53 all-time KCBS records — every one with a holder, a number, and the date it was set, read out of 217 scored contests and 51,008 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 GA record book — every record below counts only contests held in GA. 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.
SMOKING BUTT HEADS at Papa Joe's Banjo-B-Que & Music Festival Sep 5, 2020
54-team field · won the contest
Four meats, six judges, one afternoon. The biggest total anybody has ever assembled.
Char-Cole Grillers at BBQ & Boogie Apr 25, 2025
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.
Pot's BBQ at The National BBQ Cup (GBC Qualifier) Nov 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.
Killer B's BBQ at Hawgin' on Lanier (GBC Qualifier) May 17, 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.
Organizer Portal at Smokin on the River Chattooga's BBQ Cook-Off (GBC Qualifier) Apr 5, 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.
J&J'S SOUTHERN SMOKERS at Boss Hog Cook-Off (GBC Qualifier) May 10, 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.
Glamping Grillers at Atlanta BBQ Store Classic Nov 15, 2024
finished 2nd, behind Rooters-N-Tooters TN
Held jointly by 2 — nobody has beaten it.
A day this good takes a Grand Championship almost anywhere. These are the ones that ran into somebody having a better one.
HOGZ GONE WILD GA at Atlanta BarB-Q Festival Sep 13, 2013
and still beat 40 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.
Atlanta BBQ Store Classic Nov 14, 2025
56 teams · won with 711.9888
What it cost to walk. At these contests a total that wins most weekends was only good enough for tenth.
Honeybee BBQ Competition May 29, 2026
19 teams · top score 710.8344
Judging tables are not interchangeable. At these contests the whole field scored high — not just the winner.
Boss Hog State Championship Cook-Off (GBC Qualifier) May 8, 2015
39 teams · even the win only took 686.1944
The other end of the same measurement: the contests where hardly anybody got a good card all day.
Kings BBQ Team Nov 14, 2025
26 contests · best 703.9772
Anyone can catch one good day. This is the highest anybody has averaged across a real career.
BULL RUSH BBQ at Fitzgerald Pig Pickin Jun 10, 2016
over BOOG-A-LOU SMOKE CREW
Not a contest so much as an exhibition — the runner-up in each of these was closer to tenth than to the winner.
Angry Jack BBQ at Pigs & Peaches BBQ Festival Aug 20, 2021
over Stewbabys BBQ
A whole weekend — four meats, twenty-four judging cards — decided by a rounding error.
Plus 3 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.
Killer B's BBQ Apr 28, 2018
from 61 contests · first in 2013
Held jointly by 2 — nobody has beaten it.
The headline record of the sport: how many times a team has walked away with the whole thing.
QUE'N STEW'N & BREW'N Sep 21, 2018
from 101 contests · 11 titles
Second overall is the hardest place to finish. These teams have done it more than anybody.
COCAMOKE SMOKE BBQ May 8, 2026
across 6 contests, still waiting
Held jointly by 4 — nobody has beaten it.
The cruellest record in the book. Every team here has stood on the stage second, and never once first.
Killer B's BBQ May 8, 2026
11 titles from 61 contests
Winning often matters more than winning a lot. This is how often a team turns up and takes the whole thing.
QUE'N STEW'N & BREW'N Dec 6, 2013
the 2013 season
Held jointly by 5 — nobody has beaten it.
The best year anybody has ever had. Four in a season is a career year; these went past it.
Killer B's BBQ Apr 28, 2018
11 titles in all
A dynasty at one contest is one kind of record. Winning at thirty different ones is another kind entirely.
Under the Radar at BBQ, Boogie & Blues Sep 24, 2021
won 2018–2021
The contest a team has made their own — turning up every year and taking it home again.
Under the Radar at BBQ, Boogie & Blues Sep 24, 2021
2018–2021, straight
Defending a title once is an achievement. Nobody on this board gave one up willingly.
SHAKE 'N BAKE BBQ at Flames on the Flint (GBC Qualifier) Mar 11, 2016
won it with 691.9428
Every Grand Championship counts the same in the standings. Not every one means beating this many people.
Stewbabys BBQ at 18th Annual Boss Hog State Championship Cook-Off May 10, 2024
the title finally came in 2024
Proof it is worth going back. Every team here cooked for years before the call finally came.
