53 all-time KCBS records — every one with a holder, a number, and the date it was set, read out of 204 scored contests and 33,036 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 IL record book — every record below counts only contests held in IL. 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.
JANKY LEG BBQ at Trekking for CDH Sep 13, 2025
27-team field · won the contest
Four meats, six judges, one afternoon. The biggest total anybody has ever assembled.
Electro-Que-ted at Up in Smoke on the Square (BACKYARD ONLY) Aug 22, 2025
won the board
Held jointly by 2 — 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.
RURAL ROUTE BBQ at Super City Blues & Ques Jun 28, 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.
SMOKE FREAKS at Murphysboro BBQ Cookoff Sep 21, 2018
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.
Good Grief BBQ at Smoke on the River Sep 5, 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.
KILLER HOGS at Murphysboro Barbecue Cook-off Sep 19, 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.
With a 180 at Murphysboro BBQ Cook-off/Praise the Lard Sep 25, 2026
finished 2nd, behind 1Bite Stand
A day this good takes a Grand Championship almost anywhere. These are the ones that ran into somebody having a better one.
4 SMOKIN' BUTTS at Southern Pride Invitational (Competitor's Series) Jun 14, 2013
and still beat 28 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.
Murphysboro BBQ Cook-off/Praise the Lard Sep 25, 2026
71 teams · won with 710.2860
What it cost to walk. At these contests a total that wins most weekends was only good enough for tenth.
Smoke N for the Kids (Day 2) Aug 15, 2026
32 teams · top score 705.0972
Judging tables are not interchangeable. At these contests the whole field scored high — not just the winner.
Heart of Illinois BBQ, Beer & Bluegrass Festival Sep 5, 2014
16 teams · even the win only took 697.6912
The other end of the same measurement: the contests where hardly anybody got a good card all day.
Heavy Smoke BBQ Sep 25, 2026
33 contests · best 706.2400
Anyone can catch one good day. This is the highest anybody has averaged across a real career.
QUAU at Morton BBQ Throwdown (TEAMS & JUDGES FULL - May email to be put on waitlist) Jul 26, 2013
over One2BBQ
Not a contest so much as an exhibition — the runner-up in each of these was closer to tenth than to the winner.
SMOKE FREAKS at CIBR-BBQ Central Illinois Bragging Right BBQ Oct 13, 2017
over One2BBQ
A whole weekend — four meats, twenty-four judging cards — decided by a rounding error.
Grand Championships, reserve finishes, dynasties and droughts.
One2BBQ Oct 6, 2017
from 80 contests · first in 2013
The headline record of the sport: how many times a team has walked away with the whole thing.
One2BBQ Jun 28, 2019
from 80 contests · 12 titles
Second overall is the hardest place to finish. These teams have done it more than anybody.
TRUCKY'S TRUE BLU BBQ'UE Jun 3, 2016
across 12 contests, still waiting
The cruellest record in the book. Every team here has stood on the stage second, and never once first.
Heavy Smoke BBQ Sep 25, 2026
9 titles from 33 contests
Winning often matters more than winning a lot. This is how often a team turns up and takes the whole thing.
One2BBQ Sep 23, 2016
the 2016 season
The best year anybody has ever had. Four in a season is a career year; these went past it.
One2BBQ Oct 6, 2017
12 titles in all
A dynasty at one contest is one kind of record. Winning at thirty different ones is another kind entirely.
WEEZ'S GROOVIN' BBQ at Smoke on the Midway (BACKYARD ONLY) Aug 16, 2025
won 2022–2025
The contest a team has made their own — turning up every year and taking it home again.
THE CHILLY WATER SMOKERS at Route 66 Smoke Out May 6, 2016
2015–2016, straight
Held jointly by 6 — nobody has beaten it.
Defending a title once is an achievement. Nobody on this board gave one up willingly.
TRUEBUD BBQ at Murphysboro Barbecue Cook-off Sep 19, 2013
won it with 699.9428
Every Grand Championship counts the same in the standings. Not every one means beating this many people.
SmokinGhost BBQ at Murphysboro BBQ Cook-off/Praise the Lard Sep 23, 2022
the title finally came in 2022
Proof it is worth going back. Every team here cooked for years before the call finally came.
IOWA'S SMOKEY D'S BBQ Jun 24, 2022
2013 → 2022 · 7 titles
Staying good is harder than getting good. These teams were winning contests more than a decade apart.
Heavy Smoke BBQ Jun 25, 2022
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.
One2BBQ Jun 25, 2021
across all four meats
Every category win is a walk to the stage. This is the longest walk in the sport.
