High-water mark
682.7776
career-best overall
94.8% of a perfect 720
Their best day on record: 682.7776 at Pitmasters in Paradise — 94.8% of a perfect 720.
- Master
- 2026-04-25
R&J BBQ
At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)
Rating
1487
peak 1487 · rated over 2 contests ⓘ
Contests
3
in the data
First seen
2026-01-09
latest 2026-04-25
Best ToY finish
#889
Master 2026
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
0 podiums
Overall top-10s
0
of 3 contests
Avg finish
top 81%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Walk rate
33%
contests with a top-10 call
Strongest meat
Brisket
avg 168.53 · weakest Pork Ribs (161.70)
Road miles
1,327
mi across 3 mapped stops · furthest 1222 mi
Purse competed for
$24K
listed at 2 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
GCs in 2 state-championship entries
Master avg
664.45 / 720
2 Master contests · 0 GCs
Still inside their first twelve months: see what a first season usually looks like.
Storylines (2 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.
The comeback
12.5 yrs
off the trail, then back
Off the trail for 12.5 years, then back at 10th Annual Jimmy Jam BBQ Slam (2026-01-09).
- last seen 2013-07-26
- back 2026-01-09
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.
R&J BBQ has 2 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 130 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.
#3789 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1502
No shared contest yet.
A longer road to the same neighbourhood — 5 contests to 3.
⚔ Head-to-head#3776 of the rated field
- Contests
- 9
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1509
No shared contest yet.
They were already cooking in 2021, 5 years before R&J BBQ's first contest.
⚔ Head-to-head#3764 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1503
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2023, 3 years before R&J BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-head#3772 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1501
No shared contest yet.
Level with R&J BBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Head-to-head#3774 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1501
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2018, 8 years before R&J BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-head#3796 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1505
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2017, 9 years before R&J BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-headBy meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 177.7144 | 155.9544 | 166.83 | top 59% |
| Pork Ribs | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 162.2632 | 161.1316 | 161.70 | top 95% |
| Pork | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 170.8344 | 163.9428 | 167.39 | top 73% |
| Brisket | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 171.9656 | 165.0856 | 168.53 | top 67% |
“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.
The story so far (16 numbers that describe this team)
On the trail
0.3 yrs
2026-01-09 → 2026-04-25
Busiest season
2026
2 contests
Contests a season
1.5
across 2 seasons in the data
Cooks most in
FL
2 of 3 contests · 2 states/provinces in all
Contests visited
2
0 of them cooked more than once
Most-entered meat
Chicken
2 entries · 0 wins · 1 calls
Strongest meat
Brisket
averages 168.53 · weakest Pork Ribs (161.70)
Walk rate
33%
a top-10 call in 1 of 3 contests
Overall top-10 rate
0%
0 of 3 contests
Master average
664.45
out of 720 · 2 contests · 0 GCs
Opponents faced
89
13–85 across every shared overall standing
Road miles
1,327
3 mapped stops · furthest 1,222 mi
Purse competed for
$23,700
listed at 2 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0
from 2 state-championship entries
Longest layoff
12.5 yrs
2013-07-26 → 2026-01-09
Power rating
1487
peak 1487 · #null of 6,413 rated
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
- 2013
- First tracked contest Dodge City Days Barbeque Cook-off
- 2026
- First call Pitmasters in Paradise
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score682.7776 Pitmasters in Paradise
- Career-best overall score682.7776 Pitmasters in Paradise
- Career-best single call (Chicken)177.7144 Pitmasters in Paradise
- Most recent contest Pitmasters in Paradise
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)
Season by season
| Season | Contests | GCs | Top-10s | Category wins | Walk rate | Avg finish | Best overall (% of perfect) | Avg overall (% of perfect) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50% | top 81% | 94.8% | 92.3% |
| 2013 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | — | — | — |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-04-25 | Pitmasters in Paradise 🏅 Auburndale, FL | 22 / 35 (682.7776) | 6 (177.7144) | 33 (162.2632) | 18 (170.8344) | 15 (171.9656) |
| 2026-01-09 | 10th Annual Jimmy Jam BBQ Slam 🏅 St. Augustine, FL | 38 / 38 (646.1144) | 38 (155.9544) | 36 (161.1316) | 36 (163.9428) | 35 (165.0856) |
| 2013-07-26 | Dodge City Days Barbeque Cook-off Dodge City, KS | — | — | — | — | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 ↗ | Master | #889 (75 pts) | #705 (175 pts) | #1051 (60 pts) | #882 (95 pts) | #840 (110 pts) |