Master and Backyard overall scores sit on different scales (Master is 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.
Each card leads with the number that made it a story — read straight out of their results, no editorialising.
Chicken is where the weekend gets away from them — it averages 14.37 points below their pork, and turns into a call 0% of the time against 0%.
Off the trail for 3.5 years, then back at Murphysboro BBQ Cook-off/Praise the Lard (2024-09-20).
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.
120 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
One contest in common so far: too few to settle anything, but a team Smokin J's has actually stood beside rather than a stranger on the same rating.
⚔ Head-to-headCareers of much the same size, 5 contests to 5, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Head-to-headTheir last contest in the data was back in 2022, 3 years before Smokin J's's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-headLevel with Smokin J's on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Head-to-headThey were already cooking in 2013, 6 years before Smokin J's's first contest.
⚔ Head-to-headTheir last contest in the data was back in 2017, 8 years before Smokin J's's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-head| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 157.0628 | 124.3312 | 145.16 | top 95% |
| Pork Ribs | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 169.7144 | 133.7256 | 154.61 | top 80% |
| Pork | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 162.8116 | 155.3828 | 159.53 | top 86% |
| Brisket | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 162.8116 | 144.0000 | 155.39 | top 78% |
“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.
| Where | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| IL | 2 | 0 | top 98% |
| GA | 1 | 0 | top 81% |
| MO | 1 | 0 | top 100% |
| KS | 1 | 0 | top 65% |
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medium (20–39) | 3 | 0 | top 93% |
| Large (40+) | 2 | 0 | top 83% |
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -15.3 | American Royal Backyard and Steak Contest | 2021-03-12 |
| -11.1 | Code 3 Spices - Smokin' on Main | 2025-07-26 |
| -10.9 | Murphysboro BBQ Cook-off/Praise the Lard | 2024-09-20 |
| -7.2 | Pigs & Peaches | 2025-08-15 |
| -4.1 | The Great Lenexa BBQ Battle-Kansas State Championship | 2019-06-21 |
| Season | Contests | GCs | Top-10s | Category wins | Walk rate | Avg finish | Best overall (% of perfect) | Avg overall (% of perfect) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 89% | 90.6% | 88% |
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 100% | 81.8% | 81.8% |
| 2021 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 100% | 74.9% | 74.9% |
| 2019 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 65% | 88% | 88% |
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-08-15 | Pigs & Peaches 🏅 Kennesaw, GA | 22 / 27 (652.4004) | 26 (157.0628) | 17 (169.7144) | 22 (162.8116) | 21 (162.8116) |
| 2025-07-26 | Code 3 Spices - Smokin' on Main 🏅 Collinsville, IL | 31 / 32 (614.1708) | 32 (156.5140) | 32 (151.3940) | 31 (162.2628) | 31 (144.0000) |
| 2024-09-20 | Murphysboro BBQ Cook-off/Praise the Lard 🏅 Murphysboro, IL | 58 / 58 (588.7540) | 58 (124.3312) | 54 (155.9656) | 56 (155.3828) | 54 (153.0744) |
| 2021-03-12 | American Royal Backyard and Steak Contest Kansas City, MO | 24 / 24 (269.6912) | 23 (135.9656) | 24 (133.7256) | — | — |
| 2019-06-21 | The Great Lenexa BBQ Battle-Kansas State Championship 🏅 Lenexa, KS | 119 / 183 (633.5316) | 155 (151.9316) | 82 (162.2628) | 130 (157.6572) | 84 (161.6800) |
| Year | Series | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 ↗ | Master | #1121 (67 pts) | #1446 (57 pts) | #1197 (92 pts) | #1163 (67 pts) | #1139 (72 pts) |