BLACK HART BBQ

BLACK HART BBQ is a competition barbecue team with 23 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2015 and 2019. Their best overall finish is 2nd of 40 at the I love Barbecue & Music Festival (2017), and they have finished Reserve Grand Champion once. They are ranked #770 of 6,476 teams in the KCBS power rankings.

⚔ Compare with another team

At a glance (the record in numbers)

Power ranking

#770

of 6,476 rated · rankings

Rating

1631

peak 1631 · rated over 23 contests

Contests

in the data

First seen

Sep 4, 2015

latest Aug 16, 2019 · 3.9 years on the trail

Best ToY finish

#501

Master 2017 · every season

Grand champs

1 reserve

Category wins

9 podiums

Overall top-10s

65% of 23 contests

Best top-10 run

straight overall top-10s

Avg finish

top 34%

overall standings

Best overall

677.7144 / 720

Master · New Jersey KnoQ-out CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES

Perfect 180s

Current form

664.64 ▲

last 5 Master vs avg 647.16 (+17.49)

Walk rate

87%

contests with a top-10 call

Best single call

179.4400

Pork Ribs · Ribs and Rhythm & Blues

Consistency

±21.63

spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)

Strongest meat

Chicken

avg 163.61 · weakest Brisket (159.60)

Road miles

3,451

across 23 mapped stops · furthest 174 mi

Schedule strength

43%

of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1556)

Purse competed for

$32K

listed at 4 contests — purses, not winnings

State championships

0 🏅

won from 4 state-championship entries

Master avg

647.16 / 720

23 Master contests · 0 GCs

Storylines (16 found in their record)

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

Riding a hot streak

4 straight overall top-10s

Currently on a 4-contest overall top-10 run.

career best 5

The heartbreaker

2.9144 points from the title

Came within 2.9144 points of the Grand Championship at I love Barbecue & Music Festival (Jul 7, 2017).

On the rise

+41 rating points in a year

Their power rating has climbed 41 points across 6 contests since Aug 17, 2018 — from 1589 up to 1631.

6 contests since Aug 17, 2018
now 1631

Happy hunting ground

Top 15% average finish here

Oinktoberfest is their spot: an average finish in the top 15% across 2 visits.

2 visits
best finish 3rd
average top 15%

They almost always walk

87% of contests with a top-10 call

A call in 20 of 23 contests

A top-10 category call in 87% of their 23 contests — they get to the stage more often than not.

High-water mark

677.7144 career-best overall

94.1% of a perfect 720

Their best day on record: 677.7144 at New Jersey KnoQ-out CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES — 94.1% of a perfect 720.

Master
Apr 27, 2019

The one to beat

4× one call ahead of them

KISS MY BBQ has finished one call ahead of BLACK HART BBQ 4 times — their closest competition in the data.

Show 9 more storylines

Their season

2019 their best year

2019 was the year it came together: 4 contests, 0 Grand Championships and 1 category win, at an average finish in the top 19%.

4 contests
4 overall top-10s
1 category win
average top 19%

A tough matchup

17–3 behind in the head-to-head

GOOD SMOKE BBQ ahead in 85% of their meetings

GOOD SMOKE BBQ has come out ahead in 17 of their 20 shared contests.

The weak link

−4.0 points behind their best meat

Brisket is where the weekend gets away from them — it averages 4.01 points below their chicken, and turns into a call 43% of the time against 48%.

Brisket avg 159.60
Chicken avg 163.61
10 calls in 23 entries

A strong matchup

10–4 ahead in the head-to-head

Ahead in 71% of their meetings

They've finished ahead of BEHIND BBQ in 10 of their 14 shared contests.

Chicken nemesis

14 of 20 shared chicken entries lost

GOOD SMOKE BBQ ahead 70% of the time

Even in their strongest meat, GOOD SMOKE BBQ has out-cooked them in 14 of 20 shared chicken entries.

Announced themselves early

3rd at their very first contest

Finished 3 of 25 at their very first tracked contest, Finger Lakes Fire & Smoke (Sep 4, 2015).

Sep 4, 2015
25-team field

Looking over their shoulder

2× one call behind them

Rogue Hog BBQ has landed one call behind them 2 times.

The long haul

3,451 road miles between contests

Contest to contest, they've covered roughly 3,451 miles across 23 mapped stops — the longest single trip being 174 miles to BBQ in The Valley.

