46 all-time KCBS records — every one with a holder, a number, and the date it was set, read out of 20 scored contests and 4,224 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 NM record book — every record below counts only contests held in NM. 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.
THE AMERICAN DREAM BBQ at Smokin On The Pecos (Day 2) Jun 23, 2018
32-team field · won the contest
Four meats, six judges, one afternoon. The biggest total anybody has ever assembled.
KNIFE PORK AND SPOON at Smokin On The Pecos (Day 1) Jun 22, 2018
won the category with it
Held jointly by 6 — 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.
BOOTYQUE at Smokin' On The Pecos Jun 24, 2016
won the category with it
Held jointly by 7 — 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.
THE AMERICAN DREAM BBQ at Smokin' On The Pecos Jun 27, 2014
won the category with it
Held jointly by 9 — 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.
THE AMERICAN DREAM BBQ at Pork & Brew BBQ State Championship Jul 4, 2014
won the category with it
Held jointly by 4 — 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.
BOOMERANG BBQ at Smokin On The Pecos (Day 2) Jun 23, 2018
finished 2nd, behind THE AMERICAN DREAM BBQ
A day this good takes a Grand Championship almost anywhere. These are the ones that ran into somebody having a better one.
THE AMERICAN DREAM BBQ at Smokin' On The Pecos Jun 26, 2015
and still beat 47 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.
Smokin On The Pecos (Day 2) Jun 23, 2018
32 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.
The All American Comeback BBQ, Bourbon, & Bands May 2, 2025
30 teams · top score 706.8456
Judging tables are not interchangeable. At these contests the whole field scored high — not just the winner.
Rio Rancho NM 10th Annual 2013 Pork & Brew State BBQ Championship Jul 5, 2013
42 teams · even the win only took 694.2854
The other end of the same measurement: the contests where hardly anybody got a good card all day.
PARROTHEAD SMOKERS at Sam's Club National BBQ Tour Mar 15, 2013
over 2-CAN-Q
Not a contest so much as an exhibition — the runner-up in each of these was closer to tenth than to the winner.
BUCKSHOT BBQ - TX at Mountain Smoke Barbecue Festival Day 1 Mar 14, 2019
over LA PASADITA
A whole weekend — four meats, twenty-four judging cards — decided by a rounding error.
Grand Championships, reserve finishes, dynasties and droughts.
LITTLE PIG TOWN BBQ Jul 3, 2015
from 6 contests · first in 2013
Held jointly by 3 — nobody has beaten it.
The headline record of the sport: how many times a team has walked away with the whole thing.
LITTLE PIG TOWN BBQ Jun 26, 2015
from 6 contests · 3 titles
Second overall is the hardest place to finish. These teams have done it more than anybody.
BOOMERANG BBQ Jun 28, 2019
3 titles in all
Held jointly by 4 — nobody has beaten it.
A dynasty at one contest is one kind of record. Winning at thirty different ones is another kind entirely.
LITTLE PIG TOWN BBQ at Pork & Brew BBQ State Championship Jul 3, 2015
won 2014–2015
Held jointly by 3 — nobody has beaten it.
The contest a team has made their own — turning up every year and taking it home again.
LITTLE PIG TOWN BBQ at Pork & Brew BBQ State Championship Jul 3, 2015
2014–2015, straight
Defending a title once is an achievement. Nobody on this board gave one up willingly.
LITTLE PIG TOWN BBQ at Smokin' On the Pecos Jun 28, 2013
won it with 686.2858
Every Grand Championship counts the same in the standings. Not every one means beating this many people.
LA PASADITA at Smokin On The Pecos (Day 2) Jun 29, 2019
the title finally came in 2019
Proof it is worth going back. Every team here cooked for years before the call finally came.
THE AMERICAN DREAM BBQ Jun 23, 2018
2014 → 2018 · 3 titles
Staying good is harder than getting good. These teams were winning contests more than a decade apart.
LITTLE PIG TOWN BBQ Jul 3, 2015
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.
Rio Valley Meat BBQ Jun 29, 2019
across 2 of the four meats
Held jointly by 4 — nobody has beaten it.
Every category win is a walk to the stage. This is the longest walk in the sport.
