Clean Smoke BBQ

Clean Smoke BBQ is a competition barbecue team with 26 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2016 and 2026. They have won 1 Grand Championship, at the Slow Joe's Barn Burner (2020), and finished Reserve Grand Champion twice. They are ranked #3066 of 6,476 teams in the KCBS power rankings.

⚔ Compare with another team

At a glance (the record in numbers)

Power ranking

#3,066

of 6,476 rated · rankings

Rating

1504

peak 1508 · rated over 24 contests2 invitational or side-series contests not counted

Contests

in the data

First seen

Aug 6, 2016

latest Jul 11, 2026 · 9.9 years on the trail

Best ToY finish

#417

Master 2020 · every season

Grand champs

2 reserve · wins it all 4% of the time

Category wins

11 podiums

Overall top-10s

35% of 26 contests

Best top-10 run

straight overall top-10s

Avg finish

top 62%

overall standings

Best overall

696 / 720

Master · Slow Joe's Barn Burner

Perfect 180s

Current form

656.15 ▲

last 5 Master vs avg 640.69 (+15.47)

Walk rate

46%

contests with a top-10 call

Best single call

178.8572

Pork · Slow Joe's Barn Burner

Consistency

±28.74

spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)

Strongest meat

Pork Ribs

avg 162.98 · weakest Chicken (158.67)

Road miles

31,204

across 26 mapped stops · furthest 5,245 mi

Schedule strength

30%

of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1540)

Purse competed for

$6,590

listed at 2 contests — purses, not winnings

State championships

0 🏅

won from 2 state-championship entries

Master avg

640.69 / 720

25 Master contests · 1 GC

Backyard avg

326.19 / 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.

Storylines (15 found in their record)

Each card leads with the number behind the story, straight from their results.

The heartbreaker

2.8796 points from the title

Came within 2.8796 points of the Grand Championship at Twin Smoke (May 18, 2024).

Against the odds

34-in-100 shot on pre-contest ratings

The ratings favoured the top seed the other 66 times in 100

Their Grand Championship at Slow Joe's Barn Burner (Aug 15, 2020) came as the ratings underdog — roughly a 34-in-100 shot against the field's top-rated team, PUREBBQ.

A multi-meat day

1 contest with 2+ category wins

They've won two or more meats on the same day 1 time — the best of them 2 category wins at Slow Joe's Barn Burner (Aug 15, 2020).

Pork 1st
Brisket 1st

High-water mark

696.0000 career-best overall

96.7% of a perfect 720

Their best day on record: 696.0000 at Slow Joe's Barn Burner — 96.7% of a perfect 720.

Master
Aug 15, 2020

The one to beat

2× one call ahead of them

BBQ Brothers has finished one call ahead of Clean Smoke BBQ 2 times — their closest competition in the data.

A tough matchup

12–3 behind in the head-to-head

SMOKING ACES BBQ SWEDEN ahead in 80% of their meetings

SMOKING ACES BBQ SWEDEN has come out ahead in 12 of their 15 shared contests.

The weak link

−4.3 points behind their best meat

Chicken is where the weekend gets away from them — it averages 4.32 points below their pork ribs, and turns into a call 35% of the time against 35%.

Chicken avg 158.67
Pork Ribs avg 162.98
9 calls in 26 entries

Show 8 more storylines

The drought

13 contests since the last title

Their last Grand Championship came at Slow Joe's Barn Burner on Aug 15, 2020 — 13 contests and 6.1 years ago.

last GC Aug 15, 2020
6.1 years ago

A strong matchup

4–1 ahead in the head-to-head

Ahead in 80% of their meetings

They've finished ahead of NO BRAINER BBQ TEAM in 4 of their 5 shared contests.

The comeback

1.8 yrs off the trail, then back

Off the trail for 1.8 years, then back at Beer Fries & BBQ V (Day1) (May 11, 2018).

last seen Aug 6, 2016
back May 11, 2018

Pork Ribs nemesis

10 of 15 shared pork ribs entries lost

SMOKING ACES BBQ SWEDEN ahead 67% of the time

Even in their strongest meat, SMOKING ACES BBQ SWEDEN has out-cooked them in 10 of 15 shared pork ribs entries.

