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.
The ratings favoured the top seed the other 74 times in 100
Their Grand Championship at Cameron Cruise N Que (BACKYARD ONLY) (2019-07-05) came as the ratings underdog — roughly a 26-in-100 shot against the field's top-rated team, SMOKE SHOW.
92.5% of a perfect 720
Their best day on record: 666.2284 at 2nd Annual Cameron Elks BBQ Cook Off (JUDGES FULL) — 92.5% of a perfect 720.
2019 was the year it came together: 5 contests, 1 Grand Championship and 1 category win, at an average finish in the top 42%.
BLUE ISLAND BBQ CO. ahead in 100% of their meetings
BLUE ISLAND BBQ CO. has come out ahead in 5 of their 5 shared contests.
Their last Grand Championship came at Cameron Cruise N Que (BACKYARD ONLY) on 2019-07-05 — 13 contests and 7.2 years ago.
Ahead in 100% of their meetings
They've finished ahead of RATED R PORK STARS in 4 of their 4 shared contests.
BLUE ISLAND BBQ CO. ahead 100% of the time
Even in their strongest meat, BLUE ISLAND BBQ CO. has out-cooked them in 5 of 5 shared chicken entries.
Finished 4 of 39 at their very first tracked contest, Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) ().
Their overall swings ±8.24% of a perfect score around its own average — when it lands they're dangerous, and when it doesn't the weekend is gone by lunch.
Contest to contest, they've covered roughly 20,733 miles across 31 mapped stops — the longest single trip being 1,353 miles to Smoke on the Waterfall.
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.
52 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
This is the highest they've ever been rated, 21 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.
⚔ Head-to-headFewer contests behind them than Limp Brisket has cooked, 19 to 32, which makes theirs the less settled rating of the two.
⚔ Head-to-headTheir last contest in the data was back in 2022, 3 years before Limp Brisket's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-head15 contests and no Grand Championship yet.
⚔ Head-to-headThey turned up 11 years after Limp Brisket did, first appearing in 2024.
⚔ Head-to-headLevel with Limp Brisket on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Head-to-head| Opponent | Meetings | Ahead | Behind | Win rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BLUE ISLAND BBQ CO. | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 22 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 177.7028 | 143.4056 | 159.41 | top 64% |
| Pork Ribs | 25 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 172.5600 | 139.9200 | 159.22 | top 62% |
| Pork | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 170.8228 | 146.8000 | 157.08 | top 78% |
| Brisket | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 171.9772 | 126.8232 | 156.81 | top 70% |
“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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| MS | 4 | 0 | top 85% |
| WI | 3 | 0 | top 75% |
| MO | 3 | 1 | top 26% |
| IL | 3 | 0 | top 63% |
| AL | 2 | 0 | top 91% |
| ME | 2 | 0 | top 80% |
| IN | 1 | 0 | top 92% |
| TX | 1 | 0 | top 32% |
| VA | 1 | 0 | top 81% |
| MN | 1 | 0 | top 96% |
| FL | 1 | 0 | top 52% |
| OK | 1 | 0 | top 74% |
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small (<20 teams) | 1 | 1 | top 13% |
| Medium (20–39) | 11 | 0 | top 73% |
| Large (40+) | 11 | 0 | top 71% |