GILLY'S BBQ Oct 11, 2013
the 2013 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.
JANKY LEG BBQ Sep 13, 2025
in 4 different meats · first in 2021
A 180 means all six judges handed back a nine for appearance, taste and tenderness. These teams have collected them.
LOCAL YOKELS BBQ at Smokin' for Garrett Oct 6, 2023
Pork, Pork Ribs
Held jointly by 3 — nobody has beaten it.
One perfect card is a story worth retelling. Two before the awards ceremony is a record.
Carrol Lou's Smokehouse Sep 20, 2019
the 2019 season
Held jointly by 6 — nobody has beaten it.
A whole year of turning in boxes nobody at the table could mark down.
JANKY LEG BBQ at Trekking for CDH Sep 13, 2025
first in 2021 · 157 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.
RURAL ROUTE BBQ at Super City Blues & Ques Jun 28, 2013
Chicken · Jun 28, 2013
Where the 180 club starts. These are the oldest perfect cards anywhere in the data.
Murphysboro BBQ Cook-off/Praise the Lard Sep 19, 2025
shared by 8 teams in a field of 56
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.
One2BBQ Sep 23, 2022
2013 → 2022
Before anything else, competition barbecue is showing up. Nobody has shown up more often than this.
IOWA'S SMOKEY D'S BBQ Sep 25, 2026
2013 → 2026 · 41 contests
Rigs wear out and cooks retire. These teams were still turning in boxes more than a decade after their first one.
Risky Brisket Aug 15, 2026
43 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.
THE BBQ BUS Dec 31, 2026
2015 → 2026, no gaps
An unbroken run. Every single year, the rig came back out of the shed.
Carrol Lou's Smokehouse Oct 12, 2018
the 2018 season
A season spent almost entirely in a parking lot somewhere, next to a smoker.
One2BBQ Sep 24, 2021
from 80 contests
The measure of a team that is always in it — not always winning, but always there at the end of the day.
One2BBQ Sep 23, 2022
64 from 80 contests
Consistency, stated as a percentage. Turn up, and this is how often you were still standing at the end.
MONSTER-QUE at Up in Smoke on the Square (BACKYARD ONLY) May 31, 2019
2013 → 2019 · won it 1×
Held jointly by 9 — 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.
Murphysboro Barbecue Cook-off Sep 19, 2013
won with 699.9428
The largest gathering of smokers the data has ever recorded in one place.
Up in Smoke on the Square (BACKYARD ONLY) Aug 28, 2026
2013 → 2026 · about 36 teams a year
The institutions. These contests have been feeding judges for as long as the data goes back.
Murphysboro Barbecue Cook-Off Sep 25, 2015
3 editions · biggest 76
One big year is a fluke. These contests pull a crowd every single time they run.
Up in Smoke on the Square (BACKYARD ONLY) Aug 28, 2026
from 11 editions with a champion on file
The contests nobody owns. Turn up here and last year counts for nothing.
Sam's Club National BBQ Tour (Regional) Aug 2, 2013
in a field of 30 · won with 683.9544
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.
Heritage Days BBQ Showdown Day 1 Jun 21, 2019
50 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.
Aug 28, 2026 Aug 28, 2026
across 1 states and provinces
One Saturday, this many contests, every one of them lighting a fire at the same hour.
The 2014 season Oct 19, 2014
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.
Charlie Brinza Sep 19, 2026
2019 → 2026
The people who make a contest a contest — table captains, score checkers, keepers of the rulebook.
Charlie Brinza Sep 19, 2026
the 2026 season
Thirty contests in a year means most of a summer spent beside a scoring table.
Charlie Brinza Sep 19, 2026
at 44 contests
How many separate teams have taken a Grand Championship at a contest this rep was running.
| Team | GCs this season |
|---|---|
| Rudes BBQ | 2 |
| Kick Ash BBQ | 2 |
| All Smoked Up BBQ | 2 |
| 1Bite Stand | 2 |
| WICKEY-Q | 1 |
| Snake Holler BBQ | 1 |
| Wapatui Smokers | 1 |
| SMOKIN E'S BBQ | 1 |
| LOCAL YOKELS BBQ | 1 |
| JANKY LEG 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 | 5,330 | 162.24 | 177.26 | 29 | 5.4 |
| Pork Ribs | 7,095 | 162.69 | 175.95 | 16 | 2.3 |
| Pork | 5,434 | 164.03 | 176.88 | 19 | 3.5 |
| Chicken | 6,729 | 164.30 | 176.93 | 44 | 6.5 |
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.