A big fish in small ponds

Top 38% average finish in small fields

Field size changes the story: they average a top 38% finish in small fields against top 77% in large ones.

Small (<20 teams): top 38% (6)
Large (40+): top 77% (8)

Looking over their shoulder

2× one call behind them

Magic Creek BBQ has landed one call behind them 2 times.

An August team

Top 53% average finish in August

Something about August: average finish in the top 53% across 7 contests, versus top 62% the rest of the year.

7 August contests
top 62% the rest of the year

The long haul

31,204 road miles between contests

Contest to contest, they've covered roughly 31,204 miles across 26 mapped stops — the longest single trip being 5,245 miles to Tallya BBQ Festival.

26 mapped stops
furthest 5,245 mi

Team of the Year (rank per category by season — the year links to the full board on kcbs.us)

Year	Series	Overall	Chicken	Ribs	Pork	Brisket
2026 ↗	Master	#895 (108 pts)	#1310 (58 pts)	#723 (223 pts)	#832 (123 pts)	#916 (108 pts)
2025 ↗	Master	#1034 (91 pts)	#1104 (91 pts)	#1199 (91 pts)	#1440 (56 pts)	#1007 (111 pts)
2024 ↗	Master	#536 (336 pts)	#555 (351 pts)	#526 (441 pts)	#709 (231 pts)	#618 (291 pts)
2023 ↗	Master	#583 (286 pts)	#698 (246 pts)	#832 (216 pts)	#496 (411 pts)	#630 (276 pts)
2022 ↗	Master	#491 (423 pts)	#549 (393 pts)	#598 (378 pts)	#562 (363 pts)	#408 (568 pts)
2020 ↗	Master	#417 (264 pts)	#474 (239 pts)	#673 (134 pts)	#438 (264 pts)	#444 (264 pts)
2019 ↗	Master	#458 (715 pts)	#410 (805 pts)	#431 (800 pts)	#476 (725 pts)	#604 (565 pts)
2018 ↗	Master	#1051 (255 pts)	#1026 (295 pts)	#941 (350 pts)	#1087 (265 pts)	#865 (385 pts)
2016 ↗	Master	#2896 (56 pts)	#2906 (56 pts)	#2912 (56 pts)	#2017 (116 pts)	#2342 (61 pts)

Overall rank by season

Teams like this (closest power rating)

The teams rated closest to Clean Smoke BBQ, each with one reason worth a look.

113 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.

Cluster Cluck Barbecue

#3,049 of the rated field

1504 power rating

Contests: 24
GCs: 1
Top-10s: 21%
Peak: 1523

Careers of much the same size, 24 contests to 26, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.

rated over 24 contests
last seen May 2, 2025

⚔ Compare careers

BURNT WOOD BBQ

#3,073 of the rated field

1504 power rating

Contests: 21
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 10%
Peak: 1522

21 contests and no Grand Championship yet — a rating made of 10% top-10 finishes rather than wins.

rated over 21 contests
last seen May 1, 2026

⚔ Compare careers

Unknown Smokers

#3,064 of the rated field

1504 power rating

Contests: 30
GCs: 1
Top-10s: 33%
Peak: 1532

Level with Clean Smoke BBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.

rated over 29 contests
last seen Aug 15, 2026

⚔ Compare careers

BUTTS, BELLIES & BUDDIES

#3,043 of the rated field

1504 power rating

Contests: 19
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1512

Their last contest in the data was back in 2018, 8 years before Clean Smoke BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.

rated over 19 contests

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COLONIAL EMBERS

#3,046 of the rated field

1504 power rating

Contests: 17
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 18%
Peak: 1519

Their last contest in the data was back in 2018, 8 years before Clean Smoke BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.

rated over 17 contests

⚔ Compare careers

SMOKE'N'FIRE BBQ TEAM

#3,079 of the rated field

1503 power rating

Contests: 16
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 56%
Peak: 1561