Rio Valley Meat BBQ Jun 29, 2019
the 2019 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.
THE AMERICAN DREAM BBQ Jun 23, 2018
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.
THE AMERICAN DREAM BBQ at Smokin On The Pecos (Day 2) Jun 23, 2018
Chicken, Pork
One perfect card is a story worth retelling. Two before the awards ceremony is a record.
THE AMERICAN DREAM BBQ Jul 4, 2014
the 2014 season
Held jointly by 2 — nobody has beaten it.
A whole year of turning in boxes nobody at the table could mark down.
THE AMERICAN DREAM BBQ at Smokin On The Pecos (Day 2) Jun 23, 2018
first in 2014 · 131 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.
THE AMERICAN DREAM BBQ at Smokin' On The Pecos Jun 27, 2014
Pork · Jun 27, 2014
Where the 180 club starts. These are the oldest perfect cards anywhere in the data.
Smokin On The Pecos-Doubleheader-Day 1 Jun 23, 2017
shared by 6 teams in a field of 43
Held jointly by 2 — nobody has beaten it.
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.
DJS SMOKIN' BBQ Jun 29, 2019
2013 → 2019
Before anything else, competition barbecue is showing up. Nobody has shown up more often than this.
HIGH DESERT HOLY SMOKE BBQ May 15, 2026
2013 → 2026 · 15 contests
Rigs wear out and cooks retire. These teams were still turning in boxes more than a decade after their first one.
HIGH DESERT HOLY SMOKE BBQ May 15, 2026
15 contests, 2013 → 2026
Not just a long career — a busy one, season after season, with no quiet years in the middle.
THE AMERICAN DREAM BBQ Dec 31, 2019
2013 → 2019, no gaps
Held jointly by 4 — nobody has beaten it.
An unbroken run. Every single year, the rig came back out of the shed.
B-S BBQ OUTLAWS Jun 29, 2019
the 2019 season · 1 title
Held jointly by 9 — nobody has beaten it.
A season spent almost entirely in a parking lot somewhere, next to a smoker.
THE AMERICAN DREAM BBQ Mar 15, 2019
from 14 contests
The measure of a team that is always in it — not always winning, but always there at the end of the day.
DJS SMOKIN' BBQ at Smokin' on the Pecos Jun 29, 2019
2013 → 2019
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.
Smokin' On the Pecos Jun 28, 2013
won with 686.2858
The largest gathering of smokers the data has ever recorded in one place.
Smokin' on the Pecos Jun 29, 2019
2013 → 2019 · about 44 teams a year
The institutions. These contests have been feeding judges for as long as the data goes back.
Smokin' on the Pecos Jun 29, 2019
6 editions · biggest 70
One big year is a fluke. These contests pull a crowd every single time they run.
Smokin' on the Pecos Jun 29, 2019
from 6 editions with a champion on file
The contests nobody owns. Turn up here and last year counts for nothing.
All American BBQ Cook-Off (Day 2) Oct 17, 2026
What was actually on the table. Listed purses only — KCBS does not publish who took home which slice of it.
Mar 15, 2013 Mar 15, 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 2013 season Jul 5, 2013
across 1 states and provinces
Held jointly by 2 — nobody has beaten it.
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.
Ralph Williams Nov 5, 2021
2019 → 2021
The people who make a contest a contest — table captains, score checkers, keepers of the rulebook.
Michael Santiago Oct 17, 2026
the 2026 season
Held jointly by 2 — nobody has beaten it.
Thirty contests in a year means most of a summer spent beside a scoring table.
Larry Voth Jun 29, 2019
at 2 contests
Held jointly by 3 — nobody has beaten it.
How many separate teams have taken a Grand Championship at a contest this rep was running.
| Team | GCs this season |
|---|---|
| MAR-B-QUE'S 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 | 733 | 159.34 | 177.26 | 6 | 8.2 |
| Pork | 661 | 161.62 | 178.16 | 13 | 19.7 |
| Pork Ribs | 740 | 161.71 | 178.20 | 7 | 9.5 |
| Chicken | 732 | 162.39 | 177.98 | 7 | 9.6 |
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.