The comeback
6.1 yrs
off the trail, then back
Off the trail for 6.1 years, then back at Silver Lake Sand Dunes Apple & BBQ Festival (Sep 13, 2019).
- last seen Aug 23, 2013
- back Sep 13, 2019
Grill Masters
Grill Masters is a competition barbecue team with 4 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2013 and 2022. Their best overall finish is 10th of 35 at the Silver Lake Sand Dunes Apple & BBQ Festival (2019). They finished #1061 in the 2022 Master Series Team of the Year standings.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1498
Unranked — needs 5 rated contests, has 3
Contests
4
in the data
First seen
Aug 23, 2013
latest Aug 27, 2022 · 9 years on the trail
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
0 podiums
Overall top-10s
1
25% of 4 contests
Avg finish
top 55%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Walk rate
75%
contests with a top-10 call
Strongest meat
Brisket
avg 160.29 · weakest Pork (148.52)
Road miles
880
across 4 mapped stops · furthest 857 mi
Schedule strength
26%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1536)
Purse competed for
$16K
listed at 2 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 2 state-championship entries
Master avg
622.78 / 720
2 Master contests · 0 GCs
Backyard avg
311.41 / 360
1 Backyard contest · 0 GCs
These overall scores sit on different scales (Master out of 720, Backyard out of 360), so they're kept separate — averaging them together would be misleading.
This team cooks the Backyard series — its own boards, records and Team of the Year are here.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 ↗ | Master | #1061 (116 pts) | #1170 (106 pts) | #867 (200 pts) | #1329 (66 pts) | #981 (131 pts) |
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 169.7144 | 149.1200 | 159.04 | top 54% |
| Pork Ribs | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 169.6916 | 149.6688 | 157.98 | top 55% |
| Pork | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 161.0972 | 135.9428 | 148.52 | top 87% |
| Brisket | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 168.0228 | 152.5604 | 160.29 | top 49% |
“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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medium (20–39) | 2 | 0 | top 35% |
| Large (40+) | 1 | 0 | top 95% |
More numbers
Busiest season
2022
2 contests
Contests a season
1.3
across 3 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
ME
2 of 4 contests · 3 states in all
Contests visited
3
a different one every time
Most-entered meat
Pork Ribs
4 entries · 0 wins · 1 call
Opponents faced
124
finished ahead 53 times, behind 70
Longest layoff
6.1 yrs
Aug 23, 2013 → Sep 13, 2019
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20225 milestones
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score658.2632 Kora Shriner's BBQ Competition
- Career-best overall score658.2632 Kora Shriner's BBQ Competition
- Career-best single call (Chicken)169.7144 Kora Shriner's BBQ Competition
- Peak power rating (1498) Kora Shriner's BBQ Competition
- Most recent contest Kora Shriner's BBQ Competition
20192 milestones
- First call Silver Lake Sand Dunes Apple & BBQ Festival
- First overall top-10 Silver Lake Sand Dunes Apple & BBQ Festival
20131 milestone
- First tracked contest Grill Games
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +6.6 | Silver Lake Sand Dunes Apple & BBQ Festival | Sep 13, 2019 |
| +6.1 | Kora Shriner's BBQ Competition | Aug 27, 2022 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -14.4 | Grill Games | Aug 23, 2013 |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 42% | 91.4% | 91.4% |
| 2019 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 100% | top 29% | 86.5% | 86.5% |
| 2013 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 95% | 81.6% | 81.6% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 27, 2022 | Kora Shriner's BBQ Competition 🏅 Hiram, ME | 13 / 31 (658.2632) | 15 (169.7144) | 22 (159.4288) | 23 (161.0972) | 10 (168.0228) |
| Aug 27, 2022 | Kora Shriner's BBQ Competition (ONE MEAT RIBS) Hiram, ME | — | — | 9 (169.6916) | — | — |
| Sep 13, 2019 | Silver Lake Sand Dunes Apple & BBQ Festival 🏅 Mears, MI | 10 / 35 (311.4060) | 9 (158.2860) | 14 (153.1200) | — | — |
| Aug 23, 2013 | Grill Games Kenosha, WI | 41 / 43 (587.2920) | 38 (149.1200) | 27 (149.6688) | 43 (135.9428) | 28 (152.5604) |