50 all-time KCBS records — every one with a holder, a number, and the date it was set, read out of 42 scored contests and 5,643 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 →
Showing the AB record book — every record below counts only contests held in AB. Records that can't honestly be cut by state are left out rather than shown with their national holder: power ratings, career streaks and Team of the Year are computed over a team's whole career, wherever they cooked it.
The biggest — and smallest — numbers anybody has ever put in front of six judges.
PRAIRIE SMOKE & SPICE BBQ at Small Town Smoke Down Jun 3, 2023
23-team field · won the contest
Four meats, six judges, one afternoon. The biggest total anybody has ever assembled.
Mini Butts at Barbeque on the Bow Festival Sep 2, 2023
won the board
The Backyard board runs on its own scale, so it keeps its own record — pooled with Master it would never surface at all.
PRAIRIE SMOKE & SPICE BBQ at Small Town Smoke Down Jun 3, 2023
won the category with it
Held jointly by 2 — 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.
SMELLAQUE at Embers and Ice Pitmaster Championship May 23, 2026
won the category with it
Held jointly by 2 — 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.
Brisket Butts at Embers and Ice Pitmaster Championship May 25, 2024
won the category with it
Held jointly by 2 — 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.
SMELLAQUE at Small Town Smoke Down Bassano Alberta Jun 3, 2022
won the category with it
Held jointly by 3 — 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.
BIGG SMOAK BBQ at Small Town Smoke Down May 30, 2026
finished 2nd, behind Q CARTEL
A day this good takes a Grand Championship almost anywhere. These are the ones that ran into somebody having a better one.
SMELLAQUE at Battle River BBQ Showdown Aug 18, 2018
and still beat 24 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.
Barbeque on the Bow Festival Sep 4, 2026
33 teams · won with 707.4172
What it cost to walk. At these contests a total that wins most weekends was only good enough for tenth.
Summer Grillin' BBQ Festival Sep 11, 2026
17 teams · top score 698.7884
Judging tables are not interchangeable. At these contests the whole field scored high — not just the winner.
Battle River BBQ Showdown Aug 10, 2019
20 teams · even the win only took 679.4744
The other end of the same measurement: the contests where hardly anybody got a good card all day.
SMELLAQUE Aug 14, 2026
28 contests · best 710.2972
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.
Q Cartel at Prairie Dog on the Bow Aug 31, 2024
over ARROWHEAD NORTH BBQ
A whole weekend — four meats, twenty-four judging cards — decided by a rounding error.
Grand Championships, reserve finishes, dynasties and droughts.
SMELLAQUE May 23, 2026
from 27 contests · first in 2018
The headline record of the sport: how many times a team has walked away with the whole thing.
BIGG SMOAK BBQ Sep 4, 2026
from 14 contests · 1 title
Held jointly by 2 — nobody has beaten it.
Second overall is the hardest place to finish. These teams have done it more than anybody.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN SMOKERS Aug 14, 2021
across 14 contests, still waiting
The cruellest record in the book. Every team here has stood on the stage second, and never once first.
SMELLAQUE Aug 14, 2026
9 titles from 27 contests
Winning often matters more than winning a lot. This is how often a team turns up and takes the whole thing.
SMELLAQUE Sep 6, 2025
the 2025 season
The best year anybody has ever had. Four in a season is a career year; these went past it.
SMELLAQUE May 23, 2026
9 titles in all
A dynasty at one contest is one kind of record. Winning at thirty different ones is another kind entirely.
PRAIRIE SMOKE & SPICE BBQ at Small Town Smoke Down Jun 8, 2024
won 2023–2024
Held jointly by 4 — nobody has beaten it.
The contest a team has made their own — turning up every year and taking it home again.
SMELLAQUE at Embers and Ice Pitmaster Championship May 23, 2026
2025–2026, straight
Held jointly by 3 — nobody has beaten it.
Defending a title once is an achievement. Nobody on this board gave one up willingly.
MEAT SWEATS BBQ AB at Barbeque on the Bow Festival Sep 2, 2023
won it with 702.2972
Every Grand Championship counts the same in the standings. Not every one means beating this many people.
HOME COOKIN' BBQ at Didsbury Lions BBQ Jul 27, 2024
the title finally came in 2024
Held jointly by 2 — nobody has beaten it.
Proof it is worth going back. Every team here cooked for years before the call finally came.
SMELLAQUE May 23, 2026
2018 → 2026 · 9 titles
Staying good is harder than getting good. These teams were winning contests more than a decade apart.
The four meats: who wins them, and who has been handed a flawless card.
SMELLAQUE May 23, 2026
across all four meats
Every category win is a walk to the stage. This is the longest walk in the sport.
EFFIN'EH GRAY'S Sep 4, 2026
the 2026 season
One team, one year, and a stack of first-place calls that would furnish most careers.
SMELLAQUE Aug 14, 2021
1 of them with the Grand Championship too
Chicken, ribs, pork and brisket, all first, all on the same day. Most teams never see one.
Brisket Butts Sep 12, 2025
in 2 different meats · first in 2023
A 180 means all six judges handed back a nine for appearance, taste and tenderness. These teams have collected them.
Brisket Butts at Embers and Ice Pitmaster Championship May 25, 2024
first in 2023 · 6 contests to complete the set
Held jointly by 2 — 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.