They've been 1561 at their best, 57 points above where they sit today — they're arriving at this rating from above.

rated over 16 contests
last seen Jul 21, 2018

⚔ Compare careers

Familiar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)

Opponent	Meetings	Ahead	Behind	Win rate
SMOKING ACES BBQ SWEDEN	15	3	12	20%	⚔ compare
BBQ+	11	0	11	0%	⚔ compare
SOUTHERN DUTCH BBQ	11	0	11	0%	⚔ compare
ROKENDE REGAHS	10	2	8	20%	⚔ compare
BUNCH OF SWINES	10	1	9	10%	⚔ compare
White Squirrel BBQ	10	0	10	0%	⚔ compare
PUREBBQ	9	1	8	11%	⚔ compare
IQ - NETHERLANDS	9	0	9	0%	⚔ compare
SLOWJOE BBQ SWEDEN	8	3	5	38%	⚔ compare
Badboy Butchers BBQ	8	1	7	13%	⚔ compare
SMOKING FINNS FI	8	1	7	13%	⚔ compare
UNCLE TONY'S COCKNEY Q	8	1	7	13%	⚔ compare
Insomnia BBQ Team	7	3	4	43%	⚔ compare
SMOKE ON THE WILD SIDE	7	1	6	14%	⚔ compare
THE SMOKIN' PORKETEERS	7	1	6	14%	⚔ compare

By meat

Category	Entries	Calls	Wins	Podiums	Best	Worst	Average	Avg finish
Chicken	26	9	1	4	178.8572	128.9372	158.67	top 66%
Pork Ribs	26	9	1	2	174.8572	146.8572	162.98	top 52%
Pork	24	8	1	3	178.8572	143.9428	160.82	top 59%
Brisket	25	7	2	2	177.1428	118.1828	158.71	top 57%

“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)	6	1	top 38%
Medium (20–39)	12	0	top 64%
Large (40+)	8	0	top 77%

By state / province (where the contests were held)

Where	Contests	Avg finish
LT	2	top 34%
KS	2	top 84%
PA	1	top 53%
TN	1	top 93%
KY	1	top 94%
SE	1	top 94%

Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)

Contest	Visits	Best	Avg finish	Last visit
Twin Smoke	2	2	top 34%	May 15, 2026
Smoke in the North	2	16	top 64%	Aug 22, 2025
Beer,Fries & BBQ V (Day 2)	2	36	top 90%	May 12, 2018

More numbers

Busiest season 2019 7 contests

Contests a season 2.6 across 10 seasons in the data

Most contests held in LT 2 of 26 contests · 6 states in all

Contests visited 23 3 of them more than once

First title Aug 15, 2020 Slow Joe's Barn Burner

Opponents faced 868 finished ahead 396 times, behind 1,107

Longest layoff 1.8 yrs Aug 6, 2016 → May 11, 2018

Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)

20262 milestones

May 15 25th tracked contest Twin Smoke
Jul 11 Most recent contest K.S. Que (BACKYARD ONLY)

20241 milestone

May 18 Peak power rating (1508) Twin Smoke

20204 milestones

Aug 15 First Grand Championship Slow Joe's Barn Burner
Aug 15 First multi-meat day Slow Joe's Barn Burner
Aug 15 Career-best overall score696 Slow Joe's Barn Burner
Aug 15 Career-best single call (Pork)178.8572 Slow Joe's Barn Burner

20196 milestones

Jun 15 First overall top-10 BBQ Battle Finland
Jun 15 First overall podium BBQ Battle Finland
Jun 15 First Reserve Championship BBQ Battle Finland
Jun 15 First overall past 90% of a perfect score658.2056 BBQ Battle Finland
Jun 15 10th tracked contest BBQ Battle Finland
Sep 13 First category win (Chicken) Open Polish BBQ Championship

20181 milestone

Sep 22 First call 5th Ruhrpott BBQ 2018

20161 milestone

Aug 6 First tracked contest Smoke in the North

Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)

