Backwooder BBQ PA
Rating
1569
peak 1574
Contests
35
in the data
First seen
2023-05-19
latest 2026-06-12
Best ToY finish
#55
Backyard 2025
Grand champs
1
0 reserve
Category wins
2
11 podiums
Overall top-10s
14
of 35 contests
Avg finish
top 47%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
404.62 ▲
last 5 vs career avg 363.29 (+41.33)
Walk rate
77%
contests with a top-10 call
Top-10 streak
3
best run (overall)
Consistency
±97.79
std dev of overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Brisket
avg 167.97 · weakest Pork (162.06)
Road miles
1950
mi across 35 mapped stops · furthest 186 mi
Storylines
🎯 The one to beat
Leaning Jowler BBQ has finished one call ahead of Backwooder BBQ 4 times — their closest competition in the data.
👀 Looking over their shoulder
Big Butts BBQ has landed one call behind them 2 times.
⚔️ A strong matchup
They've finished ahead of Estancia in 13 of their 15 shared contests.
🗡️ Giant slayer
Took the Grand Championship over a 32-team field at Smoke on the Rail BBQ Festival (Day 2).
📅 A October team
Something about October: average finish in the top 39% across 6 contests, versus top 47% the rest of the year.
Teams like this (closest power rating, PA first)
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 34 | 21 | 1 | 3 | 177.7028 | 152.5372 | 167.94 | top 43% |
| Pork Ribs | 34 | 18 | 1 | 8 | 176.5600 | 150.8228 | 165.14 | top 46% |
| Pork | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 162.8344 | 160.5372 | 162.06 | top 60% |
| Brisket | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 173.7028 | 158.2284 | 167.97 | top 31% |
“Calls” = top-10 category finishes (getting called to the stage). Scores here are the final weighted totals KCBS publishes; per-criterion appearance/taste/tenderness marks aren’t in the public results feed.
By state / province
| Where | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| PA | 20 | 1 | top 50% |
| NJ | 7 | 0 | top 35% |
| DE | 3 | 0 | top 51% |
| VA | 3 | 0 | top 53% |
By contest size
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small (<20 teams) | 7 | 0 | top 56% |
| Medium (20–39) | 25 | 1 | top 46% |
| Large (40+) | 1 | 0 | top 13% |
The story so far
- Busiest season: 2025 (17 contests)
- Cooks mostly in PA (20 of 35 contests)
- Most-entered category: Chicken (34 entries)
- First Grand Championship in the data: Smoke on the Rail BBQ Festival (Day 2) (2024-07-27)
- Wins it all in 3% of contests
- All-time average overall score: 363.29
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
Category scores over time
Overall finish over time (top-% of field, lower is better)
Where they finish (overall)
Best vs average (by meat)
Team of the Year rank by season
Season by season
| Season | Contests | GCs | Category wins | Best overall | Avg overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 673.0744 | 423.81 |
| 2025 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 681.0744 | 356.57 |
| 2024 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 659.3140 | 362.42 |
| 2023 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 322.2860 | 319.37 |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-12 | York County BBQ Festival (Day 1) Delta, PA | 16 / 25 (673.0744) | 3 (176.0000) | 22 (160.5372) | 19 (162.8344) | 5 (173.7028) |
| 2026-05-16 | Twin Valley Fire and Smoke (Day 2) Morgantown, PA | 7 / 17 (341.6804) | 5 (174.2744) | 10 (167.4060) | — | — |
| 2026-05-15 | Twin Valley Fire and Smoke (Day 1) Morgantown, PA | 7 / 25 (342.2516) | 11 (170.2744) | 4 (171.9772) | — | — |
| 2026-04-03 | Rekindled Ironman Seven Valleys, PA | 6 / 14 (338.2172) | 1 (177.7028) | 8 (160.5144) | — | — |
| 2025-10-25 | Red White & Que - CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES (Day 2) Jackson, NJ | 15 / 32 (327.8972) | 16 (159.3600) | 10 (168.5372) | — | — |
| 2025-10-25 | Red White & Que - CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES (One Meat Ribs) Jackson, NJ | — | — | 18 (152.5144) | — | — |
| 2025-10-24 | Red White & Que - CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES (One Meat Chicken) Jackson, NJ | — | 9 (173.7144) | — | — | — |
| 2025-10-24 | Red White & Que - CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES (Day 1) Jackson, NJ | 4 / 31 (343.9428) | 6 (171.9656) | 3 (171.9772) | — | — |