SMELLAQUE at Small Town Smoke Down Bassano Alberta Jun 3, 2022
Brisket · Jun 3, 2022
Where the 180 club starts. These are the oldest perfect cards anywhere in the data.
Barbeque on the Bow Festival Sep 4, 2026
shared by 3 teams in a field of 33
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.
MOTLEY QUE Sep 11, 2026
2017 → 2026
Before anything else, competition barbecue is showing up. Nobody has shown up more often than this.
SMELLAQUE Aug 14, 2026
2015 → 2026 · 27 contests
Rigs wear out and cooks retire. These teams were still turning in boxes more than a decade after their first one.
SMELLAQUE Aug 14, 2026
27 contests, 2015 → 2026
Not just a long career — a busy one, season after season, with no quiet years in the middle.
SMELLAQUE Dec 31, 2026
2017 → 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.
Bottle Hill BBQ Sep 11, 2026
the 2026 season
Held jointly by 2 — nobody has beaten it.
A season spent almost entirely in a parking lot somewhere, next to a smoker.
SMELLAQUE Aug 14, 2026
from 27 contests
The measure of a team that is always in it — not always winning, but always there at the end of the day.
SMELLAQUE Aug 14, 2026
26 from 27 contests
Consistency, stated as a percentage. Turn up, and this is how often you were still standing at the end.
Fire BBQ at Didsbury Lions BBQ Jul 26, 2025
2021 → 2025
Held jointly by 3 — nobody has beaten it.
The contest a team never misses — on the calendar in ink, every single year.
Records held by the contests themselves rather than by the teams.
Barbeque on the Bow Festival Sep 2, 2023
won with 702.2972
The largest gathering of smokers the data has ever recorded in one place.
Didsbury Lions BBQ Jul 26, 2025
2021 → 2025 · about 24 teams a year
Held jointly by 2 — nobody has beaten it.
The institutions. These contests have been feeding judges for as long as the data goes back.
Barbeque on the Bow Festival Sep 4, 2026
4 editions · biggest 40
One big year is a fluke. These contests pull a crowd every single time they run.
Didsbury Lions BBQ Jul 26, 2025
from 5 editions with a champion on file
The contests nobody owns. Turn up here and last year counts for nothing.
Smoke in the Valley Sep 27, 2025
23 teams cooking for it
What was actually on the table. Listed purses only — KCBS does not publish who took home which slice of it.
May 23, 2026 May 23, 2026
across 1 states and provinces
One Saturday, this many contests, every one of them lighting a fire at the same hour.
The 2026 season Sep 11, 2026
across 1 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.
Brenda Black Oct 11, 2025
2019 → 2025
Held jointly by 2 — nobody has beaten it.
The people who make a contest a contest — table captains, score checkers, keepers of the rulebook.
Brenda Black Oct 11, 2025
the 2025 season
Held jointly by 2 — nobody has beaten it.
Thirty contests in a year means most of a summer spent beside a scoring table.
Brenda Black Oct 11, 2025
at 28 contests
Held jointly by 2 — nobody has beaten it.
How many separate teams have taken a Grand Championship at a contest this rep was running.
| Team | GCs this season |
|---|---|
| EFFIN'EH GRAY'S | 2 |
| BAD ASH | 1 |
| Brisket Butts | 1 |
| SMOKIN' OUTLAWS | 1 |
| SMELLAQUE | 1 |
| Q Cartel | 1 |
| PRAIRIE SMOKE & SPICE BBQ | 1 |
| GRILL HUB | 1 |
| BIGG SMOAK BBQ | 1 |
| Team | Category | Contest |
|---|---|---|
| EFFIN'EH GRAY'S | Brisket | Barbeque on the Bow Festival Sep 4, 2026 |
| PRAIRIE SMOKE & SPICE BBQ | Chicken | Barbeque on the Bow Festival Sep 4, 2026 |
| BIGG SMOAK BBQ | Pork | Barbeque on the Bow Festival Sep 4, 2026 |
| SMELLAQUE | Pork Ribs | Embers and Ice Pitmaster Championship May 23, 2026 |
| SMOKIN' OUTLAWS | Pork Ribs | Embers and Ice Pitmaster Championship (ONE MEAT RIBS) May 23, 2026 |
| Brisket Butts | Brisket | Summer Grillin' BBQ Festival Sep 12, 2025 |
| EFFIN'EH GRAY'S | Brisket | Didsbury Lions BBQ Jul 26, 2025 |
| ARROWHEAD NORTH BBQ | Chicken | Prairie Dog on the Bow Aug 31, 2024 |
| Brisket Butts | Pork | Embers and Ice Pitmaster Championship May 25, 2024 |
| Brisket Butts | Brisket | Embers and Ice Pitmaster Championship (formerly Porkapalooza BBQ Festival) Sep 16, 2023 |
| PRAIRIE SMOKE & SPICE BBQ | Chicken | Small Town Smoke Down Jun 3, 2023 |
| SMELLAQUE | Brisket | Small Town Smoke Down Bassano Alberta Jun 3, 2022 |
| 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 | 989 | 161.26 | 176.11 | 5 | 5.1 |
| Pork Ribs | 1,067 | 163.03 | 175.31 | 2 | 1.9 |
| Pork | 989 | 163.71 | 176.46 | 2 | 2 |
| Chicken | 1,066 | 164.91 | 175.70 | 3 | 2.8 |
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.