The one to beat
2×
one call ahead of them
PIT ROW BBQ has finished one call ahead of The Meat Whisperers 2 times — their closest competition in the data.
The Meat Whisperers
The Meat Whisperers is a competition barbecue team with 6 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2019 and 2021. Their best overall finish is 14th of 23 at the Scottsboro BBQ Cook Off Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) (). They are ranked #4773 of 6,491 teams in the KCBS power rankings.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1468
peak 1468 · rated over 5 contests
Contests
6
in the data
First seen
Mar 8, 2019
latest Aug 6, 2021 · 2.4 years on the trail
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
1 podium
Overall top-10s
0
0% of 6 contests
Avg finish
top 74%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Walk rate
83%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±3.92
spread of their Backyard overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork Ribs
avg 168.95 · weakest Chicken (155.75)
Road miles
384
across 5 mapped stops · furthest 58 mi
Schedule strength
22%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1530)
Purse competed for
$18K
listed at 5 contests — purses, not winnings
Backyard avg
327.38 / 360
4 Backyard contests · 0 GCs
Backyard (3-meat) avg
477.61 / 540
2 Backyard (3-meat) contests · 0 GCs
These overall scores sit on different scales (Backyard out of 360, Backyard (3-meat) out of 540), 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.
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The teams rated closest to The Meat Whisperers, each with one reason worth a look.
139 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#4,777 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1468
0–1 in 1 shared contest (0% to The Meat Whisperers)
One contest in common so far: too few to settle anything, but a team The Meat Whisperers has actually stood beside rather than a stranger on the same rating.
⚔ Head-to-head#4,774 of the rated field
- Contests
- 10
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1468
1–0 in 1 shared contest (100% to The Meat Whisperers)
This is the highest they've ever been rated, 9 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.
⚔ Head-to-head#4,756 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1468
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 6, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#4,764 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1468
Level with The Meat Whisperers on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Compare careers#4,770 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1468
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 6, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#4,759 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1468
Both teams' first contest in the data came in 2019.
⚔ Compare careersFamiliar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)
| Opponent | Meetings | Ahead | Behind | Win rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LEE LA Q | 6 | 1 | 5 | 17% | ⚔ compare |
| Hickory Hangover | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| HELL ON SQUEALS | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| PUCKDADDY'S KILLER Q | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| Thin Blue Swine | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| REDBONES BBQ | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 163.9772 | 149.6456 | 155.75 | top 85% |
| Pork Ribs | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 173.7256 | 161.7028 | 168.95 | top 35% |
| Pork | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 161.6800 | 154.8228 | 158.82 | top 78% |
“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) | 5 | 0 | top 79% |
| Large (40+) | 1 | 0 | top 51% |
Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD & KIDS QUE) | 2 | 21 | 0 | top 97% | Aug 6, 2021 |
More numbers
Busiest season
2021
2 contests
Contests a season
1.5
across 4 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
AL
6 of 6 contests
Contests visited
5
1 of them more than once
Opponents faced
117
finished ahead 52 times, behind 125
Longest layoff
1.3 yrs
Apr 26, 2019 → Aug 7, 2020
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20212 milestones
- Career-best overall score482.2056 Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD & KIDS QUE)
- Most recent contest Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD & KIDS QUE)
20192 milestones
- Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)173.7256 Corums Building Center BBQ (BACKYARD ONLY)
- Peak power rating (1493) Smoke on the Water Festival (BACKYARD ONlY)
—3 milestones
- First tracked contest Scottsboro BBQ Cook Off Festival (BACKYARD ONLY)
- First call Scottsboro BBQ Cook Off Festival (BACKYARD ONLY)
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score333.7144 Scottsboro BBQ Cook Off Festival (BACKYARD ONLY)
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +0.4 | Smoke on the Water Festival (BACKYARD ONlY) | Apr 26, 2019 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -13.5 | Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD ONLY) | Aug 7, 2020 |
| -10.2 | Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD & KIDS QUE) | Aug 6, 2021 |
| -7.3 | Corums Building Center BBQ (BACKYARD ONLY) | Mar 8, 2019 |
| -1.9 | Smoke on the Water Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) | Apr 23, 2021 |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 61% | 92.7% | 92.7% |
| 2021 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 80% | 90.9% | 90.1% |
| 2020 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 100% | 87.6% | 87.6% |
| 2019 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50% | top 62% | 90.3% | 90.1% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 6, 2021 | Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD & KIDS QUE) Glencoe, AL | 29 / 31 (482.2056) | 30 (149.6684) | 7 (170.8572) | 23 (161.6800) | — |
| Apr 23, 2021 | Smoke on the Water Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) Florence, AL | 19 / 29 (327.3484) | 25 (155.9084) | 8 (171.4400) | — | — |
| Aug 7, 2020 | Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD ONLY) Glencoe, AL | 21 / 21 (473.0052) | 21 (151.9196) | 10 (166.2628) | 20 (154.8228) | — |
| Apr 26, 2019 | Smoke on the Water Festival (BACKYARD ONlY) Florence, AL | 23 / 45 (325.0740) | 26 (163.3712) | 28 (161.7028) | 29 (159.9656) | — |
| Mar 8, 2019 | Corums Building Center BBQ (BACKYARD ONLY) Harselle, AL | 25 / 34 (323.3712) | 34 (149.6456) | 3 (173.7256) | — | — |
| — | Scottsboro BBQ Cook Off Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) Scottsboro, AL | 14 / 23 (333.7144) | 16 (163.9772) | 9 (169.7372) | — | — |