23 mapped stops
furthest 174 mi

A standing appointment

4 years running at one contest

They've cooked I Love Barbecue & Music Festival every year from 2016 to 2019 — the contest they never miss.

4 visits in all
best finish 2nd

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
2019 ↗	Master	#510 (646 pts)	#605 (566 pts)	#477 (721 pts)	#628 (536 pts)	#554 (606 pts)
2018 ↗	Master	#520 (686 pts)	#589 (636 pts)	#686 (526 pts)	#554 (676 pts)	#598 (611 pts)
2017 ↗	Master	#501 (757 pts)	#515 (767 pts)	#661 (617 pts)	#473 (827 pts)	#598 (657 pts)
2016 ↗	Master	#874 (400 pts)	#935 (390 pts)	#813 (490 pts)	#845 (465 pts)	#864 (422 pts)
2015 ↗	Master	#1239 (225 pts)	#1606 (155 pts)	#1154 (275 pts)	#1790 (120 pts)	#1728 (125 pts)

Overall rank by season

Teams like this (closest power rating)

The teams rated closest to BLACK HART BBQ, each with one reason worth a look.

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

BIG WOODIE BBQ

#771 of the rated field

1631 power rating

Contests: 21
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 62%
Peak: 1642

Their last contest in the data was back in 2016, 3 years before BLACK HART BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.

rated over 21 contests

⚔ Compare careers

LG bbq

#769 of the rated field

1631 power rating

Contests: 30
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 50%
Peak: 1645

Careers of much the same size, 30 contests to 23, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.

rated over 29 contests
last seen Apr 11, 2026

⚔ Compare careers

Team Cookie

#773 of the rated field

1630 power rating

Contests: 17
GCs: 1
Top-10s: 47%
Peak: 1630

This is the highest they've ever been rated, 17 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.

rated over 17 contests
last seen Sep 11, 2026

⚔ Compare careers

WORTH SMOKIN' BBQ

#774 of the rated field

1630 power rating

Contests: 16
GCs: 1
Top-10s: 50%
Peak: 1630

Their rating is built on 1 Grand Championship in 16 contests, alongside a 50% overall top-10 rate.

rated over 15 contests
last seen Oct 3, 2015

⚔ Compare careers

SMOKEY AND HIS BANDITS

#772 of the rated field

1631 power rating

Contests: 89
GCs: 2
Top-10s: 21%
Peak: 1697

Level with BLACK HART BBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.

rated over 86 contests
last seen Jul 10, 2026

⚔ Compare careers

LONGNECK SIPPERS

#777 of the rated field

1630 ▼ 1 power rating

Contests: 25
GCs: 2
Top-10s: 40%
Peak: 1630

Both teams' first contest in the data came in 2015.

rated over 25 contests
last seen Oct 5, 2018

⚔ Compare careers

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

Opponent	Meetings	Ahead	Behind	Win rate
GOOD SMOKE BBQ	20	3	17	15%	⚔ compare
SHORTSVILLE SMOKERS	16	4	12	25%	⚔ compare
BIG RAZ BBQ	15	6	9	40%	⚔ compare
BEHIND BBQ	14	10	4	71%	⚔ compare
THREE DOGS BBQ	14	10	4	71%	⚔ compare
SMOKIN BOYS AND HOT GRILLS	13	4	9	31%	⚔ compare
The Pig's Pajamas	12	10	2	83%	⚔ compare
PULLIN' MY MONEY MUSCLE	12	3	9	25%	⚔ compare
Sweet Heat BBQ	11	9	2	82%	⚔ compare
MORT'S MEAT MAFIA	11	7	4	64%	⚔ compare
THE GOOD CUE CREW	11	7	4	64%	⚔ compare
MILLER'S BACKYARD BBQ	11	6	5	55%	⚔ compare
KISS MY BBQ	11	5	6	45%	⚔ compare
Priorville BBQ	11	4	7	36%	⚔ compare
SMOKIN HOGGZ BBQ - MA	10	3	7	30%	⚔ compare

By meat

Category	Entries	Calls	Wins	Podiums	Best	Worst	Average	Avg finish
Chicken	23	11	1	3	175.4400	146.2172	163.61	top 41%
Pork Ribs	23	11	3	4	179.4400	140.5488	160.95	top 41%
Pork	23	11	1	2	174.8800	151.9888	162.99	top 36%
Brisket	23	10	0	0	168.5256	139.4172	159.60	top 40%

