53 all-time KCBS records — every one with a holder, a number, and the date it was set, read out of 228 scored contests and 51,657 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 TN record book — every record below counts only contests held in TN. 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.
SWIG-N-PIG at Big BBQ Bash Jun 23, 2023
36-team field · won the contest
Four meats, six judges, one afternoon. The biggest total anybody has ever assembled.
Dogpatch Q at High on the Hog Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) May 16, 2025
won the board
Held jointly by 3 — 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.
UNCULTURED SWINE at High on the Hog Festival Apr 19, 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.
SOUTHERN KRUNK BBQ SOCIETY at Variety Children's Charity BBQ Bash May 31, 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.
901Q at Third Annual Bull Moose BBQ Contest 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.
BUBBA & THE GOVERNOR at High on the Hog Festival Apr 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.
2 WORTHLESS NUTS, NATURAL BORN GRILLERS at The Rotary Club of Bearden - Que Fest May 29, 2015
finished 2nd, behind WARREN COUNTY PORK CHOPPERS
A day this good takes a Grand Championship almost anywhere. These are the ones that ran into somebody having a better one.
ROCKY TOP BARBEQUE at Sam's Club National BBQ Tour May 10, 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.
6th Annual KCBS World Invitational - MASTER SERIES INVITATIONAL May 25, 2024
81 teams · won with 708.5488
What it cost to walk. At these contests a total that wins most weekends was only good enough for tenth.
82 teams · top score 710.8344
Judging tables are not interchangeable. At these contests the whole field scored high — not just the winner.
International Goat Days Festival BBQ Bash Sep 12, 2014
25 teams · even the win only took 691.9196
The other end of the same measurement: the contests where hardly anybody got a good card all day.
TRIPLE H BBQ Jun 19, 2026
26 contests · best 708.5488
Anyone can catch one good day. This is the highest anybody has averaged across a real career.
Organizer Portal at BBQ-Fest Cooking Contest Jul 24, 2015
over WARDEN'S Q
Not a contest so much as an exhibition — the runner-up in each of these was closer to tenth than to the winner.
SON SEEKERS BBQ at Sam's Club National BBQ Tour Jun 17, 2016
over THE ALGOOD BAR-B-Q PIT CREW
Held jointly by 2 — nobody has beaten it.
A whole weekend — four meats, twenty-four judging cards — decided by a rounding error.
Plus 4 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.
Organizer Portal Apr 14, 2023
from 87 contests · first in 2014
The headline record of the sport: how many times a team has walked away with the whole thing.
Organizer Portal Jun 24, 2022
from 87 contests · 13 titles
Second overall is the hardest place to finish. These teams have done it more than anybody.
BLUE CHIP BBQ May 17, 2024
across 37 contests, still waiting
The cruellest record in the book. Every team here has stood on the stage second, and never once first.
WARREN COUNTY PORK CHOPPERS Apr 19, 2019
12 titles from 41 contests
Winning often matters more than winning a lot. This is how often a team turns up and takes the whole thing.
WARREN COUNTY PORK CHOPPERS Aug 23, 2013
the 2013 season
The best year anybody has ever had. Four in a season is a career year; these went past it.
Organizer Portal Apr 14, 2023
13 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 Smoke in the Valley Sep 21, 2018
won 2014–2018
The contest a team has made their own — turning up every year and taking it home again.
Under the Radar at Smoke in the Valley Sep 21, 2018
2016–2018, straight
Defending a title once is an achievement. Nobody on this board gave one up willingly.
RAZORRACKS at Smoke on the Shores BBQ Championship Mar 20, 2026
won it with 713.1200
Every Grand Championship counts the same in the standings. Not every one means beating this many people.
THE ALGOOD BAR-B-Q PIT CREW at Sevierville's Bloomin' BBQ & Bluegrass Festival May 20, 2022
the title finally came in 2022
Proof it is worth going back. Every team here cooked for years before the call finally came.
RAZORRACKS Mar 20, 2026
2016 → 2026 · 5 titles
Staying good is harder than getting good. These teams were winning contests more than a decade apart.
ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN Jun 21, 2024
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.
ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN Oct 3, 2025
across all four meats
Held jointly by 2 — nobody has beaten it.
Every category win is a walk to the stage. This is the longest walk in the sport.
