The heartbreaker
4.5828
points from the title
Came within 4.5828 points of the Grand Championship at Smoke in the Orchard, Powered by Sunpoke (Aug 8, 2025).
Cook the books
Cook the books is a competition barbecue team with 12 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2022 and 2026. They have won 2 Grand Championships, most recently at the Smoke on the Bay BBQ Cookoff (2026), and finished Reserve Grand Champion 4 times. They are ranked #1335 of 6,491 teams in the KCBS power rankings. Also listed in KCBS results as “Cook the Books`”.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1577
peak 1577 · rated over 8 contests2 invitational or side-series contests not counted
Contests
12
in the data
First seen
Aug 13, 2022
latest Aug 22, 2026 · 4 years on the trail
Grand champs
2
4 reserve · wins it all 17% of the time
Category wins
5
17 podiums
Overall top-10s
6
50% of 12 contests
Best top-10 run
3
straight overall top-10s
Avg finish
top 33%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
2 🔥
Current form
696.87 ▲
last 5 Master vs avg 684.31 (+12.56)
Walk rate
58%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±18.57
spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Chicken
avg 173.99 · weakest Brisket (169.87)
Road miles
6,168
across 12 mapped stops · furthest 1,622 mi
Schedule strength
26%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1536)
Purse competed for
$138K
listed at 5 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 2 state-championship entries
Master avg
684.31 / 720
9 Master contests · 2 GCs
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 | #394 (500 pts) | #491 (415 pts) | #498 (425 pts) | #497 (380 pts) | #392 (525 pts) |
| 2025 ↗ | Master | #304 (713 pts) | #490 (458 pts) | #376 (688 pts) | #317 (713 pts) | #365 (613 pts) |
| 2024 ↗ | Master | #1182 (60 pts) | #1211 (70 pts) | #641 (320 pts) | #1145 (80 pts) | #1204 (60 pts) |
| 2023 ↗ | Master | #938 (120 pts) | #1011 (120 pts) | #1118 (120 pts) | #989 (120 pts) | #989 (120 pts) |
| 2022 ↗ | Master | #674 (261 pts) | #701 (261 pts) | #890 (186 pts) | #701 (261 pts) | #743 (236 pts) |
Overall rank by season
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The teams rated closest to Cook the books, each with one reason worth a look.
40 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#1,325 of the rated field
- Contests
- 26
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 38%
- Peak
- 1578
0–1 in 1 shared contest (0% to Cook the books)
One contest in common so far: too few to settle anything, but a team Cook the books has actually stood beside rather than a stranger on the same rating.
⚔ Head-to-head#1,332 of the rated field
- Contests
- 28
- GCs
- 1
- Top-10s
- 21%
- Peak
- 1591
0–1 in 1 shared contest (0% to Cook the books)
A longer road to the same neighbourhood — 28 contests to 12.
⚔ Head-to-head#1,333 of the rated field
- Contests
- 10
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 50%
- Peak
- 1577
This is the highest they've ever been rated, 10 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.
⚔ Compare careers#1,323 of the rated field
- Contests
- 15
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 67%
- Peak
- 1591
15 contests and no Grand Championship yet — a rating made of 67% top-10 finishes rather than wins.
⚔ Compare careers#1,337 of the rated field
- Contests
- 15
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 27%
- Peak
- 1577
Their last contest in the data was back in 2019, 7 years before Cook the books's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#1,336 of the rated field
- Contests
- 15
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 33%
- Peak
- 1577
They were already cooking in 2013, 9 years before Cook the books's first contest.