“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)	2	top 53%
Medium (20–39)	13	top 34%
Large (40+)	8	top 30%

By state / province (where the contests were held)

Where	Contests	GCs	Avg finish
NY	22	0	top 35%
NJ	1	0	top 14%

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

Contest	Visits	Best	Avg finish	Last visit
I Love Barbecue & Music Festival	4	2	top 18%	Jul 5, 2019
Hudson Valley Ribfest	2	7	top 31%	Aug 16, 2019
Oinktoberfest	2	3	top 15%	Sep 22, 2018
Rotary Ribs and Rhythm & Blues	2	8	top 31%	Jul 21, 2018
Salt City BBQ Festival	2	13	top 52%	May 19, 2017
Finger Lakes Fire & Smoke	2	3	top 37%	Sep 3, 2016

More numbers

Busiest season 2016 7 contests

Contests a season 4.6 across 5 seasons in the data

Most contests held in NY 22 of 23 contests · 2 states in all

Contests visited 15 6 of them more than once

Opponents faced 305 finished ahead 534 times, behind 256

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

20194 milestones

Apr 27 Career-best overall score677.7144 New Jersey KnoQ-out CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES
Jul 20 Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)179.4400 Ribs and Rhythm & Blues
Aug 16 Peak power rating (1631) Hudson Valley Ribfest
Aug 16 Most recent contest Hudson Valley Ribfest

20172 milestones

Jul 7 First Reserve Championship I love Barbecue & Music Festival
Jul 7 10th tracked contest I love Barbecue & Music Festival

20156 milestones

Sep 4 First tracked contest Finger Lakes Fire & Smoke
Sep 4 First call Finger Lakes Fire & Smoke
Sep 4 First category win (Pork Ribs) Finger Lakes Fire & Smoke
Sep 4 First overall top-10 Finger Lakes Fire & Smoke
Sep 4 First overall podium Finger Lakes Fire & Smoke
Sep 4 First overall past 90% of a perfect score653.6912 Finger Lakes Fire & Smoke

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

📈 Biggest rating jumps

Swing	Contest	Date
+17	I love Barbecue & Music Festival	Jul 7, 2017
+14.6	Finger Lakes Fire & Smoke	Sep 4, 2015
+14.1	Oinktoberfest	Sep 22, 2017
+13.5	I Love Barbecue & Music Festival	Jul 6, 2018
+12.1	I love Barbecue & Music Festival	Jul 2, 2016

📉 Toughest weekends

Swing	Contest	Date
-14.9	Ointoberfest BBQ Cookoff	Sep 23, 2016
-6.1	Salt City BBQ Festival	May 20, 2016
-3.2	Finger Lakes Fire & Smoke	Sep 3, 2016
-1.3	The Great Catskill MTN BBQ Fest	Aug 25, 2017
-0.1	Hudson Valley Ribfest	Aug 17, 2018

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	Category wins	Walk rate	Avg finish	Best overall (% of perfect)	Avg overall (% of perfect)
2019	4	4	1	100%	top 19%	94.1%	93.1%
2018	5	3	0	80%	top 27%	91.6%	90.2%
2017	6	4	3	100%	top 30%	93.8%	90.4%
2016	7	3	0	71%	top 55%	91%	87.2%
2015	1	1	1	100%	top 12%	90.8%	90.8%

