Big Bear BBQ MN
Rating
1607
peak 1615
Contests
34
in the data
First seen
2019-02-22
latest 2026-06-19
Best ToY finish
#36
Backyard 2026
Grand champs
2
0 reserve
Category wins
2
9 podiums
Overall top-10s
14
of 34 contests
Avg finish
top 40%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
337.21 ▼
last 5 vs career avg 403.08 (-65.87)
Walk rate
50%
contests with a top-10 call
Top-10 streak
5
best run (overall)
Consistency
±134.85
std dev of overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Chicken
avg 168.53 · weakest Brisket (166.11)
Road miles
7720
mi across 34 mapped stops · furthest 1198 mi
Storylines
🎯 The one to beat
Pittie Q has finished one call ahead of Big Bear BBQ 2 times — their closest competition in the data.
👀 Looking over their shoulder
Taste of Freedom has landed one call behind them 2 times.
⚔️ A tough matchup
DAWGS BBQ has come out ahead in 18 of their 21 shared contests.
⚔️ A strong matchup
They've finished ahead of Ambition Que in 7 of their 7 shared contests.
🗡️ Giant slayer
Took the Grand Championship over a 101-team field at Smoke in the Spring (OPEN FORMAT).
📅 A May team
Something about May: average finish in the top 25% across 8 contests, versus top 40% the rest of the year.
Teams like this (closest power rating, MN first)
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 31 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 178.8572 | 159.3600 | 168.53 | top 47% |
| Pork Ribs | 34 | 14 | 1 | 5 | 176.5600 | 156.5716 | 168.22 | top 42% |
| Pork | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 174.2972 | 161.6688 | 167.33 | top 61% |
| Brisket | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 175.4172 | 156.5372 | 166.11 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| MN | 12 | 0 | top 34% |
| WI | 6 | 0 | top 54% |
| IA | 3 | 0 | top 50% |
| LA | 2 | 0 | top 47% |
| FL | 2 | 1 | top 34% |
| IL | 1 | 0 | top 24% |
| KS | 1 | 1 | top 1% |
| MO | 1 | 0 | top 64% |
| TN | 1 | 0 | top 32% |
| MS | 1 | 0 | top 38% |
By contest size
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small (<20 teams) | 7 | 0 | top 42% |
| Medium (20–39) | 15 | 1 | top 44% |
| Large (40+) | 8 | 1 | top 32% |
The story so far
- Busiest season: 2025 (13 contests)
- Cooks mostly in MN (15 of 34 contests)
- Most-entered category: Pork Ribs (34 entries)
- First Grand Championship in the data: 9th Annual Jimmy Jam BBQ Slam (2025-01-09)
- Wins it all in 6% of contests
- All-time average overall score: 403.08
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 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 682.8688 | 413.42 |
| 2025 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 687.8972 | 368.07 |
| 2024 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 673.6228 | 404.21 |
| 2023 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 328.5600 | 327.38 |
| 2022 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 327.3828 | 327.38 |
| 2019 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 661.0056 | 659.91 |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-19 | Rhythm & BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) Morris, IL | 10 / 41 (345.1200) | 11 (173.7028) | 15 (171.4172) | — | — |
| 2026-06-13 | Bring'n Home the Bacon Day 2 (MASTER & BACKYARD) West Salem, WI | 21 / 37 (330.7772) | 21 (167.3828) | 21 (163.3944) | — | — |
| 2026-06-12 | Bring'n Home the Bacon Day 1 (MASTER & BACKYARD) West Salem, WI | 30 / 40 (330.2400) | 35 (162.2628) | 27 (167.9772) | — | — |
| 2026-05-29 | Spring into Summer Backyard BBQ Competition (BACKYARD ONLY) Owatonna, MN | 9 / 25 (339.9540) | 18 (165.6684) | 5 (174.2856) | — | — |
| 2026-05-08 | Minnesota in May St. Peter, MN | 9 / 77 (339.9772) | 9 (169.6800) | 8 (170.2972) | — | — |
| 2026-05-08 | Minnesota in May (ONE MEAT RIBS) St. Peter, MN | — | — | 26 (166.2972) | — | — |
| 2026-05-01 | SmokeHouse Barbeque Showdown (OPEN FORMAT) (REGISTRATION FULL) Cambridge, IA | 4 / 17 (682.8688) | 9 (174.8572) | 6 (174.8572) | 26 (164.5716) | 14 (168.5828) |
