53 all-time KCBS records — every one with a holder, a number, and the date it was set, read out of 198 scored contests and 34,236 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 AL record book — every record below counts only contests held in AL. 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.
ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN at Smoke on the Falls Apr 3, 2026
36-team field · won the contest
Four meats, six judges, one afternoon. The biggest total anybody has ever assembled.
Big Fluff BBQ at Reelin N Smokin Backyard BBQ Competition (BACKYARD ONLY) Jun 12, 2026
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.
SWIGGIN PIG at Cullman Oktoberfest BBQ Challenge Oct 11, 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.
RED EYED SMOKERS at BBQ Throw Down 2014 @ Windcreek Mar 27, 2014
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.
Hickory Pit Stop at The WhistleStop Festival & Rocket City BBQ (JUDGES SIGN UP STARTS DECEMBER 2, 2013) May 2, 2014
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.
LOTTA BULL BBQ at Cotton Pickin' BBQ Cook-Off May 17, 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.
Organizer Portal at 4th Annual KCBS World Invitational - MASTER SERIES INVITATIONAL Nov 12, 2022
finished 2nd, behind Smokin' Sweetmeats
A day this good takes a Grand Championship almost anywhere. These are the ones that ran into somebody having a better one.
BOAR HOGS COMPETITION BAR-B-Q-TEAM at 2015 BBQ & Brew (BACKYARD CONTEST ONLY) Mar 13, 2015
and still beat 16 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.
4th Annual KCBS World Invitational - MASTER SERIES INVITATIONAL Nov 12, 2022
61 teams · won with 708.5372
What it cost to walk. At these contests a total that wins most weekends was only good enough for tenth.
4th Annual KCBS World Invitational - MASTER SERIES INVITATIONAL Nov 12, 2022
61 teams · top score 708.5372
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.
Organizer Portal Dec 5, 2025
65 contests · best 710.8344
Anyone can catch one good day. This is the highest anybody has averaged across a real career.
BOAR HOGS COMPETITION BAR-B-Q-TEAM at 2015 BBQ & Brew (BACKYARD CONTEST ONLY) Mar 13, 2015
over Groundhog Smokers
Not a contest so much as an exhibition — the runner-up in each of these was closer to tenth than to the winner.
JACK'S OLD SOUTH at Sam's Club National BBQ Tour Feb 27, 2015
over RED EYED SMOKERS
Held jointly by 3 — nobody has beaten it.
A whole weekend — four meats, twenty-four judging cards — decided by a rounding error.
Plus 2 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.
Organizer Portal Dec 6, 2024
from 65 contests · first in 2014
The headline record of the sport: how many times a team has walked away with the whole thing.
Organizer Portal Nov 12, 2022
from 65 contests · 16 titles
Second overall is the hardest place to finish. These teams have done it more than anybody.
HOT WACHULA'S Jul 26, 2019
across 10 contests, still waiting
The cruellest record in the book. Every team here has stood on the stage second, and never once first.
Organizer Portal Dec 5, 2025
16 titles from 65 contests
Winning often matters more than winning a lot. This is how often a team turns up and takes the whole thing.
Sweet Cheeks BBQ Nov 22, 2019
the 2019 season
The best year anybody has ever had. Four in a season is a career year; these went past it.
Organizer Portal Dec 6, 2024
16 titles in all
A dynasty at one contest is one kind of record. Winning at thirty different ones is another kind entirely.
Organizer Portal at The Whistlestop Festival & Rocket City BBQ May 4, 2018
won 2015–2018
Held jointly by 2 — nobody has beaten it.
The contest a team has made their own — turning up every year and taking it home again.
Smokey Bees BBQ - MS at Foley BBQ & Blues Cook-Off (BACKYARD ONLY) Mar 7, 2025
2023–2025, straight
Defending a title once is an achievement. Nobody on this board gave one up willingly.
GETTIN' BASTED at World Barbecue Championship Nov 8, 2017
won it with 699.4516
Every Grand Championship counts the same in the standings. Not every one means beating this many people.
BAMA BOYS BBQ at Christmas on the River State Bar B Q Championship (OPEN FORMAT) Dec 5, 2025
the title finally came in 2025
Proof it is worth going back. Every team here cooked for years before the call finally came.
ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN Apr 3, 2026
2015 → 2026 · 4 titles
Staying good is harder than getting good. These teams were winning contests more than a decade apart.
Organizer Portal Dec 6, 2024
in 1 state
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.
Organizer Portal Apr 11, 2025
across all four meats
Every category win is a walk to the stage. This is the longest walk in the sport.
