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 75 times in 100
Their Grand Championship at B-Dale BBQ Contest (BACKYARD ONLY) (2022-08-05) came as the ratings underdog — roughly a 25-in-100 shot against the field's top-rated team, Furlongs Smoke & Seafood.
Took the Grand Championship over a 39-team field at Bring'n Home the Bacon Day 1 (MASTER & BACKYARD).
Bring'n Home the Bacon Day 1 (MASTER & BACKYARD) is their spot: 1 Grand Championship in 2 visits.
They've won two or more meats on the same day 1 time — the best of them 2 category wins at B-Dale BBQ Contest (BACKYARD ONLY) (2022-08-05).
95.0% of a perfect 720
Their best day on record: 684.0120 at Minnesota in May — 95.0% of a perfect 720.
They've taken 1 state championship from 13 entries at contests carrying the title.
Squeeze My Slabs has finished one call ahead of Lucky Shoes BBQ 3 times — their closest competition in the data.
2022 was the year it came together: 13 contests, 3 Grand Championships and 3 category wins, at an average finish in the top 43%.
Sensuous BBQ ahead in 83% of their meetings
Sensuous BBQ has come out ahead in 20 of their 24 shared contests.
Pork Ribs is where the weekend gets away from them — it averages 5.33 points below their pork, and turns into a call 26% of the time against 0%.
Their last Grand Championship came at Boomer Backyard BBQ Cookoff (BACKYARD ONLY) on 2022-08-20 — 24 contests and 4 years ago.
Ahead in 71% of their meetings
They've finished ahead of Unknown Smokers in 10 of their 14 shared contests.
Porket About It has landed one call behind them 2 times.
Something about June: average finish in the top 27% across 5 contests, versus top 55% the rest of the year.
Contest to contest, they've covered roughly 3,595 miles across 38 mapped stops — the longest single trip being 380 miles to 5th Annual KCBS World Invitational - OPEN.
They've cooked Boomer Backyard BBQ Cookoff (BACKYARD ONLY) every year from 2021 to 2024 — the contest they never miss.
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.
76 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
Fewer contests behind them than Lucky Shoes BBQ has cooked, 24 to 38, which makes theirs the less settled rating of the two.
⚔ Head-to-headTheir last contest in the data was back in 2015, 11 years before Lucky Shoes BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-headThey've been 1561 at their best, 32 points above where they sit today — they're arriving at this rating from above.
⚔ Head-to-head15 contests and no Grand Championship yet — a rating made of 20% top-10 finishes rather than wins.
⚔ Head-to-headThey were already cooking in 2013, 8 years before Lucky Shoes BBQ's first contest.
⚔ Head-to-headLevel with Lucky Shoes BBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Head-to-head| Opponent | Meetings | Ahead | Behind | Win rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Ten Bones | 24 | 7 | 17 | 29% | ⚔ compare |
| DAWGS BBQ | 24 | 6 | 18 | 25% | ⚔ compare |
| Furlongs Smoke & Seafood | 24 | 6 | 18 | 25% | ⚔ compare |
| Sensuous BBQ | 24 | 4 | 20 | 17% | ⚔ compare |
| Wrecking Crew BBQ | 24 | 4 | 20 | 17% | ⚔ compare |
| Porket About It | 21 | 7 | 14 | 33% | ⚔ compare |
| Sugar Shack | 21 | 7 | 14 | 33% | ⚔ compare |
| DAD BOD BARBEQUE | 19 | 4 | 15 | 21% | ⚔ compare |
| Pittie Q | 18 | 8 | 10 | 44% | ⚔ compare |
| FENDER BENDER BBQ | 18 | 5 | 13 | 28% | ⚔ compare |
| SMOKEY GQ | 17 | 4 | 13 | 24% | ⚔ compare |
| What’cha Got BBQ | 16 | 7 | 9 | 44% | ⚔ compare |
