High-water mark
694.2056
career-best overall
96.4% of a perfect 720
Their best day on record: 694.2056 at 21st Annual Burnt Offerings BBQ Contest — 96.4% of a perfect 720.
- Master
- Sep 12, 2025
Smoke on the Water BBQ
Smoke on the Water BBQ is a competition barbecue team with 11 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2025 and 2026. Their best overall finish is 5th of 16 at the Luna County Heritage Days Festival (2026). They are ranked #4537 of 6,476 teams in the KCBS power rankings.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1472
peak 1472 · rated over 11 contests
Contests
11
in the data
First seen
Jan 17, 2025
latest Sep 18, 2026 · 1.7 years on the trail
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
1
1 podium
Overall top-10s
1
9% of 11 contests
Avg finish
top 71%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
673.37 ▲
last 5 Master vs avg 663.03 (+10.34)
Walk rate
55%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±21.07
spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork Ribs
avg 168.23 · weakest Pork (163.33)
Road miles
7,462
across 11 mapped stops · furthest 2,293 mi
Schedule strength
70%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1588)
Purse competed for
$119K
listed at 11 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 11 state-championship entries
Master avg
663.03 / 720
11 Master contests · 0 GCs
Team of the Year (rank per category by season — the year links to the full board on kcbs.us)
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The teams rated closest to Smoke on the Water BBQ, each with one reason worth a look.
143 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#4,539 of the rated field
- Contests
- 11
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1472
This is the highest they've ever been rated, 11 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.
⚔ Compare careers#4,558 of the rated field
- Contests
- 11
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1472
Careers of much the same size, 11 contests to 11, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#4,523 of the rated field
- Contests
- 11
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 9%
- Peak
- 1508
Their last contest in the data was back in 2018, 8 years before Smoke on the Water BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#4,563 of the rated field
- Contests
- 11
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1514
They were already cooking in 2013, 12 years before Smoke on the Water BBQ's first contest.
⚔ Compare careers#4,524 of the rated field
- Contests
- 12
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1504
12 contests and no Grand Championship yet.
⚔ Compare careers#4,545 of the rated field
- Contests
- 10
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1510
Level with Smoke on the Water BBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Compare careersFamiliar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)
| Opponent | Meetings | Ahead | Behind | Win rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meat Candy Q | 9 | 0 | 9 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| Pork Bombin BBQ | 8 | 2 | 6 | 25% | ⚔ compare |
| Porterhouse BBQ | 7 | 1 | 6 | 14% | ⚔ compare |
| SLINGIN MEATS | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| SMOKIN' VOLTS BBQ | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| STEVO'S BBQ TEAM | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| LOOT N' BOOTY BBQ | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| Ribbin-1-Out | 6 | 3 | 3 | 50% | ⚔ compare |
| SMOKERS PURGATORY | 6 | 2 | 4 | 33% | ⚔ compare |
| SoCal Outlaw BBQ | 6 | 1 | 5 | 17% | ⚔ compare |
| POPPA PIG AND PORKCHOP | 6 | 1 | 5 | 17% | ⚔ compare |
| SIMPLY MARVELOUS BBQ | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| MAR-B-QUE'S BBQ | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| Big Juicy BBQ | 5 | 1 | 4 | 20% | ⚔ compare |
| SinBin BBQ | 5 | 1 | 4 | 20% | ⚔ compare |
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 173.1200 | 155.3716 | 166.30 | top 67% |
| Pork Ribs | 11 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 177.1544 | 156.5144 | 168.23 | top 52% |
