Still inside their first twelve months: see what a first season usually looks like.
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.
Castiron Cookers has 1 rated contest — 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 98 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.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2018, 8 years before Castiron Cookers's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-headA longer road to the same neighbourhood — 5 contests to 2.
⚔ Head-to-headThey were already cooking in 2013, 12 years before Castiron Cookers's first contest.
⚔ Head-to-headLevel with Castiron Cookers on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Head-to-headTheir last contest in the data was back in 2013, 13 years before Castiron Cookers's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-head8 contests to 2: their number has had years to settle where Castiron Cookers's is still finding its level.
⚔ Head-to-head| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 177.7144 | 174.2628 | 175.99 | top 30% |
| Pork Ribs | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 176.5600 | 166.2744 | 171.42 | top 43% |
| Pork | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 170.8228 | 167.4400 | 169.13 | top 59% |
| Brisket | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 177.7028 | 173.7028 | 175.70 | top 12% |
“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.
| Where | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| IA | 1 | 0 | top 36% |
| GA | 1 | 0 | top 19% |
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medium (20–39) | 1 | 0 | top 19% |
| Large (40+) | 1 | 0 | top 36% |
| Season | Contests | GCs | Top-10s | Category wins | Walk rate | Avg finish | Best overall (% of perfect) | Avg overall (% of perfect) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 36% | 94.7% | 94.7% |
| 2025 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 100% | top 19% | — | — |
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-04-03 | Iowa State BBQ Championship 🏅 Altoona, IA | 15 / 42 (681.6800) | 15 (174.2628) | 28 (166.2744) | 24 (167.4400) | 5 (173.7028) |
| 2025-10-16 | Royal Oak Invitational (COMPETITOR SERIES) (PRIVATE EVENT BY INVITATION) unrated Roswell, GA | 7 / 36 (702.8000) | 9 (177.7144) | 7 (176.5600) | 22 (170.8228) | 4 (177.7028) |