The one to beat
2×
one call ahead of them
BACKDRAFT BAR-B-Q CT has finished one call ahead of SMOKE + FIRE CRAFT MEATS 2 times — their closest competition in the data.
SMOKE + FIRE CRAFT MEATS
At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)
Rating
1488
peak 1488 · rated over 4 contests ⓘ
Contests
4
in the data
First seen
2015-09-26
latest 2017-08-25
Best ToY finish
#1252
Master 2017
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
0 podiums
Overall top-10s
1
of 4 contests
Avg finish
top 70%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
624.26
last 4 Master vs avg 624.26 (+0.00)
Walk rate
100%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±22.06
std dev of Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork
avg 165.30 · weakest Pork Ribs (145.69)
Road miles
339
mi across 4 mapped stops · furthest 150 mi
Schedule strength
44%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1557)
Master avg
624.26 / 720
4 Master contests · 0 GCs
Storylines (1 found in this team's record)
Each card leads with the number that made it a story — read straight out of their results, no editorialising.
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The nearest teams in the power rankings, with a different reason on each card — six teams on one rating are rarely on it for the same reason. Rating decides who makes the list; where teams tie on it, the ones this team has actually cooked against come first, then teams at a similar point in their own career. KCBS doesn’t publish where a team is from, so nothing here is inferred from geography.
SMOKE + FIRE CRAFT MEATS has 4 rated contests — short of the five it takes to earn a power ranking — so this rating has barely moved off the 1500 every team starts on and 145 rated teams sit within a point of it. Read the list as the nearest company at a number nobody here has moved far from, not as a verdict on who this team belongs with.
#3758 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1488
No shared contest yet.
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 4, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Head-to-head#3748 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 80%
- Peak
- 1488
No shared contest yet.
They turned up 10 years after SMOKE + FIRE CRAFT MEATS did, first appearing in 2025.
⚔ Head-to-head#3730 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1502
No shared contest yet.
Level with SMOKE + FIRE CRAFT MEATS on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Head-to-head#3740 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1504
No shared contest yet.
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 4, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Head-to-head#3726 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 33%
- Peak
- 1489
No shared contest yet.
A longer road to the same neighbourhood — 6 contests to 4.
⚔ Head-to-head#3760 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1505
No shared contest yet.
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 4, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Head-to-headBy meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 168.0000 | 143.4172 | 155.12 | top 79% |
| Pork Ribs | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 157.7028 | 126.8228 | 145.69 | top 84% |
| Pork | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 168.6172 | 162.3200 | 165.30 | top 27% |
| Brisket | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 160.6288 | 154.2972 | 158.15 | top 54% |
“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 | 2 | 0 | top 82% |
| NY | 1 | 0 | top 29% |
| NJ | 1 | 0 | top 86% |
By contest size
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small (<20 teams) | 1 | 0 | top 29% |
| Medium (20–39) | 3 | 0 | top 83% |
The story so far (14 numbers that describe this team)
On the trail
1.9 yrs
2015-09-26 → 2017-08-25
Busiest season
2017
2 contests
Contests a season
1.3
across 3 seasons in the data
Cooks most in
PA
2 of 4 contests · 3 states/provinces in all
Contests visited
4
0 of them cooked more than once
Most-entered meat
Chicken
4 entries · 0 wins · 1 calls
Strongest meat
Pork
averages 165.30 · weakest Pork Ribs (145.69)
Walk rate
100%
a top-10 call in 4 of 4 contests
Overall top-10 rate
25%
1 of 4 contests
Master average
624.26
out of 720 · 4 contests · 0 GCs
Opponents faced
94
26–74 across every shared overall standing
Road miles
339
4 mapped stops · furthest 150 mi
Schedule strength
1557
average field rating faced — tougher than 44% of rated contests
Power rating
1488
peak 1488 · #null of 6,413 rated
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
- 2015
- First tracked contest Red, White and Que
- First call Red, White and Que
- Peak power rating (1491) Red, White and Que
- 2016
- Career-best single call (Pork)168.6172 Pit at the Park
- 2017
- First overall top-10 *The Great Catskill MTN BBQ Fest
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score652.5144 *The Great Catskill MTN BBQ Fest
- Career-best overall score652.5144 *The Great Catskill MTN BBQ Fest
- Most recent contest *The Great Catskill MTN BBQ Fest
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +9.9 | *The Great Catskill MTN BBQ Fest | 2017-08-25 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -9.2 | Red, White and Que | 2015-09-26 |
| -6.4 | Pit at the Park | 2016-08-05 |
| -6.1 | Sam's Club National BBQ Tour | 2017-06-09 |
Category scores over time
Overall finish over time (top-% of field, lower is better)
Where they finish (overall)
Best vs average (by meat)
How entries end (by meat)
Team of the Year rank by season
Season by season
| Season | Contests | GCs | Top-10s | Category wins | Walk rate | Avg finish | Best overall (% of perfect) | Avg overall (% of perfect) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 100% | top 58% | 90.6% | 89% |
| 2016 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 78% | 86.7% | 86.7% |
| 2015 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 86% | 82.1% | 82.1% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-08-25 | *The Great Catskill MTN BBQ Fest Fleischmanns, NY | 5 / 17 (652.5144) | 6 (168.0000) | 8 (157.7028) | 4 (167.4172) | 8 (159.3944) |
| 2017-06-09 | Sam's Club National BBQ Tour Harrisburg, PA | 25 / 29 (629.6916) | 27 (155.9540) | 28 (150.2632) | 10 (162.8456) | 19 (160.6288) |
| 2016-08-05 | Pit at the Park Macungie, PA | 18 / 23 (624.0000) | 20 (153.1084) | 21 (147.9772) | 6 (168.6172) | 17 (154.2972) |
| 2015-09-26 | Red, White and Que Cresskill, NJ | 30 / 35 (590.8228) | 35 (143.4172) | 35 (126.8228) | 9 (162.3200) | 11 (158.2628) |
Career map (orange GC · green top-10 · grey the rest — tap a pin)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 ↗ | Master | #1252 (221 pts) | #1381 (211 pts) | #1457 (191 pts) | #1092 (321 pts) | #1346 (221 pts) |
| 2016 ↗ | Master | #2129 (83 pts) | #2277 (73 pts) | #2310 (68 pts) | #1687 (163 pts) | #2187 (88 pts) |