📈 Biggest rating jumps

Swing	Contest	Date
+17.8	Slow Joe's Barn Burner	Aug 15, 2020
+17.6	BBQ Battle Finland	Jun 15, 2019
+16	Twin Smoke	May 18, 2024
+13.7	Open Polish BBQ Championship	Sep 13, 2019
+8.2	Smoke in the North Edition Q in the Swamp	Aug 26, 2023

📉 Toughest weekends

Swing	Contest	Date
-12.8	Smoke in the North	Aug 6, 2016
-12.1	Beer Fries & BBQ V (Day1)	May 11, 2018
-11.8	Eastern BBQ Contest Day 1	Apr 19, 2019
-10.8	Grillin and Chillin BBQ	Sep 17, 2021
-10.4	Beer,Fries & BBQ VI	May 11, 2019

Scores over time (% of a perfect score, averaged over 5 contests — 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	100%	top 55%	90.6%	90.3%
2025	1	0	0	0	0%	top 58%	88.9%	88.9%
2024	2	0	1	1	100%	top 40%	92.7%	91.9%
2023	2	0	2	0	100%	top 43%	92.9%	91.4%
2022	5	0	2	1	40%	top 73%	91.7%	90.4%
2021	1	0	0	0	0%	top 94%	84.2%	84.2%
2020	1	1	1	2	100%	top 7%	96.7%	96.7%
2019	7	0	2	1	29%	top 63%	95.8%	87.9%
2018	4	0	0	0	25%	top 69%	90%	86.8%
2016	1	0	0	0	0%	top 94%	83.6%	83.6%

Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)