Sweet Cheeks BBQ Nov 22, 2019
the 2019 season
One team, one year, and a stack of first-place calls that would furnish most careers.
Organizer Portal Oct 27, 2023
in 4 different meats · first in 2014
A 180 means all six judges handed back a nine for appearance, taste and tenderness. These teams have collected them.
ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN at Smoke on the Falls Apr 3, 2026
Brisket, Pork, Pork Ribs
One perfect card is a story worth retelling. Two before the awards ceremony is a record.
NORALA BBQ TEAM Dec 6, 2024
the 2024 season
Held jointly by 3 — nobody has beaten it.
A whole year of turning in boxes nobody at the table could mark down.
Organizer Portal at The Whistlestop Festival & Rocket City BBQ May 3, 2019
first in 2014 · 171 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.
LOTTA BULL BBQ at Cotton Pickin' BBQ Cook-Off May 17, 2013
Brisket · May 17, 2013
Where the 180 club starts. These are the oldest perfect cards anywhere in the data.
4th Annual KCBS World Invitational - MASTER SERIES INVITATIONAL Nov 12, 2022
shared by 13 teams in a field of 61
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.
LEE LA Q Jun 5, 2026
2015 → 2026
Before anything else, competition barbecue is showing up. Nobody has shown up more often than this.
RANCH HOUSE KITCHEN Sep 18, 2026
2013 → 2026 · 13 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.
PUCKDADDY'S KILLER Q Jun 5, 2026
91 contests, 2013 → 2026
Held jointly by 3 — nobody has beaten it.
Not just a long career — a busy one, season after season, with no quiet years in the middle.
BAMA BOYS BBQ Dec 31, 2026
2013 → 2026, no gaps
Held jointly by 3 — nobody has beaten it.
An unbroken run. Every single year, the rig came back out of the shed.
NORALA BBQ TEAM Oct 25, 2025
the 2025 season · 2 titles
Held jointly by 2 — nobody has beaten it.
A season spent almost entirely in a parking lot somewhere, next to a smoker.
LEE LA Q May 2, 2026
from 90 contests
The measure of a team that is always in it — not always winning, but always there at the end of the day.
Smokey Bees BBQ - MS Sep 18, 2026
33 from 39 contests
Consistency, stated as a percentage. Turn up, and this is how often you were still standing at the end.
LEE LA Q at Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD & KIDS QUE) Jun 5, 2026
2019 → 2026 · won it 1×
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.
World Barbecue Championship Nov 8, 2017
won with 699.4516
The largest gathering of smokers the data has ever recorded in one place.
Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD & KIDS QUE) Jun 5, 2026
2018 → 2026 · about 27 teams a year
The institutions. These contests have been feeding judges for as long as the data goes back.
The Whistlestop Festival & Rocket City BBQ May 3, 2019
6 editions · biggest 69
One big year is a fluke. These contests pull a crowd every single time they run.
Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD & KIDS QUE) Jun 5, 2026
from 9 editions with a champion on file
Held jointly by 2 — nobody has beaten it.
The contests nobody owns. Turn up here and last year counts for nothing.
Christmas on the River State Bar B Q Championship Dec 1, 2023
in a field of 17 · won with 698.1940
Out of 720 points, this many teams finished inside ONE of the leader. Any of them could have won it with a better garnish.
Poosa Q Oct 5, 2023
73 teams cooking for it
What was actually on the table. Listed purses only — KCBS does not publish who took home which slice of it.
Sep 22, 2023 Sep 22, 2023
across 1 states and provinces
Held jointly by 3 — nobody has beaten it.
One Saturday, this many contests, every one of them lighting a fire at the same hour.
The 2017 season Dec 1, 2017
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.
Carol Bigler Apr 2, 2027
2019 → 2027
Held jointly by 2 — nobody has beaten it.
The people who make a contest a contest — table captains, score checkers, keepers of the rulebook.
Carol Bigler Dec 5, 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.
Carol Bigler Sep 18, 2026
at 94 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 |
|---|---|
| PUDDLEDUCK BBQ | 2 |
| Southern Swine | 1 |
| ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN | 1 |
| Mind if I Smoke? | 1 |
| Dogpatch Q | 1 |
| Budget BBQ | 1 |
| Big Fluff BBQ | 1 |
| Baptized by Smoke | 1 |
| BAD ROOSTER BBQ | 1 |
| 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 | 3,320 | 165.24 | 178.25 | 38 | 11.4 |
| Pork Ribs | 6,778 | 165.27 | 177.56 | 54 | 8 |
| Pork | 4,149 | 166.22 | 177.41 | 34 | 8.2 |
| Chicken | 6,751 | 166.36 | 178.05 | 89 | 13.2 |
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.