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

Date	Event	Overall	Chicken	Ribs	Pork	Brisket
Aug 16, 2019	Hudson Valley Ribfest 🏅 New Paltz, NY	7 / 53 (673.1316)	8 (170.2744)	3 (176)	25 (162.3200)	16 (164.5372)
Jul 20, 2019	Ribs and Rhythm & Blues 🏅 Auburn, NY	6 / 34 (675.3828)	19 (163.9428)	1 (179.4400)	15 (164.5716)	4 (167.4284)
Jul 5, 2019	I Love Barbecue & Music Festival 🏅 Lake Placid, NY	10 / 32 (653.6796)	14 (164.5712)	23 (155.4400)	10 (165.7028)	4 (167.9656)
Apr 27, 2019	New Jersey KnoQ-out CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES 🏅 Blairstown, NJ	6 / 43 (677.7144)	4 (174.2744)	10 (166.2628)	3 (174.8800)	20 (162.2972)
Sep 22, 2018	Oinktoberfest Clarence, NY	12 / 51 (643.3028)	10 (167.3940)	28 (154.8116)	16 (162.2744)	11 (158.8228)
Aug 17, 2018	Hudson Valley Ribfest New Paltz, NY	28 / 58 (646.6860)	28 (164.5488)	52 (152.5144)	15 (166.8228)	18 (162.8000)
Jul 21, 2018	Rotary Ribs and Rhythm & Blues Auburn, NY	9 / 31 (652.0116)	13 (164)	19 (154.2744)	9 (167.4400)	7 (166.2972)
Jul 6, 2018	I Love Barbecue & Music Festival Lake Placid, NY	5 / 39 (647.3368)	3 (168.5828)	13 (157.1200)	5 (164.5600)	15 (157.0740)
May 4, 2018	BBQ in The Valley Jamestown, NY	5 / 25 (659.3940)	17 (160.5256)	4 (169.7372)	9 (165.1428)	12 (163.9884)
Sep 22, 2017	Oinktoberfest Clarence, NY	3 / 53 (675.3716)	3 (172)	1 (173.7028)	16 (161.6916)	8 (167.9772)
Aug 25, 2017	The Great Catskill MTN BBQ Fest Fleischmanns, NY	9 / 17 (635.9544)	13 (160.5372)	4 (161.1544)	7 (164.5600)	13 (149.7028)
Jul 28, 2017	The Great Adirondack BBQ Old Forge, NY	15 / 30 (638.7768)	7 (167.4056)	19 (153.6572)	19 (156.5828)	13 (161.1312)
Jul 15, 2017	Rotary Ribs and Rhythm & Blues Auburn, NY	8 / 25 (648.5028)	15 (153.6456)	8 (163.9772)	4 (166.8916)	5 (163.9884)
Jul 7, 2017	I love Barbecue & Music Festival Lake Placid, NY	2 / 40 (666.7884)	1 (175.4400)	10 (164)	15 (159.3828)	8 (167.9656)
May 19, 2017	Salt City BBQ Festival Syracuse, NY	13 / 41 (640.4804)	13 (165.1084)	29 (149.7032)	1 (171.4172)	15 (154.2516)
Sep 23, 2016	Ointoberfest BBQ Cookoff Clarence, NY	52 / 54 (587.7488)	48 (146.2172)	50 (140.5488)	38 (154.8000)	49 (146.1828)
Sep 3, 2016	Finger Lakes Fire & Smoke Geneva, NY	22 / 35 (628.9604)	29 (154.8232)	32 (146.8116)	19 (158.8000)	6 (168.5256)
Aug 26, 2016	The Great Catskill Mountain BBQ Fest Fleischmanns, NY	8 / 15 (650.1712)	9 (163.4056)	4 (168.5600)	7 (159.4056)	7 (158.8000)
Aug 12, 2016	Salamanca Rock'in Ribfest Salamanca, NY	9 / 28 (655.3600)	9 (169.1772)	11 (165.1200)	7 (167.9656)	23 (153.0972)
Jul 29, 2016	The Great Adirondack BBQ Festival Old Forge, NY	12 / 24 (641.5884)	8 (167.4172)	11 (159.4056)	9 (165.6684)	15 (149.0972)
Jul 2, 2016	I love Barbecue & Music Festival Lake Placid, NY	6 / 28 (635.9884)	11 (157.7372)	7 (159.9772)	11 (158.2740)	8 (160)
May 20, 2016	Salt City BBQ Festival Syracuse, NY	23 / 32 (596.5488)	23 (147.9772)	13 (157.1656)	16 (151.9888)	24 (139.4172)
Sep 4, 2015	Finger Lakes Fire & Smoke Geneva, NY	3 / 25 (653.6912)	7 (164.0228)	1 (172.5600)	11 (157.7028)	10 (159.4056)

BLACK HART BBQ

At a glance (the record in numbers)

Power ranking

Rating

Contests

First seen

Best ToY finish

Grand champs

Category wins

Overall top-10s

Best top-10 run

Avg finish

Best overall

Perfect 180s

Current form

Walk rate

Best single call

Consistency

Strongest meat

Road miles

Schedule strength

Purse competed for

State championships

Master avg

Storylines (16 found in their record)

Riding a hot streak

The heartbreaker

On the rise

Happy hunting ground

They almost always walk

High-water mark

The one to beat

Their season

A tough matchup

The weak link

A strong matchup

Chicken nemesis

Announced themselves early

Looking over their shoulder

The long haul

A standing appointment

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)