| 2026-04-24 | Smoke & Fire (BACKYARD ONLY) Stanley, WI | 3 / 24 (345.7256) | 2 (177.1428) | 9 (168.5828) | — | — |
| 2026-04-10 | Smoke in the Spring (OPEN FORMAT) Osage City, KS | 1 / 101 (669.6228) | 20 (176.5600) | 77 (167.4172) | 65 (169.1084) | 98 (156.5372) |
| 2026-03-20 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue Backyard Contest Kansas City, MO | 21 / 33 (336.4912) | 24 (166.8112) | 14 (169.6800) | — | — |
| 2025-10-24 | VPD Back the Blue BBQ Competition Vidalia, LA | 11 / 33 (687.8972) | 11 (173.1200) | 15 (174.2628) | 23 (165.0972) | 4 (175.4172) |
| 2025-08-16 | Boomer Backyard BBQ Cookoff (BACKYARD ONLY) Canton, MN | 11 / 17 (332.5828) | 12 (167.4628) | 10 (165.1200) | — | — |
| 2025-06-27 | Art of the Que (Backyard 2) Spencer, IA | 9 / 17 (332.5372) | 16 (162.2628) | 3 (170.2744) | — | — |
| 2025-06-27 | Art of the Que (Masters and Backyard 1) Spencer, IA | 11 / 15 (328.5260) | 15 (159.3716) | 5 (169.1544) | — | — |
| 2025-06-14 | Bring'n Home the Bacon Day 2 (MASTER & BACKYARD) West Salem, WI | 9 / 36 (338.8688) | 9 (170.8800) | 12 (167.9888) | — | — |
| 2025-06-13 | Bring'n Home the Bacon Day 1 (MASTER & BACKYARD) West Salem, WI | 29 / 36 (331.3368) | 23 (167.9656) | 31 (163.3712) | — | — |
| 2025-05-30 | Smokin' in Steele Owatonna, MN | 3 / 28 (344.5828) | 6 (171.4400) | 2 (173.1428) | — | — |
| 2025-05-09 | Minnesota in May St. Peter, MN | 17 / 58 (336.5372) | 27 (165.6800) | 11 (170.8572) | — | — |
| 2025-05-09 | Minnesota in May (ONE MEAT RIBS) St. Peter, MN | — | — | 4 (176.5600) | — | — |
| 2025-04-25 | Smoke & Fire (BACKYARD ONLY) Stanley, WI | 18 / 24 (325.0856) | 18 (161.1084) | 15 (163.9772) | — | — |
| 2025-03-14 | Smoke on the Shores BBQ Championship Lebanon, TN | 32 / 100 (337.0860) | 30 (167.3944) | 24 (169.6916) | 35 (165.0856) | — |
| 2025-03-14 | Smoke on the Shores BBQ Championship (ONE MEAT RIBS) Lebanon, TN | — | — | 39 (169.1200) | — | — |
| 2025-01-09 | 9th Annual Jimmy Jam BBQ Slam Elkton, FL | 1 / 38 (353.7144) | 17 (159.3600) | 3 (174.8572) | 4 (174.2972) | 4 (172.5600) |
| 2024-10-25 | VPD Back the Blue BBQ Competition Vidalia, LA | 19 / 31 (673.6228) | 22 (165.0972) | 20 (169.6800) | 8 (173.1428) | 20 (165.7028) |
| 2024-09-07 | Bent Brewstillery BBQ (BACKYARD ONLY) Roseville, MN | 3 / 18 (337.1772) | 12 (164.5828) | 1 (172.5944) | — | — |
| 2024-08-17 | Boomer Backyard BBQ Cookoff (BACKYARD ONLY) Canton, MN | 4 / 18 (340.5372) | 12 (168.5372) | 3 (172.0000) | — | — |
| 2024-05-31 | Smokin in Steele Owatonna, MN | 3 / 32 (343.4172) | 2 (172.5600) | 6 (170.8572) | — | — |
| 2024-05-10 | Minnesota in May St. Peter, MN | 30 / 58 (326.2860) | 18 (169.7144) | 38 (156.5716) | — | — |
| 2024-05-10 | Minnesota in May (ONE MEAT RIBS) St. Peter, MN | — | — | 21 (169.7028) | — | — |
| 2023-09-09 | Bent Brewstillery BBQ (BACKYARD ONLY) Roseville, MN | 22 / 30 (326.1944) | 18 (163.9428) | 20 (162.2516) | — | — |
| 2023-05-12 | Minnesota in May St. Peter, MN | 18 / 59 (328.5600) | 13 (168.5600) | 28 (160.0000) | — | — |
| 2022-09-10 | Bent Brewstillery BBQ (BACKYARD ONLY) Roseville, MN | 17 / 30 (327.3828) | 13 (168.5600) | 24 (158.8228) | — | — |
| 2019-03-15 | Smokin In the Square Pensacola, FL | 23 / 35 (661.0056) | 24 (166.2628) | 24 (164.5256) | 20 (165.6800) | 19 (164.5372) |
| 2019-02-22 | D'Iberville BBQ Throw Down Festival Diberville, MS | 6 / 16 (658.8116) | 1 (177.7144) | 9 (159.9656) | 11 (161.6688) | 9 (159.4628) |
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 | #36 (770 pts) | #34 (750 pts) | #43 (748 pts) | — | — |
| 2026 ↗ | Master | — | — | #903 (60 pts) | — | — |
| 2025 ↗ | Backyard | #57 (871 pts) | #73 (745 pts) | #35 (1059 pts) | — | — |
| 2025 ↗ | Master | — | — | #686 (270 pts) | — | — |
| 2024 ↗ | Backyard | #91 (683 pts) | #114 (548 pts) | #76 (778 pts) | — | — |
| 2024 ↗ | Master | — | — | #1236 (80 pts) | — | — |
| 2023 ↗ | Backyard | — | #207 (210 pts) | #253 (140 pts) | — | — |
| 2022 ↗ | Backyard | — | #261 (115 pts) | #332 (60 pts) | — | — |