 | 245 | 41 | its record book → |
| AL | 284 | 236 | 30 | its record book → |
| IL | 282 | 209 | 33 | its record book → |
| OK | 230 | 179 | 35 | its record book → |
| VA | 222 | 174 | 30 | its record book → |
| IN | 211 | 137 | 34 | its record book → |
| NC | 202 | 175 | 38 | its record book → |
| WI | 197 | 178 | 33 | its record book → |