Their season
2021
their best year
2021 was the year it came together: 3 contests, 0 Grand Championships and 0 category wins, at an average finish in the top 65%.
- 3 contests
- 0 overall top-10s
- 0 category wins
- average top 65%
Big JT and the pork pistols
Big JT and the pork pistols is a competition barbecue team with 9 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2018 and 2025. Their best overall finish is 18th of 40 at the Bring'n Home the Bacon II Day 1 (BACKYARD) (2021). They are ranked #5957 of 6,476 teams in the KCBS power rankings.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1436
peak 1436 · rated over 9 contests
Contests
9
in the data
First seen
Sep 7, 2018
latest Sep 5, 2025 · 7 years on the trail
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
0 podiums
Overall top-10s
0
0% of 9 contests
Avg finish
top 83%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
621.27 ▲
last 5 Master vs avg 617.99 (+3.28)
Walk rate
11%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±11.16
spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Chicken
avg 161.16 · weakest Pork (150.55)
Road miles
186
across 9 mapped stops · furthest 51 mi
Schedule strength
45%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1558)
Purse competed for
$47K
listed at 8 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 6 state-championship entries
Master avg
617.99 / 720
7 Master contests · 0 GCs
Backyard avg
325.69 / 360
2 Backyard contests · 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)
| Year | Series | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 ↗ | Master | #1148 (60 pts) | #1221 (60 pts) | #1293 (60 pts) | #1190 (60 pts) | #1190 (60 pts) |
| 2023 ↗ | Master | #1604 (53 pts) | #1291 (68 pts) | #1680 (58 pts) | #1602 (53 pts) | #1265 (68 pts) |
| 2022 ↗ | Master | #807 (180 pts) | #868 (180 pts) | #912 (180 pts) | #759 (230 pts) | #837 (180 pts) |
| 2021 ↗ | Backyard | — | #136 (205 pts) | #134 (185 pts) | — | — |
| 2021 ↗ | Master | #1540 (55 pts) | #1544 (55 pts) | #1144 (105 pts) | #1539 (55 pts) | #828 (170 pts) |
Overall rank by season
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The teams rated closest to Big JT and the pork pistols, each with one reason worth a look.
54 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#5,956 of the rated field
- Contests
- 9
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1436
This is the highest they've ever been rated, 9 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.
⚔ Compare careers#5,953 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1437
Careers of much the same size, 7 contests to 9, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#5,958 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1436
Their last contest in the data was back in 2017, 8 years before Big JT and the pork pistols's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#5,952 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1437
They were already cooking in 2013, 5 years before Big JT and the pork pistols's first contest.
⚔ Compare careers#5,954 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1437
Level with Big JT and the pork pistols on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Compare careers#5,951 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1437
Their last contest in the data was back in 2018, 7 years before Big JT and the pork pistols's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careersFamiliar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)
| Opponent | Meetings | Ahead | Behind | Win rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UGLY BABY BBQ | 7 | 1 | 6 | 14% | ⚔ compare |
| Good Grefe! | 6 | 2 | 4 | 33% | ⚔ compare |
| ACES HIGH BBQ | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| SIX BUTT BBQ | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| Black Crown Barbeque | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| Can Country Outlaw BBQ | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| HOT DADDY'S BBQ | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| QUE U | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| WICKED SMOKE BBQ | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| CANARDLY WAIT 4 QUE | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 166.8456 | 155.3484 | 161.16 | top 71% |
| Pork Ribs | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 164 | 150.2288 | 157.62 | top 75% |
| Pork | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 169.6800 | 131.9428 | 150.55 | top 85% |
| Brisket | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 170.2744 | 135.3144 | 150.63 | top 83% |
“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) | 8 | 0 | top 88% |
| Large (40+) | 1 | 0 | top 45% |
Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Puckaway Pigfest | 4 | 26 | 0 | top 89% | Sep 5, 2025 |
More numbers
Busiest season
2022
3 contests
Contests a season
1.8
across 5 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
WI
9 of 9 contests
Contests visited
6
1 of them more than once
Opponents faced
158
finished ahead 55 times, behind 303
Longest layoff
3 yrs
Sep 7, 2018 → Sep 10, 2021
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20251 milestone
- Most recent contest Puckaway Pigfest
20221 milestone
- Career-best overall score636.9488 Puckaway Pigfest
20213 milestones
- First call Puckaway Pigfest
- Career-best single call (Brisket)170.2744 Puckaway Pigfest
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score325.7028 Bring'n Home the Bacon II Day 1 (BACKYARD)
20182 milestones
- First tracked contest Puckaway Pigfest
- Peak power rating (1491) Puckaway Pigfest
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +4.2 | Bring'n Home the Bacon II Day 1 (BACKYARD) | Oct 15, 2021 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -11.8 | Bring'n Home the Bacon Day 1 (MASTER & BACKYARD) | Jun 10, 2022 |
| -11.5 | Puckaway Pigfest | Sep 10, 2021 |
| -11 | Bring'n Home the Bacon Day 2 (MASTER & BACKYARD) | Jun 11, 2022 |
| -9.2 | Puckaway Pigfest | Sep 7, 2018 |
| -8.6 | Puckaway Pigfest | Sep 8, 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 91% | 86.7% | 86.7% |
| 2023 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 93% | 84.9% | 84.9% |
| 2022 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 95% | 88.5% | 86.6% |
| 2021 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33% | top 65% | 90.5% | 89% |
| 2018 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 84% | 83.4% | 83.4% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 5, 2025 | Puckaway Pigfest 🏅 Montello, WI | 32 / 35 (624.2860) | 27 (163.9544) | 31 (158.8116) | 33 (150.1944) | 33 (151.3256) |
| Sep 8, 2023 | Puckaway Pigfest 🏅 Montello, WI | 26 / 28 (611.2456) | 22 (157.0856) | 24 (154.8344) | 28 (143.9084) | 22 (155.4172) |
| Sep 9, 2022 | Puckaway Pigfest 🏅 Montello, WI | 34 / 38 (636.9488) | 29 (161.0856) | 34 (154.8116) | 15 (169.6800) | 35 (151.3716) |
| Jun 11, 2022 | Bring'n Home the Bacon Day 2 (MASTER & BACKYARD) 🏅 West Salem, WI | 36 / 37 (609.4516) | 35 (159.9428) | 34 (154.8000) | 36 (150.2172) | 36 (144.4916) |
| Jun 10, 2022 | Bring'n Home the Bacon Day 1 (MASTER & BACKYARD) 🏅 West Salem, WI | 38 / 39 (624.4000) | 36 (162.2744) | 31 (160.5484) | 37 (155.3600) | 39 (146.2172) |
| Oct 16, 2021 | Bring'n Home the Bacon II Day 2 (BACKYARD) West Salem, WI | 22 / 36 (325.6684) | 13 (166.8456) | 28 (158.8228) | — | — |
| Oct 15, 2021 | Bring'n Home the Bacon II Day 1 (BACKYARD) West Salem, WI | 18 / 40 (325.7028) | 20 (161.7028) | 12 (164) | — | — |
| Sep 10, 2021 | Puckaway Pigfest 🏅 Montello, WI | 27 / 30 (619.2460) | 26 (155.3484) | 15 (161.6804) | 30 (131.9428) | 6 (170.2744) |
| Sep 7, 2018 | Puckaway Pigfest Montello, WI | 26 / 31 (600.3204) | 14 (162.2400) | 26 (150.2288) | 22 (152.5372) | 31 (135.3144) |