The comeback
7.7 yrs
off the trail, then back
Off the trail for 7.7 years, then back at Battle for the Bones BBQ Cook Off (ONE MEAT RIBS) (2025-10-18).
- last seen 2018-02-03
- back 2025-10-18
Firehouse Barbecue
At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)
Rating
1500
peak 1500 · rated over 2 contests ⓘ
Contests
3
in the data
First seen
2017-02-04
latest 2018-02-03
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
1
1 podiums
Overall top-10s
1
of 3 contests
Avg finish
top 53%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Walk rate
67%
contests with a top-10 call
Strongest meat
Pork
avg 164.58 · weakest Brisket (152.29)
Road miles
9,553
mi across 3 mapped stops · furthest 9553 mi
Master avg
632.61 / 720
2 Master contests · 0 GCs
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 long haul
9,553
road miles between contests
Contest to contest, they've covered roughly 9,553 miles across 3 mapped stops — the longest single trip being 9,553 miles to Yak Ales Melbourne Barbecue Festival.
- 3 mapped stops
- furthest 9,553 mi
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.
Firehouse Barbecue 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 121 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.
#3198 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1500
No shared contest yet.
A longer road to the same neighbourhood — 5 contests to 3.
⚔ Head-to-head#3205 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1505
No shared contest yet.
Level with Firehouse Barbecue on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Head-to-head#3199 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 33%
- Peak
- 1507
No shared contest yet.
A longer road to the same neighbourhood — 6 contests to 3.
⚔ Head-to-head#3189 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1508
No shared contest yet.
A longer road to the same neighbourhood — 5 contests to 3.
⚔ Head-to-head#3207 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1500
No shared contest yet.
A longer road to the same neighbourhood — 5 contests to 3.
⚔ Head-to-head#3206 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-headBy meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 160.5828 | 157.7028 | 159.14 | top 59% |
| Pork Ribs | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 165.7944 | 153.7256 | 159.66 | top 46% |
| Pork | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 172.5600 | 156.5944 | 164.58 | top 33% |
| Brisket | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 162.3200 | 142.2516 | 152.29 | top 61% |
“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 contest size
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medium (20–39) | 1 | 0 | top 35% |
| Large (40+) | 1 | 0 | top 72% |
The story so far (14 numbers that describe this team)
On the trail
1 yrs
2017-02-04 → 2018-02-03
Busiest season
2025
1 contest
Contests a season
1
across 3 seasons in the data
Cooks most in
AL
1 of 3 contests
Contests visited
2
0 of them cooked more than once
Most-entered meat
Pork Ribs
3 entries · 0 wins · 1 calls
Strongest meat
Pork
averages 164.58 · weakest Brisket (152.29)
Walk rate
67%
a top-10 call in 2 of 3 contests
Overall top-10 rate
33%
1 of 3 contests
Master average
632.61
out of 720 · 2 contests · 0 GCs
Opponents faced
55
29–38 across every shared overall standing
Road miles
9,553
3 mapped stops · furthest 9,553 mi
Longest layoff
7.7 yrs
2018-02-03 → 2025-10-18
Power rating
1500
peak 1500 · #null of 6,413 rated
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
- 2017
- First tracked contest Yak Ales Melbourne Barbecue Festival
- 2018
- First call Melbourne Barbecue Festival
- First category win (Pork) Melbourne Barbecue Festival
- First overall top-10 Melbourne Barbecue Festival
- Career-best overall score646.3084 Melbourne Barbecue Festival
- Career-best single call (Pork)172.5600 Melbourne Barbecue Festival
- 2025
- Most recent contest Battle for the Bones BBQ Cook Off (ONE MEAT RIBS)
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | — | — | — |
| 2018 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 100% | top 35% | 89.8% | 89.8% |
| 2017 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 72% | 86% | 86% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-10-18 | Battle for the Bones BBQ Cook Off (ONE MEAT RIBS) Birmingham, AL | — | — | 4 (165.7944) | — | — |
| 2018-02-03 | Melbourne Barbecue Festival Melbourn, 8008 | 9 / 26 (646.3084) | 19 (157.7028) | 19 (153.7256) | 1 (172.5600) | 8 (162.3200) |
| 2017-02-04 | Yak Ales Melbourne Barbecue Festival Melbourne, 8008 | 31 / 43 (618.9032) | 19 (160.5828) | 18 (159.4744) | 27 (156.5944) | 39 (142.2516) |