Organizer Portal Nov 20, 2015
the 2015 season
One team, one year, and a stack of first-place calls that would furnish most careers.
ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN May 24, 2026
in 4 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.
SMOKE OF THE SHOALS at Music City Festival & BBQ Championship Aug 23, 2013
Brisket, Pork
Held jointly by 10 or more — nobody has beaten it.
One perfect card is a story worth retelling. Two before the awards ceremony is a record.
Organizer Portal Nov 20, 2015
the 2015 season
Held jointly by 2 — nobody has beaten it.
A whole year of turning in boxes nobody at the table could mark down.
ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN at Sam's Club National BBQ Tour Jun 17, 2016
first in 2014 · 29 contests to complete the set
Held jointly by 9 — 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.
901Q at Third Annual Bull Moose BBQ Contest Apr 5, 2013
Pork · Apr 5, 2013
Where the 180 club starts. These are the oldest perfect cards anywhere in the data.
Smoke on the Shores BBQ Championship Mar 20, 2026
shared by 23 teams in a field of 125
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.
ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN May 24, 2026
2013 → 2026
Before anything else, competition barbecue is showing up. Nobody has shown up more often than this.
TNT BBQ Sep 25, 2026
2013 → 2026 · 23 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.
ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN May 24, 2026
95 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.
HOT COLE'S BBQ 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.
HIGH ON THE HAWG Nov 10, 2017
the 2017 season · 1 title
A season spent almost entirely in a parking lot somewhere, next to a smoker.
Organizer Portal Mar 14, 2025
from 87 contests
The measure of a team that is always in it — not always winning, but always there at the end of the day.
Under the Radar Aug 25, 2023
54 from 63 contests
Consistency, stated as a percentage. Turn up, and this is how often you were still standing at the end.
Chokin "N" tha Smoke at High on the Hog Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) May 16, 2025
2013 → 2025
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.
Smoke on the Shores BBQ Championship Mar 20, 2026
won with 713.1200
The largest gathering of smokers the data has ever recorded in one place.
Smoke on the Shores BBQ Championship Mar 20, 2026
2021 → 2026 · about 82 teams a year
The institutions. These contests have been feeding judges for as long as the data goes back.
Jack Daniel's World Championship Invitation Barbecue (JUDGES FULL) Oct 26, 2018
5 editions · biggest 102
One big year is a fluke. These contests pull a crowd every single time they run.
High on the Hog Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) May 15, 2026
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.
7th Annual KCBS World Invitational (Saturday, May 24, 2025) May 24, 2025
in a field of 106 · won with 705.6800
Out of 720 points, this many teams finished inside ONE of the leader. Any of them could have won it with a better garnish.
31st Annual Jack Daniels World Championship Invitational Barbecue (JUDGES FULL) (COMPETITORS SERIES) Oct 25, 2019
97 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 4 — nobody has beaten it.
One Saturday, this many contests, every one of them lighting a fire at the same hour.
The 2016 season Nov 18, 2016
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.
Carolyn Wells Mar 19, 2027
2019 → 2027
Held jointly by 2 — nobody has beaten it.
The people who make a contest a contest — table captains, score checkers, keepers of the rulebook.
Carolyn Wells Oct 10, 2025
the 2025 season
Held jointly by 2 — nobody has beaten it.
Thirty contests in a year means most of a summer spent beside a scoring table.
Carolyn Wells May 24, 2026
at 21 contests
How many separate teams have taken a Grand Championship at a contest this rep was running.
| Team | GCs this season |
|---|---|
| WAG'S BACKWOODS BBQ | 1 |
| RAZORRACKS | 1 |
| PUDDLEDUCK BBQ | 1 |
| NORALA BBQ TEAM | 1 |
| Leaning Jowler BBQ | 1 |
| Kings BBQ Team | 1 |
| Glamping Grillers | 1 |
| Electro-Que-ted | 1 |
| DANG GOOD BBQ | 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 | 7,386 | 166.38 | 178.86 | 118 | 16 |
| Pork Ribs | 9,133 | 166.93 | 178.40 | 84 | 9.2 |
| Pork | 8,118 | 167.49 | 178.66 | 131 | 16.1 |
| Chicken | 8,863 | 168.15 | 178.74 | 180 | 20.3 |
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.