Better Half Barbecue VA
Rating
1626
peak 1644
Contests
38
in the data
First seen
2021-07-30
latest 2026-06-05
Best ToY finish
#27
Backyard 2024
Grand champs
5
1 reserve
Category wins
6
18 podiums
Overall top-10s
26
of 38 contests
Avg finish
top 42%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
1 🔥
Current form
408.51 ▲
last 5 vs career avg 357.79 (+50.72)
Walk rate
87%
contests with a top-10 call
Top-10 streak
13
best run (overall)
Consistency
±70.13
std dev of overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork
avg 172.05 · weakest Brisket (162.24)
Road miles
3289
mi across 38 mapped stops · furthest 230 mi
Storylines
🎯 The one to beat
Off The Rack BBQ has finished one call ahead of Better Half Barbecue 4 times — their closest competition in the data.
👀 Looking over their shoulder
HotMess BBQ has landed one call behind them 4 times.
⚔️ A tough matchup
Rough Cut Q has come out ahead in 5 of their 7 shared contests.
⚔️ A strong matchup
They've finished ahead of PHILLY BLIND PIG BBQ in 9 of their 11 shared contests.
🏕️ Happy hunting ground
York County BBQ Festival (Day 1) is their spot: 1 Grand Championship in 2 visits.
💔 The heartbreaker
Came within 4.6176 points of the Grand Championship at Almost Heaven BBQ Bash (2024-06-14).
🗡️ Giant slayer
Took the Grand Championship over a 35-team field at Smoke on the Rail BBQ Festival (Day 1).
🍖 Signature meat
When pork is on the table, watch out — they've won it in 25% of their entries (2 of 8).
📅 A September team
Something about September: average finish in the top 20% across 4 contests, versus top 42% the rest of the year.
🃏 Against the odds
Their Grand Championship at Americamps BBQ Throwdown - Day 2 (BACKYARD ONLY) (2023-09-23) came as the ratings underdog — roughly a 30-in-100 shot against the field's top-rated team, POOR BOYS BBQ.
Teams like this (closest power rating, VA first)
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 36 | 31 | 1 | 10 | 179.4400 | 149.6112 | 171.61 | top 34% |
| Pork Ribs | 35 | 24 | 3 | 5 | 180.0000 🔥 | 153.6344 | 166.79 | top 49% |
| Pork | 8 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 178.8572 | 166.2512 | 172.05 | top 27% |
| Brisket | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 162.2400 | 162.2400 | 162.24 | top 83% |
“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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| VA | 16 | 1 | top 52% |
| PA | 9 | 2 | top 43% |
| DE | 4 | 1 | top 21% |
| WV | 4 | 0 | top 23% |
| MD | 2 | 1 | top 30% |
By contest size
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small (<20 teams) | 17 | 2 | top 60% |
| Medium (20–39) | 18 | 3 | top 24% |
The story so far
- Busiest season: 2025 (13 contests)
- Cooks mostly in VA (17 of 38 contests)
- Most-entered category: Chicken (36 entries)
- First Grand Championship in the data: Delaware Bay-B-Que - CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES (Day 2) (2023-05-06)
- Wins it all in 13% of contests
- All-time average overall score: 357.79
- 1 perfect 180 on the books 🔥
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
