53 all-time KCBS records — every one with a holder, a number, and the date it was set, read out of 124 scored contests and 27,126 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 PA record book — every record below counts only contests held in PA. 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.
Uncle Pig's Barbeque Pit at York County BBQ Festival (Day 2) Jun 29, 2024
19-team field · won the contest
Four meats, six judges, one afternoon. The biggest total anybody has ever assembled.
FIRE & SHINE BBQ at York County BBQ Festival (Day 2) Jun 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.
PIGHEADED BBQ at Smoke in the Valley BBQ Competition May 9, 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.
OLD COLONY SMOKEHOUSE at Gettysburg BBQ Festival Day 2 May 25, 2019
won the category with it
Held jointly by 8 — 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.
MOON RIVER BARBEQUE at Twin Valley Fire And Smoke May 18, 2018
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.
PIGHEADED BBQ at New Holland Summer Fest Aug 26, 2016
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.
ELJEFE SMOKE at Smoke on the Rail BBQ Festival (Day 2) Jul 25, 2026
finished 2nd, behind Boggs Hog BBQ
A day this good takes a Grand Championship almost anywhere. These are the ones that ran into somebody having a better one.
WILBUR'S REVENGE at Que for the Troops May 31, 2013
and still beat 45 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.
Smoke in the Grove (Day 2) Jul 30, 2022
42 teams · won with 703.9888
What it cost to walk. At these contests a total that wins most weekends was only good enough for tenth.
Smoke on the Rail BBQ Festival (Day 2) Jul 25, 2026
39 teams · top score 707.4172
Judging tables are not interchangeable. At these contests the whole field scored high — not just the winner.
Green Lane Fire CO's May 10, 2013
56 teams · even the win only took 665.1424
The other end of the same measurement: the contests where hardly anybody got a good card all day.
WOLF'S REVENGE BBQ Jul 25, 2026
40 contests · best 702.8228
Anyone can catch one good day. This is the highest anybody has averaged across a real career.
LO' -N- SLO' BBQ at Warren County All American BBQ Festival Jul 18, 2014
over RED VALLEY BBQ
Not a contest so much as an exhibition — the runner-up in each of these was closer to tenth than to the winner.
Piggin' Whiskey at York County BBQ Festival (Day 1) Jun 28, 2024
over WOLF'S REVENGE BBQ
Held jointly by 2 — nobody has beaten it.
A whole weekend — four meats, twenty-four judging cards — decided by a rounding error.
Plus 2 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.
LO' -N- SLO' BBQ Oct 5, 2018
from 57 contests · first in 2013
The headline record of the sport: how many times a team has walked away with the whole thing.
3 EYZ BBQ Sep 28, 2018
from 43 contests · 4 titles
Held jointly by 3 — nobody has beaten it.
Second overall is the hardest place to finish. These teams have done it more than anybody.
BEER TIME BBQ May 15, 2026
across 40 contests, still waiting
Held jointly by 2 — nobody has beaten it.
The cruellest record in the book. Every team here has stood on the stage second, and never once first.
WOLF'S REVENGE BBQ Jul 25, 2026
8 titles from 40 contests
Winning often matters more than winning a lot. This is how often a team turns up and takes the whole thing.
LO' -N- SLO' BBQ Sep 12, 2014
the 2014 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.
LO' -N- SLO' BBQ Oct 5, 2018
11 titles in all
A dynasty at one contest is one kind of record. Winning at thirty different ones is another kind entirely.
Dog Bite Barbecue at York County BBQ Festival (Day 2) Jun 12, 2026
won 2025–2026
The contest a team has made their own — turning up every year and taking it home again.
Dog Bite Barbecue at York County BBQ Festival (Day 2) Jun 12, 2026
2025–2026, straight
Defending a title once is an achievement. Nobody on this board gave one up willingly.
Drilling & Grilling BBQ Team at New Holland Summer Fest Aug 23, 2013
won it with 675.4056
Held jointly by 2 — nobody has beaten it.
Every Grand Championship counts the same in the standings. Not every one means beating this many people.
BAR-B-QUE MAYHAM at York County BBQ Festival Jun 18, 2021
the title finally came in 2021
Proof it is worth going back. Every team here cooked for years before the call finally came.
SMOKIN HOGGZ BBQ - MA Jul 26, 2025
2014 → 2025 · 3 titles
Staying good is harder than getting good. These teams were winning contests more than a decade apart.
CHUNKY BBQ Apr 3, 2026
in 1 state
Held jointly by 2 — nobody has beaten it.
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.
Uncle Pig's Barbeque Pit Jun 27, 2025
across all four meats
Every category win is a walk to the stage. This is the longest walk in the sport.
