53 all-time KCBS records — every one with a holder, a number, and the date it was set, read out of 79 scored contests and 22,618 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 FL record book — every record below counts only contests held in FL. 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.
Poppa Pig at 8th Annual Jimmy Jam BBQ Slam & Car Show Jan 4, 2024
43-team field · won the contest
Four meats, six judges, one afternoon. The biggest total anybody has ever assembled.
Big & Ugly BBQ at Jeepin 4 Justice Mar 13, 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.
THE BLUE BLOODS at Smokin in the Square Mar 7, 2014
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.
Freeman Brothers BBQ at World Food Championships Nov 3, 2015
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.
QUE'N STEW'N & BREW'N at Smokin in the Square Mar 7, 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.
WARREN COUNTY PORK CHOPPERS at The Tiger Town Pig Festival Jan 23, 2014
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.
ELITE BBQ SMOKERS at 8th Annual Jimmy Jam BBQ Slam & Car Show Jan 4, 2024
finished 2nd, behind Poppa Pig?
A day this good takes a Grand Championship almost anywhere. These are the ones that ran into somebody having a better one.
Thanks A Glatt at South Florida's Fired Up Kosher BBQ Battle and Festival (KOSHER SERIES) Dec 31, 2018
and still beat 12 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.
Lakeland Pig Festival Jan 24, 2025
40 teams · won with 714.2744
What it cost to walk. At these contests a total that wins most weekends was only good enough for tenth.
Sonny's Smokin Showdown (INVITATIONAL ONLY) Mar 2, 2018
49 teams · top score 710.8688
Judging tables are not interchangeable. At these contests the whole field scored high — not just the winner.
Torry Island BBQ Showdown Mar 21, 2025
26 teams · even the win only took 696.5028
The other end of the same measurement: the contests where hardly anybody got a good card all day.
Kings BBQ Team Apr 25, 2026
21 contests · best 707.4172
Anyone can catch one good day. This is the highest anybody has averaged across a real career.
Kings BBQ Team at Back Porch Jam at the Hillsborough County Fairgrounds Mar 16, 2024
over Accutech BBQ
Not a contest so much as an exhibition — the runner-up in each of these was closer to tenth than to the winner.
WHO CARES BBQ at Lakeland Pig Festival Jan 28, 2022
over GETTIN' BASTED
A whole weekend — four meats, twenty-four judging cards — decided by a rounding error.
Grand Championships, reserve finishes, dynasties and droughts.
Kings BBQ Team Mar 13, 2026
from 21 contests · first in 2021
The headline record of the sport: how many times a team has walked away with the whole thing.
HOT WACHULA'S Mar 16, 2018
from 41 contests · 3 titles
Second overall is the hardest place to finish. These teams have done it more than anybody.
KEEPIN IT SMOKIN BBQ Apr 25, 2026
across 19 contests, still waiting
The cruellest record in the book. Every team here has stood on the stage second, and never once first.
HOT WACHULA'S Mar 14, 2025
3 titles from 41 contests
Winning often matters more than winning a lot. This is how often a team turns up and takes the whole thing.
Curly Bird BBQ Mar 16, 2024
the 2024 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.
Kings BBQ Team Mar 13, 2026
5 titles in all
A dynasty at one contest is one kind of record. Winning at thirty different ones is another kind entirely.
IOWA'S SMOKEY D'S BBQ at Smokin in the Square Mar 18, 2016
won 2015–2016
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.
IOWA'S SMOKEY D'S BBQ at Smokin in the Square Mar 18, 2016
2015–2016, straight
Held jointly by 2 — nobody has beaten it.
Defending a title once is an achievement. Nobody on this board gave one up willingly.
3 EYZ BBQ at Lakeland Pig Festival Jan 25, 2013
won it with 682.8568
Every Grand Championship counts the same in the standings. Not every one means beating this many people.
Double Barrel Smokers at Pitmasters in Paradise Apr 25, 2026
the title finally came in 2026
Proof it is worth going back. Every team here cooked for years before the call finally came.
IOWA'S SMOKEY D'S BBQ Mar 1, 2024
2015 → 2024 · 4 titles
Staying good is harder than getting good. These teams were winning contests more than a decade apart.
Kings BBQ Team Mar 13, 2026
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.
Kings BBQ Team Apr 17, 2026
across all four meats
Every category win is a walk to the stage. This is the longest walk in the sport.