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +19.6 | West Bottoms BBQ Contest | 2019-09-28 |
| +19.5 | Cameron Cruise N Que (BACKYARD ONLY) | 2019-07-05 |
| +9.6 | Raider Red Meat BBQ & Ribeye Championships | 2022-08-19 |
| +2.9 | 2nd Annual Cameron Elks BBQ Cook Off (JUDGES FULL) | 2019-07-12 |
| +2.7 | Best of the Midwest | 2019-10-18 |
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -11.9 | Smoke on the Waterfall | 2016-06-24 |
| -11.5 | ASTOP’s BBQ 4 ASTOP | 2017-05-19 |
| -11.2 | Kora Kares for Kids | 2024-08-17 |
| -10.9 | *Harbor-Que | 2018-10-05 |
| -10.3 | Foley BBQ & Blues Cook Off (BACKYARD ONLY) | 2020-03-13 |
| Season | Contests | GCs | Top-10s | Category wins | Walk rate | Avg finish | Best overall (% of perfect) | Avg overall (% of perfect) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 100% | top 10% | 89.2% | 89.2% |
| 2025 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 95% | 87.3% | 87.3% |
| 2024 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 95% | 89.2% | 85.8% |
| 2023 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 63% | 91.8% | 91.8% |
| 2022 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 32% | 92.1% | 92.1% |
| 2021 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 94% | 86.8% | 86.8% |
| 2020 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50% | top 88% | 125.1% | 107.3% |
| 2019 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 60% | top 42% | 92.5% | 89.5% |
| 2018 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 84% | 88.5% | 85.7% |
| 2017 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 92% | 87.3% | 84.2% |
| 2016 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 82% | 92.3% | 89.1% |
| 2015 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | — | — | — |
| 2014 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33% | top 52% | 90.7% | 90.7% |
| 2013 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 74% | 86.3% | 86.3% |
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-03-21 | Singing River Smoke-O-Rama (BACKYARD ONLY) Athens, AL | 41 / 43 (314.1944) | 40 (157.1200) | 38 (157.0744) | — | — |
| 2024-08-17 | Kora Kares for Kids 🏅 Hiram, ME | 38 / 39 (593.5428) | 39 (146.2628) | 36 (148.5144) | 37 (151.9656) | 39 (146.8000) |
| 2024-08-17 | Kora Kares for Kids (ONE MEAT RIBS) Hiram, ME | — | — | 13 (171.4172) | — | — |
| 2024-06-07 | Hoosier BBQ Classic 🏅 Franklin, IN | 35 / 38 (642.0684) | 28 (167.9656) | 34 (158.2172) | 35 (160.5256) | 34 (155.3600) |
| 2023-08-19 | Kora Shriners BBQ Competition 🏅 Hiram, ME | 29 / 46 (661.1884) | 37 (161.2000) | 14 (172.5600) | 39 (160.5484) | 20 (166.8800) |
| 2023-08-19 | Kora Shriners BBQ Competition (ONE MEAT RIBS) Hiram, ME | — | — | 20 (160.5600) | — | — |
| 2022-08-19 | Raider Red Meat BBQ & Ribeye Championships 🏅 Lubbock, TX | 19 / 59 (663.3828) | 18 (168.5256) | 18 (168.5944) | 30 (158.2972) | 14 (167.9656) |
| 2021-06-18 | DeSoto Shrine Club 13th Annual BBQ Cook-Off 🏅 Nesbit, MS | 45 / 48 (624.8796) | 45 (149.0400) | 31 (162.7884) | 47 (153.6112) | 38 (159.4400) |
| 2020-06-19 | Desoto Shrine Club 12th Annual BBQ Cook-Off 🏅 Hernando, MS | 42 / 47 (644.4228) | 4 (177.7028) | 46 (151.3600) | 47 (146.8000) | 24 (168.5600) |
| 2020-03-13 | Foley BBQ & Blues Cook Off (BACKYARD ONLY) Foley, AL | 20 / 23 (450.1944) | 19 (148.5372) | 19 (151.4172) | 20 (150.2400) | — |