Category scores over time
Overall finish over time (top-% of field, lower is better)
Where they finish (overall)
Best vs average (by meat)
Team of the Year rank by season
Season by season
| Season | Contests | GCs | Category wins | Best overall | Avg overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 343.9428 | 343.94 |
| 2025 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 675.9084 | 366.27 |
| 2024 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 348.5372 | 338.16 |
| 2023 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 529.6916 | 384.89 |
| 2022 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 337.0628 | 334.22 |
| 2021 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 343.3712 | 330.78 |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-05 | Loudoun Rotary BBQ Classic (BACKYARD ONLY) Leesburg, VA | 4 / 12 (343.9428) | 6 (169.6800) | 3 (174.2628) | 1 (178.8572) | — |
| 2025-10-11 | Page County Heritage Festival - Backyard BBQ (BACKYARD ONLY) Luray, VA | 7 / 9 (336.4912) | 7 (169.6800) | 8 (166.8112) | — | — |
| 2025-10-03 | Keystone Classic BBQ State Championship Harrisburg, PA | 13 / 30 (675.9084) | 2 (177.1544) | 9 (170.2628) | 19 (166.2512) | 25 (162.2400) |
| 2025-09-28 | First State BBQ Bash (SUNDAY BACKYARD ONLY) Milford, DE | 6 / 14 (339.9656) | 5 (172.5600) | 7 (167.4056) | — | — |
| 2025-09-26 | First State BBQ Bash Milford, DE | 3 / 25 (346.2400) | 3 (176.5600) | 7 (169.6800) | — | — |
| 2025-09-26 | First State BBQ Bash (ONE MEAT RIBS) Milford, DE | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2025-08-22 | Stoney Creek BBQ Cookoff Edinburg, VA | 10 / 16 (333.6460) | 2 (174.2744) | 14 (159.3716) | — | — |
| 2025-08-09 | Triple Crown BBQ (Day 2) Doswell, VA | 15 / 25 (332.4800) | 13 (167.3828) | 14 (165.0972) | — | — |
| 2025-08-08 | Triple Crown BBQ (Day 1) Doswell, VA | 10 / 25 (342.8000) | 12 (169.6800) | 6 (173.1200) | — | — |
| 2025-06-28 | York County BBQ Festival (Day 2) Delta, PA | 11 / 10 (334.7772) | 10 (169.6800) | 13 (165.0972) | — | — |
| 2025-06-27 | York County BBQ Festival (Day 1) Delta, PA | 1 / 26 (349.6916) | 4 (175.4172) | 1 (174.2744) | — | — |
| 2025-05-30 | The Loudoun Rotary BBQ Classic (BACKYARD ONLY) Leesburg, VA | 5 / 12 (334.2288) | 4 (169.1316) | 7 (165.0972) | 1 (171.4056) | — |
| 2025-05-17 | Twin Valley Fire and Smoke (Day 2) Morgantown, PA | 8 / 21 (338.8116) | 3 (174.8572) | 10 (163.9544) | — | — |
| 2025-05-16 | Twin Valley Fire and Smoke (Day 1) Morgantown, PA | 13 / 28 (330.2288) | 4 (171.9772) | 17 (158.2516) | — | — |
| 2024-10-26 | Zom-B-Q (Day 2) Roseland, VA | 12 / 11 (327.8972) | 7 (174.2628) | 12 (153.6344) | — | — |
| 2024-10-25 | Nightmare before Zom-B-Q (Day 1) Roseland, VA | 9 / 13 (343.9428) | 5 (174.2744) | 10 (169.6684) | — | — |
| 2024-08-10 | Americamps BBQ Throwdown (Day 2) Ashland, VA | 10 / 28 (329.0628) | 13 (166.8112) | 12 (162.2516) | 6 (170.2744) | — |
| 2024-08-09 | Americamps BBQ Throwdown (Day 1) Ashland, VA | 3 / 27 (347.3828) | 4 (174.2628) | 4 (173.1200) | 9 (168.5372) | — |
