53 all-time KCBS records — every one with a holder, a number, and the date it was set, read out of 63 scored contests and 9,576 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 OH record book — every record below counts only contests held in OH. 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.
YELLOW RIVER BBQ at PigMania Lima May 29, 2015
27-team field · won the contest
Held jointly by 2 — nobody has beaten it.
Four meats, six judges, one afternoon. The biggest total anybody has ever assembled.
Full Throttle BBQ at Marietta River City BBQ Apr 23, 2021
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.
BIG JT'S SMOKIN BBQ at The River Grill before the Big Chill Oct 10, 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.
BARK BROTHERS BBQ at The River Grill before the Big Chill Oct 10, 2014
won the category with it
Held jointly by 4 — 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.
HOOSIER FAVORITE BBQ at Ohio Veteran Battle of the Barbecue Sep 27, 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.
CHARCOAL MAFIA at The River Grill before the Big Chill Oct 10, 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.
BIG JT'S SMOKIN BBQ at The River Grill before the Big Chill Oct 10, 2014
finished 2nd, behind Bubba Grills
A day this good takes a Grand Championship almost anywhere. These are the ones that ran into somebody having a better one.
MONTY PIGTHON & THE HOLY GRILL at Buckeye State BBQ Championship May 17, 2013
and still beat 34 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.
Grizzly BBQ Brawl Sep 5, 2025
42 teams · won with 702.8228
What it cost to walk. At these contests a total that wins most weekends was only good enough for tenth.
Buckeye BBQ Classic Jul 17, 2026
30 teams · top score 700.5944
Judging tables are not interchangeable. At these contests the whole field scored high — not just the winner.
Smokin' in the Hills Sep 24, 2021
26 teams · even the win only took 705.7144
The other end of the same measurement: the contests where hardly anybody got a good card all day.
SLIPPERY PETE'S BBQ Oct 18, 2019
28 contests · best 705.1432
Anyone can catch one good day. This is the highest anybody has averaged across a real career.
CHIX, SWINE & BOVINE BBQ at Ohio Smoked Meat & BBQ Festival Oct 17, 2014
over HISTORIC BBQ
Not a contest so much as an exhibition — the runner-up in each of these was closer to tenth than to the winner.
ABLE ACRES BBQ at Buckeye State BBQ Championship May 16, 2014
over Pappy Q
A whole weekend — four meats, twenty-four judging cards — decided by a rounding error.
Grand Championships, reserve finishes, dynasties and droughts.
SLIPPERY PETE'S BBQ Aug 30, 2019
from 28 contests · first in 2015
The headline record of the sport: how many times a team has walked away with the whole thing.
SMOKIN' 4-PLAY BBQ Jun 29, 2018
from 27 contests · 0 titles
Second overall is the hardest place to finish. These teams have done it more than anybody.
SMOKIN' 4-PLAY BBQ Jun 29, 2018
across 27 contests, still waiting
The cruellest record in the book. Every team here has stood on the stage second, and never once first.
SLIPPERY PETE'S BBQ Oct 18, 2019
6 titles from 28 contests
Winning often matters more than winning a lot. This is how often a team turns up and takes the whole thing.
GREY STREET BBQ Aug 3, 2018
the 2018 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.
SLIPPERY PETE'S BBQ Aug 30, 2019
6 titles in all
A dynasty at one contest is one kind of record. Winning at thirty different ones is another kind entirely.
SLIPPERY PETE'S BBQ at Marietta River City BBQ (OPEN FORMAT) Apr 26, 2019
won 2015–2019
Held jointly by 4 — nobody has beaten it.
The contest a team has made their own — turning up every year and taking it home again.
GREY STREET BBQ at Ohio Smoked Meat & BBQ Festival Oct 14, 2016
2015–2016, straight
Held jointly by 4 — nobody has beaten it.
Defending a title once is an achievement. Nobody on this board gave one up willingly.
Bubba Grills at The River Grill before the Big Chill Oct 10, 2014
won it with 704.5944
Every Grand Championship counts the same in the standings. Not every one means beating this many people.
HIGH ON THE HOG OHIO at Marietta River City BBQ Apr 28, 2023
the title finally came in 2023
Proof it is worth going back. Every team here cooked for years before the call finally came.
BLUE CHIP BBQ Jul 18, 2025
2016 → 2025 · 3 titles
Staying good is harder than getting good. These teams were winning contests more than a decade apart.
SLIPPERY PETE'S BBQ Aug 30, 2019
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.
HIGH ON THE HOG OHIO Jul 21, 2023
across all four meats
Every category win is a walk to the stage. This is the longest walk in the sport.