| 2019-10-18 | Best of the Midwest 🏅 Union Grove, WI | 28 / 52 (648.4572) | 17 (166.8228) | 23 (161.7028) | 30 (161.0972) | 34 (158.8344) |
| 2019-09-28 | West Bottoms BBQ Contest 🏅 Kansas City, MO | 2 / 29 (319.3828) | 3 (154.8228) | 2 (164.5600) | — | — |
| 2019-07-12 | 2nd Annual Cameron Elks BBQ Cook Off (JUDGES FULL) 🏅 Cameron, MO | 20 / 35 (666.2284) | 33 (157.6684) | 10 (170.8572) | 19 (170.8228) | 21 (166.8800) |
| 2019-07-05 | Cameron Cruise N Que (BACKYARD ONLY) Cameron, MO | 1 / 8 (333.1316) | 1 (169.7144) | 4 (163.4172) | — | — |
| 2019-04-26 | Pickin N Pullin BBQ competition 🏅 Lanexa, VA | 26 / 32 (301.6572) | — | 26 (152.0116) | 25 (149.6456) | — |
| 2018-10-19 | *Best of the Midwest BBQ Cook-off Union Grove, WI | 31 / 42 (623.8972) | 38 (149.0968) | 29 (154.2744) | 17 (166.2744) | 32 (154.2516) |
| 2018-10-05 | *Harbor-Que Winthrop Harbor, IL | 27 / 28 (590.1604) | 27 (143.4056) | 22 (154.8116) | 24 (149.6572) | 27 (142.2860) |
| 2018-05-04 | *Route 66 Smoke Out Dwight, IL | 31 / 38 (637.5540) | 36 (152.5372) | 23 (162.8228) | 33 (157.6684) | 22 (164.5256) |
| 2018-04-27 | Pickin N Pullin BBQ competition Lenexa, VA | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2018-01-26 | Lakeland Pig Festival Lakeland, FL | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2017-06-16 | Desoto Shrine Club BBQ Cook off Nesbit, MS | 36 / 41 (628.4460) | 24 (168.5944) | 39 (139.9200) | 34 (161.6916) | 36 (158.2400) |
| 2017-05-19 | ASTOP’s BBQ 4 ASTOP Fond du Lac, WI | 29 / 30 (584.5144) | 28 (154.8112) | 24 (152.0344) | 25 (150.8456) | 30 (126.8232) |
| 2017-01-27 | Lakeland Pig Festival Lakeland, FL | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2016-06-24 | Smoke on the Waterfall Redwoodfalls, MN | 25 / 26 (618.7428) | 21 (162.8456) | 25 (153.1544) | 23 (155.9884) | 23 (146.7544) |
| 2016-06-17 | The Desoto Shrine Club 8th Annual BBQ Cook Off Hernando, MS | 28 / 41 (664.4568) | 29 (162.8684) | 31 (161.6340) | 22 (167.9772) | 14 (171.9772) |
| 2016-01-29 | Lakeland Pig Festival Lakeland, FL | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2015-07-10 | Sauce & Cycles Falls City, NE | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2014-11-07 | When Pigs Fly South Lakeland, FL | 22 / 42 (653.1200) | 7 (172.0000) | 9 (169.1772) | 39 (155.3828) | 26 (156.5600) |
| 2014-07-04 | Sauce and Cycles Falls City, NE | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2014-01-23 | The Tiger Town Pig Festival Lakeland, FL | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2013-05-03 | Bixby BBQ & Blues Festival Bixby, OK | 65 / 88 (621.1426) | 62 (156.0000) | 60 (155.9998) | 64 (155.4286) | 60 (153.7142) |
| Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) Park Ridge, IL | 4 / 39 (321.0968) | 6 (159.4056) | 7 (161.6912) | — | — |
| Year | Series | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 ↗ | Master | #1182 (60 pts) | #1242 (60 pts) | #1317 (60 pts) | #1231 (60 pts) | #1204 (60 pts) |
| 2019 ↗ | Master | #1955 (60 pts) | #1796 (100 pts) | #1967 (70 pts) | #2029 (60 pts) | #2010 (60 pts) |
| 2018 ↗ | Master | #1717 (113 pts) | #1764 (113 pts) | #1530 (138 pts) | #1733 (118 pts) | #1551 (128 pts) |
| 2017 ↗ | Master | #2852 (55 pts) | #2856 (55 pts) | #2304 (60 pts) | #2851 (55 pts) | #2840 (55 pts) |
| 2014 ↗ | Master | #2040 (82 pts) | #1575 (172 pts) | #1641 (152 pts) | #2618 (67 pts) | #2589 (67 pts) |