BAPTIZED IN SMOKE

BAPTIZED IN SMOKE is a competition barbecue team with 24 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2014 and 2017. Their best overall finish is 9th of 25 at the Hog Wild West BBQ Contest (2017). They are ranked #1930 of 6,491 teams in the KCBS power rankings.

⚔ Compare with another team

At a glance (the record in numbers)

Power ranking

#1,930

of 6,491 rated · rankings

Rating

1542

peak 1542 · rated over 24 contests

Contests

in the data

First seen

Jul 3, 2014

latest Sep 8, 2017 · 3.2 years on the trail

Best ToY finish

#613

Master 2016 · every season

Grand champs

0 reserve

Category wins

3 podiums

Overall top-10s

4% of 24 contests

Avg finish

top 55%

overall standings

Best overall

678.2400 / 720

Master · BBQ and Fly In on the River

Perfect 180s

Current form

668.01 ▲

last 5 Master vs avg 656.19 (+11.82)

Walk rate

71%

contests with a top-10 call

Best single call

177.1544

Pork Ribs · Racing for the BBQ

Consistency

±18.66

spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)

Strongest meat

Pork Ribs

avg 166.31 · weakest Pork (162.68)

Road miles

421

across 24 mapped stops

Schedule strength

52%

of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1567)

Master avg

656.19 / 720

24 Master contests · 0 GCs

Storylines (7 found in their record)

Each card leads with the number behind the story, straight from their results.

They almost always walk

71% of contests with a top-10 call

A call in 17 of 24 contests

A top-10 category call in 71% of their 24 contests — they get to the stage more often than not.

High-water mark

678.2400 career-best overall

94.2% of a perfect 720

Their best day on record: 678.2400 at BBQ and Fly In on the River — 94.2% of a perfect 720.

Master
Aug 19, 2016

The one to beat

2× one call ahead of them

SHUT THE FRONT DOOR BBQ has finished one call ahead of BAPTIZED IN SMOKE 2 times — their closest competition in the data.

Their season

2016 their best year

2016 was the year it came together: 8 contests, 0 Grand Championships and 0 category wins, at an average finish in the top 44%.

8 contests
0 overall top-10s
0 category wins
average top 44%

A tough matchup

18–0 behind in the head-to-head

SLAPS BBQ ahead in 100% of their meetings

SLAPS BBQ has come out ahead in 18 of their 18 shared contests.

A strong matchup

6–1 ahead in the head-to-head

Ahead in 86% of their meetings

They've finished ahead of WATER DAWGZ BBQ in 6 of their 7 shared contests.

Pork Ribs nemesis

13 of 18 shared pork ribs entries lost

SLAPS BBQ ahead 72% of the time

Even in their strongest meat, SLAPS BBQ has out-cooked them in 13 of 18 shared pork ribs entries.

Team of the Year (rank per category by season — the year links to the full board on kcbs.us)

Year	Series	Overall	Chicken	Ribs	Pork	Brisket
2017 ↗	Master	#882 (405 pts)	#836 (470 pts)	#726 (550 pts)	#1093 (320 pts)	#846 (455 pts)
2016 ↗	Master	#613 (635 pts)	#700 (575 pts)	#396 (990 pts)	#556 (730 pts)	#445 (905 pts)
2015 ↗	Master	#706 (503 pts)	#757 (488 pts)	#659 (593 pts)	#798 (463 pts)	#482 (783 pts)
2014 ↗	Master	#786 (434 pts)	#903 (399 pts)	#825 (444 pts)	#823 (449 pts)	#631 (589 pts)

Overall rank by season

Teams like this (closest power rating)

The teams rated closest to BAPTIZED IN SMOKE, each with one reason worth a look.

48 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.

