High-water mark
671.3948
career-best overall
93.2% of a perfect 720
Their best day on record: 671.3948 at Reata Round Up BBQ Contest — 93.2% of a perfect 720.
- Master
- Aug 12, 2022
OPERATION DESSERT STORM BBQ
OPERATION DESSERT STORM BBQ is a competition barbecue team with 7 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2022 and 2025. Their best overall finish is 4th of 37 at the Horse Town Brew N Que Festival (2022). They are ranked #4183 of 6,477 teams in the KCBS power rankings.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1479
peak 1517 · rated over 7 contests
Contests
7
in the data
First seen
Jun 3, 2022
latest May 30, 2025 · 3 years on the trail
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
1 podium
Overall top-10s
1
14% of 7 contests
Avg finish
top 68%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
644.08 ▼
last 5 Master vs avg 648.63 (-4.55)
Walk rate
29%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±14.47
spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork
avg 163.51 · weakest Brisket (160.63)
Road miles
437
across 7 mapped stops · furthest 175 mi
Schedule strength
59%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1574)
Purse competed for
$72K
listed at 7 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 7 state-championship entries
Master avg
648.63 / 720
6 Master contests · 0 GCs
Backyard avg
325.07 / 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)
| Year | Series | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 ↗ | Master | #1141 (62 pts) | #1213 (62 pts) | #1270 (67 pts) | #1163 (67 pts) | #1182 (62 pts) |
| 2023 ↗ | Master | #660 (238 pts) | #664 (263 pts) | #721 (273 pts) | #662 (253 pts) | #655 (263 pts) |
| 2022 ↗ | Master | #1065 (115 pts) | #958 (145 pts) | #1346 (75 pts) | #1220 (95 pts) | #1001 (125 pts) |
Overall rank by season
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The teams rated closest to OPERATION DESSERT STORM BBQ, each with one reason worth a look.
137 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#4,177 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1479
Careers of much the same size, 7 contests to 7, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#4,178 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1479
They were already cooking in 2013, 9 years before OPERATION DESSERT STORM BBQ's first contest.
⚔ Compare careers#4,175 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 14%
- Peak
- 1500
Their last contest in the data was back in 2019, 6 years before OPERATION DESSERT STORM BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#4,185 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1509
They've been 1509 at their best, 30 points above where they sit today — they're arriving at this rating from above.
⚔ Compare careers#4,188 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1479
Level with OPERATION DESSERT STORM BBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Compare careers#4,189 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1479
Their last contest in the data was back in 2016, 9 years before OPERATION DESSERT STORM BBQ'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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meat Candy Q | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| LADY OF Q | 6 | 2 | 4 | 33% | ⚔ compare |
| SIMPLY MARVELOUS BBQ | 6 | 1 | 5 | 17% | ⚔ compare |
| SMOKIN' VOLTS BBQ | 6 | 1 | 5 | 17% | ⚔ compare |
| B' Mackin BBQ | 6 | 1 | 5 | 17% | ⚔ compare |
| WILD WILLY'S SMOKIN HOT BBQ | 5 | 2 | 3 | 40% | ⚔ compare |
| CHULENGO Smoker Team | 5 | 1 | 4 | 20% | ⚔ compare |
| LOOT N' BOOTY BBQ | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| BIG POPPA SMOKERS | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 171.4172 | 157.0856 | 162.66 | top 63% |
| Pork Ribs | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 168.5944 | 155.3712 | 161.36 | top 71% |
| Pork | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 169.1200 | 158.7884 | 163.51 | top 77% |
| Brisket | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 168.5716 | 145.6116 | 160.63 | top 66% |
“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) | 5 | 0 | top 64% |
| Large (40+) | 2 | 0 | top 77% |
Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Horse Town Brew n Que Festival (Day 1) | 3 | 4 | 0 | top 61% | May 30, 2025 |
More numbers
Busiest season
2023
3 contests
Contests a season
2.3
across 3 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
CA
6 of 7 contests · 2 states in all
Contests visited
5
1 of them more than once
Opponents faced
130
finished ahead 80 times, behind 166
Longest layoff
2 yrs
Jun 2, 2023 → May 30, 2025
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20251 milestone
- Most recent contest Horse Town Brew n Que Festival (Day 1)
20227 milestones
- First tracked contest Horse Town Brew N Que Festival
- First call Horse Town Brew N Que Festival
- First overall top-10 Horse Town Brew N Que Festival
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score325.0744 Horse Town Brew N Que Festival
- Career-best overall score671.3948 Reata Round Up BBQ Contest
- Career-best single call (Chicken)171.4172 Reata Round Up BBQ Contest
- Peak power rating (1517) Reata Round Up BBQ Contest
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +13.2 | Horse Town Brew N Que Festival | Jun 3, 2022 |
| +3.5 | Reata Round Up BBQ Contest | Aug 12, 2022 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -11.3 | 2022 Indio California State BBQ Championship & Festival | Nov 4, 2022 |
| -8.2 | Horse Town Brew n Que Festival | Jun 2, 2023 |
| -8 | Horse Town Brew n Que Festival (Day 1) | May 30, 2025 |
| -6.9 | BBQ, Boots & Brew | Apr 28, 2023 |
| -2.9 | Slab-O-Rama Barbeque Challenge | Jan 13, 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 85% | 86.5% | 86.5% |
| 2023 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 79% | 90.8% | 90.5% |
| 2022 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 67% | top 51% | 93.2% | 91% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 30, 2025 | Horse Town Brew n Que Festival (Day 1) 🏅 Norco, CA | 23 / 27 (622.5832) | 23 (158.2288) | 22 (159.9544) | 22 (158.7884) | 23 (145.6116) |
| Jun 2, 2023 | Horse Town Brew n Que Festival 🏅 Norco, CA | 37 / 43 (650.7428) | 20 (170.2744) | 38 (155.3712) | 38 (163.9772) | 33 (161.1200) |
| Apr 28, 2023 | BBQ, Boots & Brew 🏅 Perris, CA | 27 / 33 (650.2400) | 32 (157.0856) | 18 (168.5944) | 26 (162.8572) | 23 (161.7028) |
| Jan 13, 2023 | Slab-O-Rama Barbeque Challenge 🏅 Bullhead City, AZ | 31 / 45 (653.5544) | 34 (162.2400) | 40 (157.1088) | 22 (169.1200) | 22 (165.0856) |
| Nov 4, 2022 | 2022 Indio California State BBQ Championship & Festival 🏅 Indio, CA | 33 / 35 (643.2916) | 32 (162.2516) | 34 (156.5372) | 31 (162.8112) | 27 (161.6916) |
| Aug 12, 2022 | Reata Round Up BBQ Contest 🏅 San Juan Capistrano, CA | 12 / 25 (671.3948) | 8 (171.4172) | 20 (163.9772) | — | 10 (168.5716) |
| Jun 3, 2022 | Horse Town Brew N Que Festival 🏅 Norco, CA | 4 / 37 (325.0744) | 4 (157.0972) | 2 (167.9772) | — | — |