| 2025-09-28 | First State BBQ Bash (SUNDAY BACKYARD ONLY) Milford, DE | 13 / 14 (319.8744) | 8 (167.3828) | 14 (152.4916) | — | — |
| 2025-09-26 | First State BBQ Bash Milford, DE | 8 / 25 (337.6572) | 7 (171.4056) | 10 (166.2516) | — | — |
| 2025-08-22 | Stoney Creek BBQ Cookoff Edinburg, VA | 8 / 16 (336.5144) | 7 (171.9772) | 11 (164.5372) | — | — |
| 2025-07-26 | Smoke on the Rail BBQ Festival (Day 2) New Freedom, PA | 22 / 27 (320.5028) | 25 (152.5372) | 14 (167.9656) | — | — |
| 2025-07-25 | Smoke on the Rail BBQ Festival (Day 1) New Freedom, PA | 23 / 30 (330.7884) | 21 (166.8228) | 24 (163.9656) | — | — |
| 2025-07-12 | New Jersey State Barbecue Championship North Wildwood, NJ | 8 / 63 (681.0744) | 13 (172.5600) | 1 (176.0000) | 36 (160.5372) | 7 (171.9772) |
| 2025-06-28 | York County BBQ Festival (Day 2) Delta, PA | 5 / 10 (343.9428) | 7 (171.9656) | 4 (171.9772) | — | — |
| 2025-06-27 | York County BBQ Festival (Day 1) Delta, PA | 11 / 26 (335.3368) | 10 (171.9656) | 12 (163.3712) | — | — |
| 2025-05-17 | Twin Valley Fire and Smoke (Day 2) Morgantown, PA | 9 / 21 (329.0744) | 8 (169.6916) | 12 (159.3828) | — | — |
| 2025-05-16 | Twin Valley Fire and Smoke (Day 1) Morgantown, PA | 16 / 28 (325.0516) | 7 (170.8344) | 19 (154.2172) | — | — |
| 2025-04-26 | Revolutionary BBQ Brawl (Day 2) Williamsburg, VA | 3 / 16 (348.5256) | 8 (171.9656) | 3 (176.5600) | — | — |
| 2025-04-25 | Revolutionary BBQ Brawl (Day 1) Williamsburg, VA | 18 / 20 (329.6228) | 8 (172.5600) | 20 (157.0628) | — | — |
| 2025-04-04 | Rekindled Ironman Seven Valleys, PA | 4 / 23 (338.8116) | 5 (169.6916) | 3 (169.1200) | — | — |
| 2024-10-19 | Red White & Que - CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES (Day 2) Columbia, NJ | 3 / 26 (344.5140) | 9 (169.6684) | 3 (174.8456) | — | — |
| 2024-10-18 | Red White & Que - CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES (Day 1) Columbia, NJ | 15 / 28 (319.8744) | 20 (157.0744) | 12 (162.8000) | — | — |
| 2024-09-27 | "The First State" BBQ Bash Milford, DE | 7 / 26 (335.3716) | 9 (162.8000) | 2 (172.5716) | — | — |
| 2024-08-23 | New Holland Summer Fest New Holland, PA | 11 / 38 (322.1944) | 10 (160.5372) | 10 (161.6572) | — | — |
| 2024-07-27 | Smoke on the Rail BBQ Festival (Day 2) New Freedom, PA | 1 / 32 (347.9772) | 2 (174.2628) | 2 (173.7144) | — | — |
| 2024-07-26 | Smoke on the Rail BBQ Festival (Day 1) New Freedom, PA | 20 / 35 (332.4912) | 7 (171.9884) | 31 (160.5028) | — | — |
| 2024-06-29 | York County BBQ Festival (Day 2) Delta, PA | 18 / 19 (330.7768) | 22 (158.2168) | 3 (172.5600) | — | — |
| 2024-06-28 | York County BBQ Festival (Day 1) Delta, PA | 22 / 29 (322.8456) | 24 (161.7028) | 20 (161.1428) | — | — |
| 2024-05-18 | Twin Valley Fire and Smoke (Day 2) Morgantown, PA | 11 / 26 (335.3600) | 13 (166.8228) | 9 (168.5372) | — | — |
| 2024-05-17 | Twin Valley Fire and Smoke (Day 1) Morgantown, PA | 14 / 37 (335.9200) | 17 (163.9428) | 4 (171.9772) | — | — |
| 2024-04-05 | The Ironman Seven Valleys, PA | 11 / 21 (659.3140) | 4 (172.0000) | 9 (166.2744) | 10 (162.8112) | 13 (158.2284) |
| 2023-10-21 | Red White & Que - CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES (Day 2) Jackson, NJ | 18 / 29 (321.6228) | 18 (161.6572) | 17 (159.9656) | — | — |
| 2023-10-20 | Red White & Que - CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES (Day 1) Jackson, NJ | 15 / 34 (322.2860) | 15 (161.1660) | 14 (161.1200) | — | — |
| 2023-05-19 | Twin Valley Fire and Smoke Morgantown, PA | 20 / 37 (314.2056) | 15 (163.3828) | 20 (150.8228) | — | — |
Team of the Year standings (rank per category by season — year links to the full board on kcbs.us)
| Year | Series | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 ↗ | Backyard | #70 (451 pts) | #64 (546 pts) | #86 (446 pts) | — | — |
| 2026 ↗ | Master | #709 (95 pts) | #523 (225 pts) | #889 (65 pts) | #776 (80 pts) | #548 (175 pts) |
| 2025 ↗ | Backyard | #55 (902 pts) | #69 (764 pts) | #47 (959 pts) | — | — |
| 2025 ↗ | Master | #784 (155 pts) | #695 (247 pts) | #580 (363 pts) | #1190 (60 pts) | #808 (165 pts) |
| 2024 ↗ | Backyard | #61 (859 pts) | #76 (778 pts) | #22 (1125 pts) | — | — |
| 2024 ↗ | Master | #946 (116 pts) | #778 (196 pts) | #976 (131 pts) | #934 (121 pts) | #1029 (106 pts) |
| 2023 ↗ | Backyard | — | #226 (174 pts) | #214 (184 pts) | — | — |