| Big Racks BBQ | 16 | 4 | 12 | 25% | ⚔ compare |
| Unknown Smokers | 14 | 10 | 4 | 71% | ⚔ compare |
| UGLY BABY BBQ | 14 | 5 | 9 | 36% | ⚔ compare |
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 31 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 177.7144 | 147.4172 | 165.86 | top 50% |
| Pork Ribs | 38 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 176.0000 | 145.0628 | 163.62 | top 56% |
| Pork | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 175.4400 | 164.5832 | 168.94 | top 59% |
| Brisket | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 174.8456 | 156.0000 | 164.27 | top 63% |
“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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| MN | 16 | 2 | top 49% |
| WI | 10 | 1 | top 61% |
| IA | 2 | 0 | top 57% |
| KS | 2 | 0 | top 70% |
| ND | 1 | 0 | top 56% |
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small (<20 teams) | 7 | 1 | top 56% |
| Medium (20–39) | 13 | 2 | top 54% |
| Large (40+) | 11 | 0 | top 55% |
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boomer Backyard BBQ Cookoff (BACKYARD ONLY) | 4 | 1 | 1 | top 48% | 2024-08-17 |
| Minnesota in May | 4 | 15 | 0 | top 47% | 2026-05-08 |
| Bent Brewstillery BBQ (BACKYARD ONLY) | 3 | 7 | 0 | top 39% | 2024-09-07 |
| Bring'n Home the Bacon Day 1 (MASTER & BACKYARD) | 2 | 1 | 1 | top 17% | 2022-06-10 |
| Bring'n Home the Bacon II (BACKYARD) | 2 | 19 | 0 | top 101% | 2023-10-15 |
| Bring'n Home the Bacon II Day 2 (BACKYARD ONLY) | 2 | 13 | 0 | top 80% | 2022-10-15 |
| Bring'n Home the Bacon II Day 1 (BACKYARD ONLY) | 2 | 11 | 0 | top 71% | 2022-10-14 |
| Bring'n Home the Bacon Day 2 (MASTER & BACKYARD) | 2 | 14 | 0 | top 34% | 2022-06-11 |
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +19.6 | Bring'n Home the Bacon Day 1 (MASTER & BACKYARD) | 2022-06-10 |
| +18.3 | Boomer Backyard BBQ Cookoff (BACKYARD ONLY) | 2022-08-20 |
| +18.2 | B-Dale BBQ Contest (BACKYARD ONLY) | 2022-08-05 |
| +9.3 | Boomer Backyard BBQ Cookoff (BACKYARD ONLY) | 2024-08-17 |
| +8.4 | Bent Brewstillery BBQ (BACKYARD ONLY) | 2022-09-10 |
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -12.5 | Bring'n Home the Bacon II Day 1 (BACKYARD) | 2021-10-15 |
| -12.4 | Minnesota in May | 2025-05-09 |
| -12.4 | Fillmore County Fair BBQ Cookoff (BACKYARD ONLY) | 2022-07-22 |
| -12.4 | Bring'n Home the Bacon II Day 2 (BACKYARD) | 2021-10-16 |
| -11.8 | Bring'n Home the Bacon II (MASTER & BACKYARD) | 2023-10-13 |
| Season | Contests | GCs | Top-10s | Category wins | Walk rate | Avg finish | Best overall (% of perfect) | Avg overall (% of perfect) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 43% | 95% | 94% |
| 2025 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 78% | 92.8% | 92.2% |
| 2024 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 60% | top 42% | 94.9% | 93.5% |
| 2023 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 56% | top 69% | 95.9% | 92.2% |
| 2022 | 13 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 62% | top 43% | 97.6% | 92% |
| 2021 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 68% | 92.2% | 88% |
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-05-08 | Minnesota in May 🏅 St. Peter, MN | 23 / 77 (684.0120) | 15 (175.4400) | 20 (172.0232) | 56 (167.4172) | 40 (169.1316) |
| 2026-05-01 | ND BBQ Championship 🏅 Fargo, ND | 40 / 71 (669.6456) | 13 (173.1428) | 25 (169.6800) | 27 (170.8228) | 61 (156.0000) |
| 2026-05-01 | ND BBQ Championship (ONE MEAT RIBS) Fargo, ND | — | — | 33 (153.0972) | — | — |