⚔ Compare careersFamiliar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)
| Opponent | Meetings | Ahead | Behind | Win rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GOOD GOOGLY GOO BBQ | 6 | 2 | 4 | 33% | ⚔ compare |
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 180 🔥 | 167.9656 | 173.99 | top 33% |
| Pork Ribs | 11 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 179.4400 | 157.6572 | 170.79 | top 35% |
| Pork | 10 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 179.4400 | 158.8112 | 171.25 | top 40% |
| Brisket | 10 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 180 🔥 | 162.2284 | 169.87 | top 41% |
“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 | 2 | top 13% |
| Medium (20–39) | 1 | 0 | top 69% |
| Large (40+) | 3 | 0 | top 61% |
Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Throttled Up BBQ Throwdown | 2 | 2 | 0 | top 15% | Jun 6, 2026 |
More numbers
Busiest season
2025
4 contests
Contests a season
2.4
across 5 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
NS
4 of 12 contests · 5 states and provinces in all
Contests visited
9
1 of them more than once
Most-entered meat
Pork Ribs
11 entries · 0 wins · 7 calls
First title
Aug 13, 2022
Atlantic Canada Championship BBQ Festival
Opponents faced
620
finished ahead 345 times, behind 545
Longest layoff
1.1 yrs
Aug 13, 2022 → Sep 27, 2023
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20263 milestones
- First perfect 180 (Chicken) Throttled Up BBQ Throwdown
- Peak power rating (1577) Smoke on the Bay BBQ Cookoff
- Most recent contest Smoke on the Bay BBQ Cookoff
20253 milestones
- First Reserve Championship Throttled Up BBQ Throwdown
- Career-best overall score707.4172 Smoke in the Orchard, Powered by Sunpoke
- 10th tracked contest Jack Daniel's World Championship Invitational Barbecue (Competitor's Series) (JUDGES BY INVITATION ONLY)
20228 milestones
- First tracked contest Atlantic Canada Championship BBQ Festival
- First call Atlantic Canada Championship BBQ Festival
- First category win (Chicken) Atlantic Canada Championship BBQ Festival
- First overall top-10 Atlantic Canada Championship BBQ Festival
- First overall podium Atlantic Canada Championship BBQ Festival
- First Grand Championship Atlantic Canada Championship BBQ Festival
- First multi-meat day Atlantic Canada Championship BBQ Festival
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score693.6456 Atlantic Canada Championship BBQ Festival
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +16.2 | Atlantic Canada Championship BBQ Festival | Aug 13, 2022 |
| +15.6 | Throttled Up BBQ Throwdown | Jun 8, 2025 |
| +13.5 | Smoke on the Bay BBQ Cookoff | Aug 22, 2026 |
| +13.1 | Smoke in the Orchard, Powered by Sunpoke | Aug 8, 2025 |
| +12.1 | Throttled Up BBQ Throwdown | Jun 6, 2026 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -4.7 | Kora Kares for Kids | Aug 17, 2024 |
| -0.5 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest | Sep 27, 2023 |
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 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 100% | top 12% | 97.9% | 96.5% |
| 2025 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 75% | top 19% | 98.3% | 96.7% |
| 2024 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50% | top 69% | 91.3% | 91.3% |
| 2023 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 77% | 92.5% | 91.9% |
| 2022 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 100% | top 9% | 96.3% | 96.3% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 22, 2026 | Smoke on the Bay BBQ Cookoff Little Brook, NS | 1 / 10 (684.5372) | 6 (170.2628) | 3 (169.1544) | 2 (174.8456) | 1 (170.2744) |
| Jun 6, 2026 | Throttled Up BBQ Throwdown Upper Onslow, NS | 2 / 15 (705.1428) | 1 (180) | 3 (176.0228) | 7 (169.1200) | 1 (180) |
| Oct 10, 2025 | Jack Daniel's World Championship Invitational Barbecue (Competitor's Series) (JUDGES BY INVITATION ONLY) unrated Lynchburg, TN | 25 / 90 (691.4516) | 11 (177.1544) | 15 (176.5600) | 38 (172.5828) | 70 (165.1544) |
| Aug 8, 2025 | Smoke in the Orchard, Powered by Sunpoke Keswick, NB | 2 / 15 (707.4172) | 8 (174.2628) | 3 (176.5716) | 2 (179.4400) | 2 (177.1428) |
| Jul 19, 2025 | The Great Atlantic BBQ Competition Bible Hill, NS | 2 / 11 (686.7196) | 5 (169.6684) | 2 (171.9656) | 2 (176.5600) | 4 (168.5256) |
| Jun 8, 2025 | Throttled Up BBQ Throwdown Upper Onslow, NS | 2 / 12 (700.5488) | 5 (174.8456) | 2 (174.2860) | 2 (176.5600) | 4 (174.8572) |
| Aug 17, 2024 | Kora Kares for Kids 🏅 Hiram, ME | 27 / 39 (657.0168) | 23 (167.9656) | 31 (160.5256) | 21 (166.2972) | 28 (162.2284) |
| Aug 17, 2024 | Kora Kares for Kids (ONE MEAT RIBS) Hiram, ME | — | — | 2 (179.4400) | — | — |
| Sep 27, 2023 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Sides Kansas City, KS | — | — | — | — | — |
| Sep 27, 2023 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Invitational Contest unrated Kansas City, KS | 197 / 211 (658.1256) | 45 (175.4172) | 207 (157.6572) | 200 (161.1084) | 174 (163.9428) |
| Sep 27, 2023 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest 🏅 Kansas City, KS | 296 / 487 (665.6456) | 106 (173.7144) | 217 (169.7028) | 400 (158.8112) | 315 (163.4172) |
| Aug 13, 2022 | Atlantic Canada Championship BBQ Festival Nova Scotia | 1 / 11 (693.6456) | 1 (176.5600) | 4 (166.8228) | 1 (177.1428) | 2 (173.1200) |
An unrated contest — an invitational, or a Competitor or Kosher Series board — is in the record but doesn’t move the power rating.