| Pork | 10 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 175.4056 | 153.0744 | 163.33 | top 67% |
| Brisket | 11 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 176.5600 | 146.7656 | 165.01 | top 61% |
“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 | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small (<20 teams) | 1 | 0 | top 31% |
| Medium (20–39) | 7 | 0 | top 76% |
| Large (40+) | 3 | 0 | top 73% |
More numbers
Busiest season
2025
6 contests
Contests a season
5.5
across 2 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
AZ
4 of 11 contests · 6 states in all
Contests visited
11
a different one every time
Opponents faced
228
finished ahead 117 times, behind 305
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20264 milestones
- First category win (Brisket) Luna County Heritage Days Festival
- First overall top-10 Luna County Heritage Days Festival
- 10th tracked contest Montana BBQ Cookoff
- Most recent contest 22nd Annual Burnt Offerings BBQ Contest
20256 milestones
- First tracked contest 10th Annual Slab-O-Rama Barbeque Challenge
- Peak power rating (1489) 10th Annual Slab-O-Rama Barbeque Challenge
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score658.6968 Best Dam BBQ
- First call 21st Annual Burnt Offerings BBQ Contest
- Career-best overall score694.2056 21st Annual Burnt Offerings BBQ Contest
- Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)177.1544 21st Annual Burnt Offerings BBQ Contest
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +11.2 | Luna County Heritage Days Festival | May 15, 2026 |
| +2.6 | 21st Annual Burnt Offerings BBQ Contest | Sep 12, 2025 |
| +2.2 | 11th Annual Slab-O-Rama Barbeque Challenge | Jan 16, 2026 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -10.8 | 10th Annual Slab-O-Rama Barbeque Challenge | Jan 17, 2025 |
| -10 | Green Mountain BBQ Championship - CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES (DAY 2) | Sep 20, 2025 |
| -6.7 | Q's & Brews | Mar 28, 2025 |
| -6.4 | Best Dam BBQ | May 23, 2025 |
| -4.5 | Montana BBQ Cookoff | Jun 12, 2026 |
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 | GCs | Top-10s | Category wins | Walk rate | Avg finish | Best overall (% of perfect) | Avg overall (% of perfect) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 100% | top 63% | 94.7% | 93.5% |
| 2025 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17% | top 79% | 96.4% | 90.9% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 18, 2026 | 22nd Annual Burnt Offerings BBQ Contest 🏅 Riverside, CA | 22 / 31 (677.6228) | 11 (170.2628) | 7 (174.2744) | — | 20 (168) |
| Jun 12, 2026 | Montana BBQ Cookoff 🏅 Absarokee, MT | 23 / 29 (655.8972) | 24 (162.2400) | 20 (166.2400) | 5 (173.1544) | 24 (154.2628) |
| May 15, 2026 | Luna County Heritage Days Festival 🏅 Deming, NM | 5 / 16 (681.6000) | 7 (170.2628) | 4 (175.4288) | 10 (159.3484) | 1 (176.5600) |
| Mar 27, 2026 | Q's & Brews Bighorn BBQ Competition 🏅 Lake Havasu City, AZ | 24 / 33 (675.2800) | 19 (171.9656) | 32 (157.0744) | 10 (173.1200) | 13 (173.1200) |
| Jan 16, 2026 | 11th Annual Slab-O-Rama Barbeque Challenge 🏅 Bullhead City, AZ | 31 / 53 (676.4456) | 38 (166.8228) | 5 (176.5600) | 41 (165.6800) | 29 (167.3828) |
| Nov 21, 2025 | BBQ Jackpot 🏅 Las Vegas, NV | 61 / 90 (674.7428) | 35 (173.1200) | 49 (169.6800) | 77 (162.8228) | 54 (169.1200) |
| Sep 20, 2025 | Green Mountain BBQ Championship - CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES (DAY 2) 🏅 Braintree, VT | 23 / 25 (640.9372) | 17 (167.9772) | 24 (156.5144) | 25 (154.7884) | 18 (161.6572) |
| Sep 12, 2025 | 21st Annual Burnt Offerings BBQ Contest 🏅 Riverside, CA | 17 / 35 (694.2056) | 22 (173.1084) | 7 (177.1544) | 9 (175.4056) | 22 (168.5372) |
| May 23, 2025 | Best Dam BBQ 🏅 Boulder City, NV | 24 / 29 (658.6968) | 27 (159.3712) | 19 (168.5256) | 25 (162.8344) | 17 (167.9656) |
| Mar 28, 2025 | Q's & Brews 🏅 Lake Havasu, AZ | 23 / 26 (630.7204) | 24 (158.8344) | 23 (157.0744) | 24 (153.0744) | 18 (161.7372) |
| Jan 17, 2025 | 10th Annual Slab-O-Rama Barbeque Challenge 🏅 Bullhead City, AZ | 45 / 48 (627.1888) | 46 (155.3716) | 11 (171.9772) | 46 (153.0744) | 47 (146.7656) |