| 2024-07-27 | Smoke on the Rail BBQ Festival (Day 2) New Freedom, PA | 13 / 32 (329.6340) | 6 (170.8228) | 17 (158.8112) | — | — |
| 2024-07-26 | Smoke on the Rail BBQ Festival (Day 1) New Freedom, PA | 1 / 35 (348.5372) | 2 (178.8572) | 9 (169.6800) | — | — |
| 2024-06-29 | York County BBQ Festival (Day 2) Delta, PA | 17 / 19 (332.5028) | 18 (166.2516) | 14 (166.2512) | — | — |
| 2024-06-28 | York County BBQ Festival (Day 1) Delta, PA | 3 / 29 (342.8228) | 4 (173.1428) | 8 (169.6800) | — | — |
| 2024-06-14 | Almost Heaven BBQ Bash Buckhannon, WV | 2 / 30 (341.6800) | 4 (172.5484) | 4 (169.1316) | — | — |
| 2023-10-28 | Zom-B-Q (Day 2) Galax, VA | 5 / 17 (333.0628) | 4 (165.0856) | 6 (167.9772) | — | — |
| 2023-10-27 | Zom-B-Q (ONE MEAT CHICKEN) Galax, VA | — | 8 (167.3944) | — | — | — |
| 2023-10-27 | Nightmare before Zom-B-Q (Day 1) Galax, VA | 5 / 19 (327.9084) | 4 (168.5256) | 11 (159.3828) | — | — |
| 2023-09-23 | Americamps BBQ Throwdown - Day 2 (BACKYARD ONLY) Ashland, VA | 1 / 20 (529.6916) | 5 (177.7028) | 1 (180.0000) | 7 (171.9888) | — |
| 2023-09-22 | Americamps BBQ Throwdown - Day 1 (BACKYARD ONLY) Ashland, VA | 5 / 24 (518.8000) | 7 (173.1200) | 9 (171.9772) | 8 (173.7028) | — |
| 2023-08-18 | Pig Out in the Park (BACKYARD ONLY) Frostburg, MD | 1 / 11 (349.1544) | 1 (179.4400) | 4 (169.7144) | — | — |
| 2023-06-16 | Almost Heaven BBQ Bash Buckhannon, WV | 3 / 28 (342.8572) | 2 (177.1544) | 6 (165.7028) | — | — |
| 2023-05-06 | Delaware Bay-B-Que - CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES (Day 2) Lincoln, DE | 1 / 19 (351.9772) | 2 (174.2628) | 1 (177.7144) | — | — |
| 2023-05-05 | Delaware Bay-B-Que - CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES (Day 1) Lincoln, DE | 5 / 20 (325.6456) | 2 (170.2512) | 9 (155.3944) | — | — |
| 2022-08-19 | Pig Out in the Park (BACKYARD ONLY) Frostburg, MD | 6 / 12 (331.3716) | 4 (170.8228) | 6 (160.5488) | — | — |
| 2022-06-17 | Almost Heaven BBQ Bash Roanoke, WV | 5 / 20 (337.0628) | 7 (168.5256) | 3 (168.5372) | — | — |
| 2021-10-29 | Almost Heaven's Spooktacular Backyard BBQ Buckhannon, WV | 6 / 12 (343.3712) | 6 (172.5600) | 8 (170.8112) | — | — |
| 2021-10-16 | Zom-B-Q-Rufus Teague Galax, VA | 20 / 15 (314.1484) | 20 (149.6112) | 17 (164.5372) | — | — |
| 2021-10-15 | Nightmare Before Zom-B-Q-Rufus Teague Galax, VA | 12 / 15 (334.8344) | 2 (174.2628) | 15 (160.5716) | 2 (175.4172) | — |
| 2021-07-30 | Smoke in the Grove Spring Grove, PA | — | — | — | — | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 ↗ | Backyard | #149 (187 pts) | #176 (152 pts) | #151 (212 pts) | — | — |
| 2025 ↗ | Backyard | #49 (945 pts) | #38 (1067 pts) | #61 (867 pts) | — | — |
| 2025 ↗ | Master | #942 (115 pts) | #683 (255 pts) | #954 (140 pts) | #1111 (85 pts) | #1453 (55 pts) |
| 2024 ↗ | Backyard | #27 (1093 pts) | #32 (1011 pts) | #74 (788 pts) | — | — |
| 2023 ↗ | Backyard | — | #20 (1165 pts) | #44 (1026 pts) | — | — |
| 2023 ↗ | Master | — | #966 (137 pts) | — | — | — |
| 2022 ↗ | Backyard | — | #231 (140 pts) | #181 (210 pts) | — | — |
| 2021 ↗ | Backyard | — | #80 (465 pts) | #96 (310 pts) | — | — |