High-water mark
665.1312
career-best overall
92.4% of a perfect 720
Their best day on record: 665.1312 at Knights Of Columbus BBQ Smoke Off 4 Life — 92.4% of a perfect 720.
- Master
- Jun 14, 2019
Salt and Pepper BBQ
Salt and Pepper BBQ is a competition barbecue team with 5 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2017 and 2025. Their best overall finish is 11th of 34 at the Knights Of Columbus BBQ Smoke Off 4 Life (JUDGES FULL) (2017). They are ranked #2936 of 6,476 teams in the KCBS power rankings.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1507
peak 1516 · rated over 5 contests
Contests
5
in the data
First seen
Jun 16, 2017
latest Oct 3, 2025 · 8.3 years on the trail
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
1
2 podiums
Overall top-10s
0
0% of 5 contests
Avg finish
top 55%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Walk rate
60%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±17.51
spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork Ribs
avg 168.22 · weakest Brisket (156.69)
Road miles
578
across 5 mapped stops · furthest 302 mi
Schedule strength
59%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1574)
Purse competed for
$19K
listed at 3 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 2 state-championship entries
Master avg
654.07 / 720
4 Master contests · 0 GCs
Backyard avg
337.15 / 360
1 Backyard contest · 0 GCs
These overall scores sit on different scales (Master out of 720, Backyard out of 360), 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.
Team of the Year (rank per category by season — the year links to the full board on kcbs.us)
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The teams rated closest to Salt and Pepper BBQ, each with one reason worth a look.
117 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#2,944 of the rated field
- Contests
- 21
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 10%
- Peak
- 1526
0–1 in 1 shared contest (0% to Salt and Pepper BBQ)
One contest in common so far: too few to settle anything, but a team Salt and Pepper BBQ has actually stood beside rather than a stranger on the same rating.
⚔ Head-to-head#2,929 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 14%
- Peak
- 1507
Careers of much the same size, 7 contests to 5, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#2,917 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1515
They turned up 6 years after Salt and Pepper BBQ did, first appearing in 2023.
⚔ Compare careers#2,960 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1508
Level with Salt and Pepper BBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Compare careers#2,922 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 50%
- Peak
- 1527
Their last contest in the data was back in 2022, 3 years before Salt and Pepper BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#2,943 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1519
Their last contest in the data was back in 2019, 6 years before Salt and Pepper BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careersBy meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 172.5600 | 160.0228 | 165.93 | top 51% |
| Pork Ribs | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 170.2972 | 165.1200 | 168.22 | top 44% |
| Pork | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 175.4172 | 150.8228 | 163.97 | top 50% |
| Brisket | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 169.7256 | 145.0744 | 156.69 | top 65% |
“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) | 4 | 0 | top 47% |
| Large (40+) | 1 | 0 | top 88% |
Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Knights Of Columbus BBQ Smoke Off 4 Life | 3 | 11 | 0 | top 42% | Jun 14, 2019 |
More numbers
Contests a season
1
across 5 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
KS
3 of 5 contests · 3 states in all
Contests visited
3
1 of them more than once
Opponents faced
135
finished ahead 75 times, behind 97
Longest layoff
4.3 yrs
Jun 14, 2019 → Sep 21, 2023
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20251 milestone
- Most recent contest Big Creek BBQ Bash (BACKYARD ONLY)
20192 milestones
- Career-best overall score665.1312 Knights Of Columbus BBQ Smoke Off 4 Life
- Peak power rating (1516) Knights Of Columbus BBQ Smoke Off 4 Life
20182 milestones
- First category win (Pork) Knights Of Columbus BBQ Smoke Off 4 Life
- Career-best single call (Pork)175.4172 Knights Of Columbus BBQ Smoke Off 4 Life
20173 milestones
- First tracked contest Knights Of Columbus BBQ Smoke Off 4 Life (JUDGES FULL)
- First call Knights Of Columbus BBQ Smoke Off 4 Life (JUDGES FULL)
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score662.2516 Knights Of Columbus BBQ Smoke Off 4 Life (JUDGES FULL)
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +8.2 | Knights Of Columbus BBQ Smoke Off 4 Life (JUDGES FULL) | Jun 16, 2017 |
| +3.9 | Knights Of Columbus BBQ Smoke Off 4 Life | Jun 14, 2019 |
| +3.9 | Knights Of Columbus BBQ Smoke Off 4 Life | Jun 15, 2018 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -8.4 | Murphysboro BBQ Cook-off/Praise the Lard | Sep 21, 2023 |
| -0.3 | Big Creek BBQ Bash (BACKYARD ONLY) | Oct 3, 2025 |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 61% | 93.7% | 93.7% |
| 2023 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 88% | 86.6% | 86.6% |
| 2019 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 47% | 92.4% | 92.4% |
| 2018 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 100% | top 47% | 92.4% | 92.4% |
| 2017 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 32% | 92% | 92% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 3, 2025 | Big Creek BBQ Bash (BACKYARD ONLY) Pleasant Hill, MO | 14 / 23 (337.1544) | 12 (167.4400) | 11 (169.7144) | — | — |
| Sep 21, 2023 | Murphysboro BBQ Cook-off/Praise the Lard 🏅 Murphysboro, IL | 44 / 50 (623.8056) | 37 (160.5256) | 31 (167.3828) | 49 (150.8228) | 46 (145.0744) |
| Jun 14, 2019 | Knights Of Columbus BBQ Smoke Off 4 Life 🏅 Kansas City, KS | 18 / 38 (665.1312) | 32 (160.0228) | 10 (170.2972) | 23 (165.0856) | 8 (169.7256) |
| Jun 15, 2018 | Knights Of Columbus BBQ Smoke Off 4 Life Kansas City, KS | 15 / 32 (665.0744) | 12 (169.1200) | 19 (165.1200) | 1 (175.4172) | 28 (155.4172) |
| Jun 16, 2017 | Knights Of Columbus BBQ Smoke Off 4 Life (JUDGES FULL) Kansas City, KS | 11 / 34 (662.2516) | 2 (172.5600) | 8 (168.5716) | 13 (164.5600) | 20 (156.5600) |