HISTORIC BBQ Oct 7, 2016
the 2016 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.
VICTORY SMOKERS Jul 13, 2018
in 3 different meats · first in 2016
A 180 means all six judges handed back a nine for appearance, taste and tenderness. These teams have collected them.
VICTORY SMOKERS at Ohio Veterans Barbecue Cook-Off Jul 8, 2016
Brisket, Pork Ribs
Held jointly by 2 — nobody has beaten it.
One perfect card is a story worth retelling. Two before the awards ceremony is a record.
HISTORIC BBQ Oct 7, 2016
the 2016 season
Held jointly by 3 — nobody has beaten it.
A whole year of turning in boxes nobody at the table could mark down.
VICTORY SMOKERS at Ohio Veterans Barbecue Cook-Off Jul 13, 2018
first in 2016 · 19 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.
HOOSIER FAVORITE BBQ at Ohio Veteran Battle of the Barbecue Sep 27, 2013
Pork · Sep 27, 2013
Where the 180 club starts. These are the oldest perfect cards anywhere in the data.
The River Grill before the Big Chill Oct 10, 2014
shared by 7 teams in a field of 49
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.
HIGH ON THE HOG OHIO Sep 5, 2025
2014 → 2025
Before anything else, competition barbecue is showing up. Nobody has shown up more often than this.
SUCKA BONE BBQ TEAM Jun 26, 2026
2013 → 2026 · 27 contests
Rigs wear out and cooks retire. These teams were still turning in boxes more than a decade after their first one.
SUCKA BONE BBQ TEAM Jun 26, 2026
27 contests, 2013 → 2026
Not just a long career — a busy one, season after season, with no quiet years in the middle.
TIRE SMOKE BBQ Dec 31, 2026
2016 → 2026, no gaps
An unbroken run. Every single year, the rig came back out of the shed.
HIGH ON THE HOG OHIO Oct 19, 2018
the 2018 season
A season spent almost entirely in a parking lot somewhere, next to a smoker.
SLIPPERY PETE'S BBQ Oct 18, 2019
from 28 contests
The measure of a team that is always in it — not always winning, but always there at the end of the day.
SLIPPERY PETE'S BBQ Oct 18, 2019
24 from 28 contests
Consistency, stated as a percentage. Turn up, and this is how often you were still standing at the end.
HIGH ON THE HOG OHIO at Marietta River City BBQ (OPEN FORMAT) Apr 26, 2024
2016 → 2024 · won it 1×
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.
The River Grill before the Big Chill Oct 10, 2014
won with 704.5944
The largest gathering of smokers the data has ever recorded in one place.
Marietta River City BBQ (OPEN FORMAT) Apr 24, 2026
2015 → 2026 · about 19 teams a year
The institutions. These contests have been feeding judges for as long as the data goes back.
Buckeye State BBQ Championship May 15, 2015
3 editions · biggest 38
One big year is a fluke. These contests pull a crowd every single time they run.
Marietta River City BBQ (OPEN FORMAT) Apr 24, 2026
from 14 editions with a champion on file
The contests nobody owns. Turn up here and last year counts for nothing.
Buckeye BBQ Classic Jul 17, 2026
in a field of 30 · won with 700.5944
Out of 720 points, this many teams finished inside ONE of the leader. Any of them could have won it with a better garnish.
Country Invasion (POSTPONED) Jun 3, 2022
What was actually on the table. Listed purses only — KCBS does not publish who took home which slice of it.
Jul 12, 2019 Jul 12, 2019
across 1 states and provinces
Held jointly by 4 — nobody has beaten it.
One Saturday, this many contests, every one of them lighting a fire at the same hour.
The 2015 season Oct 28, 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.
Dave Druetzler Jul 17, 2026
2019 → 2026
The people who make a contest a contest — table captains, score checkers, keepers of the rulebook.
Steve Grinstead Jul 22, 2022
the 2022 season
Held jointly by 3 — nobody has beaten it.
Thirty contests in a year means most of a summer spent beside a scoring table.
Becky Druetzler Jul 17, 2026
at 18 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 |
|---|---|
| TIRE SMOKE BBQ | 1 |
| ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN | 1 |
| BEER TIME BBQ | 1 |
| BBQ MIKE | 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 | 1,807 | 163.62 | 177.71 | 14 | 7.7 |
| Pork Ribs | 1,820 | 164.20 | 177.07 | 4 | 2.2 |
| Pork | 1,796 | 165.19 | 177.46 | 13 | 7.2 |
| Chicken | 1,821 | 165.82 | 177.73 | 14 | 7.7 |
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.