Organizer Portal Jun 3, 2022
2013 → 2022 · 8 titles
Staying good is harder than getting good. These teams were winning contests more than a decade apart.
ZIPS BBQ May 8, 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.
QUE'N STEW'N & BREW'N Feb 7, 2020
across all four meats
Every category win is a walk to the stage. This is the longest walk in the sport.
QUE'N STEW'N & BREW'N Oct 10, 2014
the 2014 season
Held jointly by 2 — nobody has beaten it.
One team, one year, and a stack of first-place calls that would furnish most careers.
ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN May 29, 2026
in 3 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.
SMOKING BUTT HEADS at Papa Joe's Banjo-B-Que & Music Festival Sep 5, 2020
Brisket, Chicken, Pork
One perfect card is a story worth retelling. Two before the awards ceremony is a record.
MOYERS COMPETITION BAR-B-Q TEAM Nov 21, 2014
the 2014 season
A whole year of turning in boxes nobody at the table could mark down.
Under the Radar at Georgia BBQ Championship Throwdown Nov 20, 2020
first in 2019 · 38 contests to complete the set
Held jointly by 4 — 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.
Organizer Portal at Smokin on the River Chattooga's BBQ Cook-Off (GBC Qualifier) Apr 5, 2013
Pork · Apr 5, 2013
Where the 180 club starts. These are the oldest perfect cards anywhere in the data.
Papa Joe's Banjo-B-Que & Music Festival Sep 5, 2020
shared by 12 teams in a field of 54
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.
QUE'N STEW'N & BREW'N Oct 15, 2021
2013 → 2021
Before anything else, competition barbecue is showing up. Nobody has shown up more often than this.
ULTIMATE TAILGATERS BBQ May 8, 2026
2013 → 2026 · 28 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.
CLAUDE'S Q May 8, 2026
58 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.
CLAUDE'S Q 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.
OLD PLANTATION BBQ Dec 5, 2014
the 2014 season · 1 title
A season spent almost entirely in a parking lot somewhere, next to a smoker.
QUE'N STEW'N & BREW'N Oct 9, 2020
from 101 contests
The measure of a team that is always in it — not always winning, but always there at the end of the day.
WARREN COUNTY PORK CHOPPERS Feb 5, 2021
21 from 25 contests
Consistency, stated as a percentage. Turn up, and this is how often you were still standing at the end.
CHOO CHOO TRAIN BBQ at BBQ, Boogie & Blues Apr 26, 2024
2013 → 2024
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.
Flames on the Flint (GBC Qualifier) Mar 11, 2016
won with 691.9428
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.
The National BBQ Cup ( Day 2) Nov 20, 2015
3 editions · biggest 86
One big year is a fluke. These contests pull a crowd every single time they run.
Boss Hog State Championship Cook-Off May 9, 2025
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.
Fire Ant Festival BBQ Bash Mar 27, 2015
in a field of 28 · won with 695.9660
Held jointly by 6 — 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.
Papa Joe's Banjo-B-Que & Music Festival Sep 5, 2020
54 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 26, 2013 Apr 26, 2013
across 1 states and provinces
Held jointly by 10 or more — nobody has beaten it.
One Saturday, this many contests, every one of them lighting a fire at the same hour.
The 2015 season Dec 11, 2015
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.
Rusty Cook Mar 1, 2024
2019 → 2024
The people who make a contest a contest — table captains, score checkers, keepers of the rulebook.
Rusty Cook Nov 19, 2021
the 2021 season
Held jointly by 2 — nobody has beaten it.
Thirty contests in a year means most of a summer spent beside a scoring table.
Rusty Cook Mar 1, 2024
at 42 contests
How many separate teams have taken a Grand Championship at a contest this rep was running.
| Team | GCs this season |
|---|---|
| ZIPS BBQ | 1 |
| ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN | 1 |
| Electro-Que-ted | 1 |
| Big James Kitchen | 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 | 8,231 | 165.52 | 178.35 | 92 | 11.2 |
| Pork Ribs | 9,122 | 166.01 | 177.46 | 58 | 6.4 |
| Pork | 8,910 | 166.10 | 177.46 | 71 | 8 |
| Chicken | 9,065 | 167.56 | 178.01 | 113 | 12.5 |
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.