CHECKERED FLAG 500 BBQ Oct 7, 2016
the 2016 season
Held jointly by 5 — nobody has beaten it.
One team, one year, and a stack of first-place calls that would furnish most careers.
The Fat is Where It's At May 16, 2026
in 4 different meats · first in 2024
A 180 means all six judges handed back a nine for appearance, taste and tenderness. These teams have collected them.
INSANE SWINE BBQ at Gettysburg BBQ Festival Day 2 May 25, 2019
Brisket, Chicken
Held jointly by 3 — nobody has beaten it.
One perfect card is a story worth retelling. Two before the awards ceremony is a record.
LO' -N- SLO' BBQ Oct 5, 2018
the 2018 season
Held jointly by 8 — nobody has beaten it.
A whole year of turning in boxes nobody at the table could mark down.
The Fat is Where It's At at Smoke on the Rail BBQ Festival (Day 1) Jul 25, 2025
first in 2024 · 9 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.
PIGHEADED BBQ at Smoke in the Valley BBQ Competition May 9, 2014
Chicken · May 9, 2014
Where the 180 club starts. These are the oldest perfect cards anywhere in the data.
Gettysburg BBQ Festival Day 2 May 25, 2019
shared by 5 teams in a field of 32
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.
Uncle Pig's Barbeque Pit Jun 28, 2025
2013 → 2025
Before anything else, competition barbecue is showing up. Nobody has shown up more often than this.
B'S QUE Aug 28, 2026
2013 → 2026 · 23 contests
Rigs wear out and cooks retire. These teams were still turning in boxes more than a decade after their first one.
DRILLING & GRILLING Jun 13, 2026
72 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.
DRILLING & GRILLING 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.
4 BOXERS Q Oct 4, 2024
the 2024 season
A season spent almost entirely in a parking lot somewhere, next to a smoker.
Uncle Pig's Barbeque Pit Jun 28, 2025
from 73 contests
The measure of a team that is always in it — not always winning, but always there at the end of the day.
WOLF'S REVENGE BBQ Jul 25, 2026
34 from 40 contests
Consistency, stated as a percentage. Turn up, and this is how often you were still standing at the end.
4 BOXERS Q at Twin Valley Fire and Smoke (Day 2) May 16, 2026
2017 → 2026
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.
New Holland Summer Fest Aug 23, 2013
won with 675.4056
The largest gathering of smokers the data has ever recorded in one place.
York County BBQ Festival (Day 2) Jun 13, 2026
2018 → 2026 · about 30 teams a year
The institutions. These contests have been feeding judges for as long as the data goes back.
New Holland Summer Fest Aug 23, 2024
11 editions · biggest 71
One big year is a fluke. These contests pull a crowd every single time they run.
New Holland Summer Fest Aug 23, 2024
from 11 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.
Twin Valley Fire and Smoke (Day 2) May 16, 2026
in a field of 17 · won with 703.9428
Out of 720 points, this many teams finished inside ONE of the leader. Any of them could have won it with a better garnish.
Smoke in the Grove Jul 26, 2019
53 teams cooking for it
What was actually on the table. Listed purses only — KCBS does not publish who took home which slice of it.
Jun 3, 2016 Jun 3, 2016
across 1 states and provinces
Held jointly by 2 — nobody has beaten it.
One Saturday, this many contests, every one of them lighting a fire at the same hour.
The 2014 season Dec 6, 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.
Robert McKee Jul 24, 2027
2019 → 2027
The people who make a contest a contest — table captains, score checkers, keepers of the rulebook.
Robert McKee Oct 12, 2025
the 2025 season
Thirty contests in a year means most of a summer spent beside a scoring table.
Robert McKee Aug 29, 2026
at 56 contests
How many separate teams have taken a Grand Championship at a contest this rep was running.
| Team | GCs this season |
|---|---|
| FIRE & SHINE BBQ | 3 |
| HotMess BBQ | 2 |
| B'S QUE | 2 |
| Edible WOW | 1 |
| The Fat is Where It's At | 1 |
| Team Cookie | 1 |
| Stroked Out Cooking Team | 1 |
| Rough Cut Q | 1 |
| Hot Thang BBQ | 1 |
| Dog Bite Barbecue | 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 | 4,375 | 160.19 | 176.99 | 21 | 4.8 |
| Pork Ribs | 5,324 | 161.56 | 175.54 | 9 | 1.7 |
| Pork | 4,467 | 161.73 | 176.07 | 13 | 2.9 |
| Chicken | 5,287 | 163.75 | 177.24 | 37 | 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.