Smoke on the Water

#1,927 of the rated field

1542 power rating

Contests: 28
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 14%
Peak: 1542

2–0 in 2 shared contests (100% to BAPTIZED IN SMOKE)

2 contests in common so far: too few to settle anything, but a team BAPTIZED IN SMOKE has actually stood beside rather than a stranger on the same rating.

rated over 28 contests
last seen Sep 11, 2026

⚔ Head-to-head

CAMP BACON BBQ

#1,923 of the rated field

1542 power rating

Contests: 24
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 8%
Peak: 1545

This is the highest they've ever been rated, 24 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.

rated over 24 contests
last seen Aug 23, 2019

⚔ Compare careers

QUE BIZ

#1,932 of the rated field

1542 power rating

Contests: 21
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 33%
Peak: 1566

Careers of much the same size, 21 contests to 24, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.

rated over 20 contests
last seen Jun 22, 2019

⚔ Compare careers

Bottle Hill BBQ

#1,926 of the rated field

1542 power rating

Contests: 19
GCs: 1
Top-10s: 58%
Peak: 1553

Their rating is built on 1 Grand Championship in 19 contests, alongside a 58% overall top-10 rate.

rated over 19 contests
last seen Sep 11, 2026

⚔ Compare careers

Big Butts BBQ

#1,934 of the rated field

1542 power rating

Contests: 38
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 34%
Peak: 1573

They turned up 5 years after BAPTIZED IN SMOKE did, first appearing in 2019.

rated over 38 contests
last seen Jul 11, 2026

⚔ Compare careers

Smokin on Cloud 9

#1,920 of the rated field

1542 power rating

Contests: 15
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1542

Level with BAPTIZED IN SMOKE on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.

rated over 15 contests
last seen Jun 26, 2026

⚔ Compare careers

Familiar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)

Opponent	Meetings	Ahead	Behind	Win rate
SLAPS BBQ	18	0	18	0%	⚔ compare
BURNT FINGER BBQ	15	2	13	13%	⚔ compare
JAESTAR BBQ	15	0	15	0%	⚔ compare
THUMP & STRUM BBQ	14	2	12	14%	⚔ compare
DIRT ROAD BBQ	12	0	12	0%	⚔ compare
VALLEY OAKS STEAK COMPANY	12	0	12	0%	⚔ compare
Sons of a Brisket	10	2	8	20%	⚔ compare
SWEET BEAVER BBQ	10	2	8	20%	⚔ compare
SMOKE THIS BBQ MO	10	2	8	20%	⚔ compare
50 SHADES OF QUE	10	0	10	0%	⚔ compare
HUNKA HUNKA BURNIN' RUB	10	0	10	0%	⚔ compare
Theslabs.com	9	3	6	33%	⚔ compare
THE SMOKIN BUDS	8	5	3	63%	⚔ compare
GEN QUE	8	5	3	63%	⚔ compare
ALL FORKED UP FOR Q	8	4	4	50%	⚔ compare

By meat

Category	Entries	Calls	Podiums	Best	Worst	Average	Avg finish
Chicken	24	1	0	174.2744	146.2284	163.02	top 62%
Pork Ribs	24	9	1	177.1544	150.7656	166.31	top 44%
Pork	24	2	1	173.1428	149.1084	162.68	top 61%
Brisket	24	9	1	173.1200	133.0396	164.18	top 43%

“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 field size and state

By contest size

Field	Contests	Avg finish
Small (<20 teams)	1	top 69%
Medium (20–39)	10	top 60%
Large (40+)	13	top 49%

By state / province (where the contests were held)

Where	Contests	GCs	Avg finish
MO	18	0	top 54%
KS	6	0	top 58%

Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)

Contest	Visits	Best	Avg finish	Last visit
Smoke Out Hunger BBQ Challenge	2	12	top 41%	Jun 9, 2017
Sam's Club National BBQ Tour	2	16	top 67%	Apr 28, 2017
The Best Damn BBQ Contest at Smithville Lake	2	17	top 35%	Apr 7, 2017
BBQ and Fly In on the River	2	19	top 39%	Aug 19, 2016
Jesse James Barbeque Cook Out	2	24	top 67%	Sep 18, 2015
Sam's Club National BBQ Tour	2	15	top 57%	Sep 11, 2015
Holy Smoke BBQ Contest	2	11	top 62%	Aug 21, 2015
Liberty 4th Fest BBQ Contest	2	13	top 69%	Jul 3, 2015

More numbers

Busiest season 2016 8 contests

Contests a season 6 across 4 seasons in the data

Most contests held in MO 18 of 24 contests · 2 states in all

Contests visited 16 8 of them more than once

Opponents faced 936 finished ahead 837 times, behind 701

Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)

