Signature meat
50%
pork ribs entries won
2 wins from 4 entries
When pork ribs is on the table, watch out — they've won it in 50% of their entries (2 of 4).
- best 174.3088
- average 169.13
- 3 calls
Smoking Problems
Smoking Problems is a competition barbecue team with 4 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2024 and 2026. Their best overall finish is 3rd of 15 at the Back Porch Jam at the Hillsborough County Fairgrounds (2024). They finished #224 in the 2025 Backyard Series Team of the Year standings.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1530
Unranked — needs 5 rated contests, has 4
Contests
4
in the data
First seen
Mar 16, 2024
latest Feb 20, 2026 · 1.9 years on the trail
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
2
4 podiums
Overall top-10s
3
75% of 4 contests
Best top-10 run
2
straight overall top-10s
Avg finish
top 27%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Walk rate
75%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±4.80
spread of their Backyard overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork Ribs
avg 169.13 · weakest Brisket (158.23)
Road miles
37
across 4 mapped stops
Schedule strength
45%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1558)
Purse competed for
$45K
listed at 4 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 4 state-championship entries
Backyard avg
331.81 / 360
4 Backyard contests · 0 GCs
This team cooks the Backyard series — its own boards, records and Team of the Year are here.
Team of the Year (rank per category by season — the year links to the full board on kcbs.us)
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 170.2628 | 156.5028 | 162.67 | top 37% |
| Pork Ribs | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 174.3088 | 166.8344 | 169.13 | top 19% |
| Pork | 4 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 173.7256 | 157.7028 | 166.13 | top 31% |
| Brisket | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 163.3944 | 153.0628 | 158.23 | top 32% |
“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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small (<20 teams) | 2 | 0 | top 23% |
| Medium (20–39) | 1 | 0 | top 22% |
| Large (40+) | 1 | 0 | top 40% |
Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Back Porch Jam at the Hillsborough County Fairgrounds | 2 | 3 | 0 | top 23% | Mar 14, 2025 |
More numbers
Busiest season
2026
2 contests
Contests a season
1.3
across 3 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
FL
4 of 4 contests
Contests visited
3
1 of them more than once
Opponents faced
138
finished ahead 121 times, behind 70
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20263 milestones
- Career-best overall score337.0972 Ribs on the Ridge
- Peak power rating (1530) Ribs on the Ridge
- Most recent contest Ribs on the Ridge
20247 milestones
- First tracked contest Back Porch Jam at the Hillsborough County Fairgrounds
- First call Back Porch Jam at the Hillsborough County Fairgrounds
- First category win (Pork Ribs) Back Porch Jam at the Hillsborough County Fairgrounds
- First overall top-10 Back Porch Jam at the Hillsborough County Fairgrounds
- First overall podium Back Porch Jam at the Hillsborough County Fairgrounds
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score334.8572 Back Porch Jam at the Hillsborough County Fairgrounds
- Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)174.3088 Back Porch Jam at the Hillsborough County Fairgrounds
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +9.4 | Ribs on the Ridge | Feb 20, 2026 |
| +9.2 | Back Porch Jam at the Hillsborough County Fairgrounds | Mar 16, 2024 |
| +7.3 | Back Porch Jam at the Hillsborough County Fairgrounds | Mar 14, 2025 |
| +3.7 | Lakeland Pig Festival | Jan 22, 2026 |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 50% | top 31% | 93.6% | 92.8% |
| 2025 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 100% | top 27% | 90.1% | 90.1% |
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 100% | top 20% | 93% | 93% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 20, 2026 | Ribs on the Ridge 🏅 Haines City, FL | 7 / 32 (337.0972) | 6 (170.2628) | 9 (166.8344) | 5 (170.2628) | 11 (153.0744) |
| Jan 22, 2026 | Lakeland Pig Festival 🏅 Lakeland, FL | 25 / 63 (330.8000) | 28 (163.3828) | 22 (167.4172) | 42 (157.7028) | 22 (163.3828) |
| Mar 14, 2025 | Back Porch Jam at the Hillsborough County Fairgrounds 🏅 Dover, FL | 4 / 15 (324.4800) | 7 (156.5028) | 1 (167.9772) | 3 (162.8228) | 5 (163.3944) |
| Mar 16, 2024 | Back Porch Jam at the Hillsborough County Fairgrounds 🏅 Dover, FL | 3 / 15 (334.8572) | 6 (160.5484) | 1 (174.3088) | 3 (173.7256) | 4 (153.0628) |