Date	Event	Overall	Chicken	Ribs	Pork	Brisket
Jul 11, 2026	K.S. Que (BACKYARD ONLY) Kennett Square, PA	8 / 15 (326.1944)	8 (162.2400)	9 (163.9544)	—	—
May 15, 2026	Twin Smoke Vilnius, Lithuania	13 / 23 (648.4460)	23 (150.8116)	3 (172.5716)	10 (164.5600)	13 (160.5028)
Aug 22, 2025	Smoke in the North Rolfstorp	18 / 31 (639.9200)	18 (161.6572)	18 (162.2628)	27 (153.7144)	14 (162.2856)
Aug 23, 2024	Smoke in the North Rolfstorp	16 / 23 (655.9428)	9 (169.7028)	5 (170.2744)	22 (155.4172)	15 (160.5484)
May 18, 2024	Twin Smoke Vilnius, Lithuania	2 / 18 (667.3260)	3 (168.5600)	1 (172.5716)	5 (162.8000)	4 (163.3944)
Aug 26, 2023	Smoke in the North Edition Q in the Swamp Rolfstorp	7 / 21 (669.1312)	16 (161.7028)	12 (166.2972)	5 (172.5600)	5 (168.5712)
Aug 18, 2023	BBQ Festival Vanamoisa Saue Parish	8 / 15 (647.4628)	6 (166.2972)	12 (155.4056)	2 (174.3200)	12 (151.4400)
Oct 14, 2022	Jack Daniel's World Championship Invitational Barbecue (Competitor's Series) (JUDGES BY INVITATION ONLY) unrated Lynchburg, TN	77 / 83 (652.4456)	63 (165.0856)	60 (166.8800)	81 (157.6572)	65 (162.8228)
Sep 29, 2022	American Royal World Series of Barbecue - OPEN CONTEST 🏅 Kansas City, KS	387 / 505 (645.1660)	462 (153.6800)	93 (173.2116)	344 (162.8572)	413 (155.4172)
Sep 29, 2022	American Royal World Series of Barbecue - INVITATIONAL CONTEST unrated Kansas City, KS	226 / 249 (660.5260)	218 (163.9772)	216 (163.4516)	206 (165.6800)	156 (167.4172)
Aug 13, 2022	BIGFEAST CHALLENGE Uusikaupunki	5 / 9 (659.9316)	6 (166.2744)	6 (163.9772)	6 (165.1544)	4 (164.5256)
May 14, 2022	Longhorn BBQ Broerup	7 / 14 (637.6116)	9 (161.1200)	11 (154.2172)	14 (145.6572)	1 (176.6172)
Sep 17, 2021	Grillin and Chillin BBQ 🏅 Owensboro, KY	29 / 31 (605.9428)	31 (128.9372)	26 (158.8228)	23 (162.8000)	25 (155.3828)
Aug 15, 2020	Slow Joe's Barn Burner Vedum	1 / 14 (696)	2 (172.5600)	8 (167.4400)	1 (178.8572)	1 (177.1428)
Sep 13, 2019	Open Polish BBQ Championship Poland	5 / 23 (689.6572)	1 (178.8572)	6 (174.8572)	7 (164.5372)	7 (171.4056)
Jul 20, 2019	4th Black Forest Smoke & Wine Festival Bad Bellingen	29 / 44 (638.1828)	27 (161.7028)	13 (166.3088)	—	25 (157.0628)
Jun 15, 2019	BBQ Battle Finland Tampere	2 / 23 (658.2056)	2 (170.8456)	5 (166.2744)	3 (168.0116)	15 (153.0740)
Jun 8, 2019	Tony Stone BBQ Competition Hoofddorp	41 / 55 (634.1828)	42 (158.2744)	13 (166.8572)	45 (154.8344)	38 (154.2168)
May 11, 2019	Beer,Fries & BBQ VI Kapermolenpark, Hasselt	46 / 49 (601.5768)	46 (148.5484)	36 (153.1200)	44 (143.9428)	30 (155.9656)
Apr 20, 2019	Eastern BBQ Contest Day 2 Ninove	23 / 29 (635.3484)	27 (151.9428)	15 (162.8572)	12 (165.7028)	23 (154.8456)
Apr 19, 2019	Eastern BBQ Contest Day 1 Ninove	25 / 25 (573.6116)	25 (137.6572)	23 (146.8572)	25 (145.1544)	21 (143.9428)
Oct 13, 2018	Tallya BBQ Festival Tallya	22 / 38 (647.9544)	14 (165.1200)	27 (158.8916)	28 (157.7028)	15 (166.2400)
Sep 22, 2018	5th Ruhrpott BBQ 2018 Waltrop	29 / 73 (639.4744)	59 (151.9656)	10 (165.7372)	43 (154.3200)	8 (167.4516)
May 12, 2018	Beer,Fries & BBQ V (Day 2) Hasselt	42 / 51 (625.0064)	50 (146.7772)	18 (164.5600)	23 (163.4288)	43 (150.2404)
May 11, 2018	Beer Fries & BBQ V (Day1) Hasselt	36 / 37 (585.9884)	29 (159.3600)	32 (150.2056)	22 (158.2400)	37 (118.1828)
Aug 6, 2016	Smoke in the North Gothenburg, Sweden	29 / 31 (602.1372)	29 (141.6572)	25 (149.6572)	13 (161.7028)	24 (149.1200)

An unrated contest — an invitational, or a Competitor or Kosher Series board — is in the record but doesn’t move the power rating.

Clean Smoke BBQ

At a glance (the record in numbers)

Power ranking

Rating

Contests

First seen

Best ToY finish

Grand champs

Category wins

Overall top-10s

Best top-10 run

Avg finish

Best overall

Perfect 180s

Current form

Walk rate

Best single call

Consistency

Strongest meat

Road miles

Schedule strength

Purse competed for

State championships

Master avg

Backyard avg

Storylines (15 found in their record)

The heartbreaker

Against the odds

A multi-meat day

High-water mark

The one to beat

A tough matchup

The weak link

The drought

A strong matchup

The comeback

Pork Ribs nemesis

A big fish in small ponds

Looking over their shoulder

An August team

The long haul

Team of the Year (rank per category by season — the year links to the full board on kcbs.us)

Overall rank by season

Teams like this (closest power rating)

Familiar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)

By meat

By field size and state

By contest size

By state / province (where the contests were held)

Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)

More numbers

Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)

Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)

📈 Biggest rating jumps

📉 Toughest weekends

Scores over time (% of a perfect score, averaged over 5 contests — 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

Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)

Career map (orange GC · green top-10 · grey the rest — tap a pin)