20173 milestones

Sep 8 First overall top-10 Hog Wild West BBQ Contest
Sep 8 Peak power rating (1542) Hog Wild West BBQ Contest
Sep 8 Most recent contest Hog Wild West BBQ Contest

20162 milestones

Jul 29 Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)177.1544 Racing for the BBQ
Aug 19 Career-best overall score678.2400 BBQ and Fly In on the River

20151 milestone

Sep 11 10th tracked contest Sam's Club National BBQ Tour

20143 milestones

Jul 3 First tracked contest Liberty 4th Fest BBQ Contest
Aug 22 First call Holy Smoke BBQ Contest
Aug 22 First overall past 90% of a perfect score656.4228 Holy Smoke BBQ Contest

Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)

📈 Biggest rating jumps

Swing	Contest	Date
+9.6	Smoke Out Hunger BBQ Challenge	Jun 9, 2017
+9.5	The Best Damn BBQ Contest at Smithville Lake	Apr 8, 2016
+8.7	BBQ and Fly In on the River	Aug 19, 2016
+7.9	36th Annual American Royal World Series of Barbeque- Open	Oct 3, 2015
+7.4	Independence Fire & Ice BBQ	Sep 9, 2016

📉 Toughest weekends

Swing	Contest	Date
-11.4	Balloons & BBQ Festival at Kansas Speedway	Aug 8, 2014
-11.2	Liberty 4th Fest BBQ Contest	Jul 3, 2014
-9	The Best Damn BBQ Contest	Apr 10, 2015
-7.8	Holy Smoke BBQ Contest	Aug 21, 2015
-6.6	Sam's Club National BBQ Tour	Apr 28, 2017

Scores over time (% of a perfect score — tap a meat to add it)

Overall finish over time (top-% of field, lower is better)

Where they finish (overall)

Best vs average (by meat)

How entries end (by meat)

Season by season

Season	Contests	Top-10s	Walk rate	Avg finish	Best overall (% of perfect)	Avg overall (% of perfect)
2017	4	1	100%	top 45%	94%	92.6%
2016	8	0	100%	top 44%	94.2%	92.5%
2015	7	0	43%	top 61%	92.5%	90.7%
2014	5	0	40%	top 70%	92.4%	88.4%

Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)