Curly Bird BBQ Mar 16, 2024
the 2024 season
Held jointly by 3 — nobody has beaten it.
One team, one year, and a stack of first-place calls that would furnish most careers.
Tillman's BBQ Mar 20, 2026
in 4 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.
Tillman's BBQ at Torry Island BBQ Showdown Mar 20, 2026
Brisket, Chicken, Pork
One perfect card is a story worth retelling. Two before the awards ceremony is a record.
Poppa Pig Mar 1, 2024
the 2024 season
A whole year of turning in boxes nobody at the table could mark down.
Tillman's BBQ at Torry Island BBQ Showdown Mar 20, 2026
first in 2023 · 20 contests to complete the set
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.
WARREN COUNTY PORK CHOPPERS at The Tiger Town Pig Festival Jan 23, 2014
Brisket · Jan 23, 2014
Where the 180 club starts. These are the oldest perfect cards anywhere in the data.
8th Annual Jimmy Jam BBQ Slam & Car Show Jan 4, 2024
shared by 9 teams in a field of 43
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.
HOT WACHULA'S Mar 14, 2025
2013 → 2025
Before anything else, competition barbecue is showing up. Nobody has shown up more often than this.
SWEET SMOKE Q FLORIDA Apr 25, 2026
2013 → 2026 · 26 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.
Accutech BBQ Apr 25, 2026
39 contests, 2013 → 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.
Accutech BBQ Dec 31, 2026
2013 → 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.
Tillman's BBQ Apr 25, 2026
the 2026 season · 1 title
A season spent almost entirely in a parking lot somewhere, next to a smoker.
HOT WACHULA'S Mar 14, 2025
from 41 contests
The measure of a team that is always in it — not always winning, but always there at the end of the day.
HOT WACHULA'S Mar 14, 2025
27 from 41 contests
Consistency, stated as a percentage. Turn up, and this is how often you were still standing at the end.
Accutech BBQ at Lakeland Pig Festival Jan 22, 2026
2017 → 2026 · won it 1×
Held jointly by 2 — 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.
Lakeland Pig Festival Jan 25, 2013
won with 682.8568
The largest gathering of smokers the data has ever recorded in one place.
Lakeland Pig Festival Jan 22, 2026
2017 → 2026 · about 56 teams a year
The institutions. These contests have been feeding judges for as long as the data goes back.
Lakeland Pig Festival Jan 29, 2016
3 editions · biggest 70
One big year is a fluke. These contests pull a crowd every single time they run.
Lakeland Pig Festival Jan 22, 2026
from 9 editions with a champion on file
The contests nobody owns. Turn up here and last year counts for nothing.
Grills Gone Wild Feb 9, 2024
in a field of 28 · won with 701.0856
Out of 720 points, this many teams finished inside ONE of the leader. Any of them could have won it with a better garnish.
Lakeland Pig Festival Jan 25, 2019
58 teams cooking for it
Held jointly by 2 — nobody has beaten it.
What was actually on the table. Listed purses only — KCBS does not publish who took home which slice of it.
Apr 17, 2026 Apr 17, 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 Nov 20, 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.
Mike Garretson Mar 12, 2027
2019 → 2027
The people who make a contest a contest — table captains, score checkers, keepers of the rulebook.
Mike Garretson Nov 20, 2026
the 2026 season
Thirty contests in a year means most of a summer spent beside a scoring table.
Mike Garretson Apr 25, 2026
at 24 contests
How many separate teams have taken a Grand Championship at a contest this rep was running.
| Team | GCs this season |
|---|---|
| Kings BBQ Team | 2 |
| Mike's Backyard BBQ | 1 |
| Navin's Backyard BBQ | 1 |
| Big & Ugly BBQ | 1 |
| Double Barrel Smokers | 1 |
| Accutech BBQ | 1 |
| Tillman's BBQ | 1 |
| Southern Swine | 1 |
| Rollin Smoke BBQ | 1 |
| MAYA JANE BBQ CO. | 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 | 3,422 | 162.40 | 176.80 | 28 | 8.2 |
| Pork Ribs | 3,549 | 164.35 | 176.97 | 21 | 5.9 |
| Pork | 3,411 | 164.85 | 176.92 | 27 | 7.9 |
| Chicken | 3,549 | 165.42 | 177.25 | 39 | 11 |
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.