Date	Event	Overall	Chicken	Ribs	Pork	Brisket
Sep 8, 2017	Hog Wild West BBQ Contest Leavenworth, KS	9 / 25 (673.6000)	11 (167.3828)	11 (167.3828)	9 (167.9772)	6 (170.8572)
Jun 9, 2017	Smoke Out Hunger BBQ Challenge Kansas City, KS	12 / 42 (676.4688)	7 (174.2744)	10 (171.4172)	23 (164.5372)	16 (166.2400)
Apr 28, 2017	Sam's Club National BBQ Tour Overland Park, KS	24 / 30 (650.1828)	12 (169.1200)	9 (169.1316)	30 (149.1084)	24 (162.8228)
Apr 7, 2017	The Best Damn BBQ Contest at Smithville Lake Smithville, MO	20 / 54 (667.8972)	24 (165.7144)	8 (173.1200)	40 (159.9428)	12 (169.1200)
Sep 9, 2016	Independence Fire & Ice BBQ Independence, MO	26 / 76 (671.9200)	46 (163.9772)	5 (174.8572)	42 (166.8228)	30 (166.2628)
Aug 19, 2016	BBQ and Fly In on the River Excelsior Springs, MO	19 / 56 (678.2400)	37 (163.9656)	14 (172.5716)	19 (170.2856)	7 (171.4172)
Aug 12, 2016	Holy Smoke BBQ Competition Liberty, MO	11 / 16 (655.2572)	11 (166.8456)	11 (161.6572)	13 (161.6688)	10 (165.0856)
Jul 29, 2016	Racing for the BBQ Lee's Summit, MO	21 / 54 (676.5260)	50 (154.2516)	4 (177.1544)	11 (173.1428)	12 (171.9772)
Jun 10, 2016	Smoke Out Hunger BBQ Challenge Kansas City, KS	18 / 34 (656.4572)	22 (160.5372)	4 (174.2628)	32 (154.2516)	7 (167.4056)
May 13, 2016	21st Annual Platte City BBQ Cook-off At Basswood Resort Platte City, MO	21 / 51 (657.6228)	32 (163.3944)	3 (174.2972)	43 (154.7884)	18 (165.1428)
Apr 29, 2016	Sam's Club National BBQ Tour Overland Park, KS	16 / 30 (657.6000)	19 (163.4172)	24 (159.9428)	3 (172)	16 (162.2400)
Apr 8, 2016	The Best Damn BBQ Contest at Smithville Lake Smithville, MO	17 / 53 (673.6572)	12 (170.2744)	17 (166.8572)	28 (164.5600)	6 (171.9656)
Oct 3, 2015	36th Annual American Royal World Series of Barbeque- Open Kansas City, MO	216 / 606 (662.2172)	228 (166.2972)	79 (171.9772)	370 (161.7028)	300 (162.2400)
Sep 18, 2015	Jesse James Barbeque Cook Out Kearney, MO	24 / 41 (647.8972)	32 (156.5716)	18 (165.6800)	31 (159.3828)	16 (166.2628)
Sep 11, 2015	Sam's Club National BBQ Tour N. Kansas City, MO	18 / 28 (665.0516)	20 (163.4288)	5 (172.5484)	18 (166.8344)	24 (162.2400)
Aug 21, 2015	Holy Smoke BBQ Contest Liberty, MO	24 / 28 (649.5312)	24 (162.2400)	26 (156.5256)	22 (163.3828)	12 (167.3828)
Aug 14, 2015	BBQ and Fly In on the River Excelsior Springs, MO	29 / 67 (665.6456)	54 (158.8228)	23 (168.0228)	32 (165.6800)	8 (173.1200)
Jul 3, 2015	Liberty 4th Fest BBQ Contest Liberty, MO	13 / 27 (656.9824)	13 (165.6684)	20 (159.9540)	22 (158.8000)	3 (172.5600)
Apr 10, 2015	The Best Damn BBQ Contest Smithville, MO	46 / 52 (624.9824)	51 (149.0740)	37 (162.2400)	37 (160.5828)	45 (153.0856)
Sep 19, 2014	Jesse James Barbeque Cook Out Kearney, MO	37 / 49 (638.7088)	27 (166.2744)	46 (151.9428)	16 (169.6916)	41 (150.8000)
Sep 12, 2014	Sam's Club National BBQ Tour N. Kansas City, MO	15 / 30 (665.6228)	24 (163.3828)	16 (166.8228)	17 (163.9772)	4 (171.4400)
Aug 22, 2014	Holy Smoke BBQ Contest Liberty, MO	11 / 29 (656.4228)	14 (166.2744)	9 (166.2628)	15 (157.0628)	5 (166.8228)
Aug 8, 2014	Balloons & BBQ Festival at Kansas Speedway Kansas City, KS	50 / 53 (615.7716)	52 (146.2284)	44 (155.9432)	36 (162.8228)	46 (150.7772)
Jul 3, 2014	Liberty 4th Fest BBQ Contest Liberty, MO	28 / 31 (604.3196)	20 (165.1432)	28 (150.7656)	25 (155.3712)	29 (133.0396)

BAPTIZED IN SMOKE

At a glance (the record in numbers)

Power ranking

Rating

Contests

First seen

Best ToY finish

Grand champs

Category wins

Overall top-10s

Avg finish

Best overall

Perfect 180s

Current form

Walk rate

Best single call

Consistency

Strongest meat

Road miles

Schedule strength

Master avg

Storylines (7 found in their record)

They almost always walk

High-water mark

The one to beat

Their season

A tough matchup

A strong matchup

Pork Ribs nemesis

Team of the Year (rank per category by season — the year links to the full board on kcbs.us)

Overall rank by season

Teams like this (closest power rating)

Familiar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)

By meat

By field size and state

By contest size

By state / province (where the contests were held)

Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)

More numbers

Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)

Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)

📈 Biggest rating jumps

📉 Toughest weekends

Scores over time (% of a perfect score — tap a meat to add it)

Overall finish over time (top-% of field, lower is better)

Where they finish (overall)

Best vs average (by meat)

How entries end (by meat)

Season by season

Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)

Career map (orange GC · green top-10 · grey the rest — tap a pin)