| 2025-05-09 | Minnesota in May 🏅 St. Peter, MN | 51 / 58 (659.3832) | 58 (157.1200) | 22 (169.7144) | 12 (175.4400) | 53 (157.1088) |
| 2025-05-09 | Minnesota in May (ONE MEAT RIBS) St. Peter, MN | — | — | 39 (159.9544) | — | — |
| 2025-02-21 | Fire on Ice BBQ Championship 🏅 Onamia, MN | 29 / 42 (667.9660) | 28 (167.4172) | 23 (167.4056) | 32 (164.5832) | 20 (168.5600) |
| 2024-09-07 | Bent Brewstillery BBQ (BACKYARD ONLY) Roseville, MN | 7 / 18 (331.9888) | 4 (170.2972) | 8 (161.6916) | — | — |
| 2024-08-17 | Boomer Backyard BBQ Cookoff (BACKYARD ONLY) Canton, MN | 6 / 18 (337.6800) | 4 (172.5484) | 8 (165.1316) | — | — |
| 2024-05-10 | Minnesota in May 🏅 St. Peter, MN | 27 / 58 (683.3600) | 27 (171.9772) | 35 (168.5372) | 40 (168.0000) | 7 (174.8456) |
| 2024-05-10 | Minnesota in May (ONE MEAT RIBS) St. Peter, MN | — | — | 35 (163.4056) | — | — |
| 2024-03-29 | Iowa State BBQ Championship 🏅 Altoona, IA | 21 / 42 (334.8112) | 29 (166.8112) | 17 (168.0000) | — | — |
| 2023-10-15 | Bring'n Home the Bacon II (BACKYARD) West Salem, WI | 19 / 24 (331.3488) | 17 (166.2516) | 16 (165.0972) | — | — |
| 2023-10-13 | Bring'n Home the Bacon II (MASTER & BACKYARD) 🏅 West Salem, WI | 26 / 21 (318.1712) | 9 (170.8228) | 29 (147.3484) | — | — |
| 2023-10-13 | Bring'n Home the Bacon II (ONE MEAT RIBS) West Salem, WI | — | — | 4 (172.5716) | — | — |
| 2023-09-09 | Bent Brewstillery BBQ (BACKYARD ONLY) Roseville, MN | 15 / 30 (332.5256) | 23 (160.5372) | 6 (171.9884) | — | — |
| 2023-08-19 | Boomer Backyard BBQ Cookoff (BACKYARD ONLY) Canton, MN | 10 / 16 (332.5372) | 5 (172.5828) | 12 (159.9544) | — | — |
| 2023-08-12 | 5th Annual KCBS World Invitational - BACKYARD SERIES INVITATIONAL unrated Mayetta, KS | 15 / 29 (345.1320) | 13 (174.2860) | 19 (170.8460) | — | — |
| 2023-08-11 | 5th Annual KCBS World Invitational - OPEN unrated Mayetta, KS | 79 / 90 (661.5544) | 8 (177.7144) | 86 (156.5028) | 67 (167.3828) | 82 (159.9544) |
| 2023-05-12 | Minnesota in May 🏅 St. Peter, MN | 15 / 59 (333.1316) | 15 (166.2744) | 14 (166.8572) | — | — |
| 2023-05-12 | Minnesota in May (One Meat Ribs) St. Peter, MN | — | — | 32 (163.4056) | — | — |
| 2022-10-15 | Bring'n Home the Bacon II Day 2 (BACKYARD ONLY) West Salem, WI | 13 / 20 (334.8000) | 8 (170.2628) | 15 (164.5372) | — | — |
| 2022-10-15 | Bring'n Home the Bacon II (One Meat Ribs) West Salem, WI | — | — | 16 (151.9200) | — | — |
| 2022-10-14 | Bring'n Home the Bacon II Day 1 (BACKYARD ONLY) West Salem, WI | 11 / 22 (332.5144) | 16 (162.8000) | 5 (169.7144) | — | — |
| 2022-09-10 | Bent Brewstillery BBQ (BACKYARD ONLY) Roseville, MN | 8 / 30 (339.3828) | 14 (168.5600) | 5 (170.8228) | — | — |
| 2022-08-20 | Boomer Backyard BBQ Cookoff (BACKYARD ONLY) Canton, MN | 1 / 15 (344.5828) | 3 (172.5484) | 2 (172.0344) | — | — |
| 2022-08-05 | B-Dale BBQ Contest (BACKYARD ONLY) Roseville, MN | 1 / 21 (351.4172) | 1 (175.4172) | 1 (176.0000) | — | — |
| 2022-07-22 | Fillmore County Fair BBQ Cookoff (BACKYARD ONLY) Preston, MN | 13 / 13 (306.2052) | 13 (150.8456) | 13 (155.3596) | — | — |
| 2022-07-15 | Bourbon, Brews & BBQ (BACKYARD) Bancroft, IA | 9 / 14 (329.7144) | 12 (162.8572) | 8 (166.8572) | — | — |
| 2022-06-11 | Bring'n Home the Bacon Day 2 (MASTER & BACKYARD) 🏅 West Salem, WI | 14 / 37 (331.3600) | 15 (166.2400) | 12 (165.1200) | — | — |
| 2022-06-10 | Bring'n Home the Bacon Day 1 (MASTER & BACKYARD) 🏅 West Salem, WI | 1 / 39 (344.5944) | 4 (172.0116) | 1 (172.5828) | — | — |
| 2022-06-03 | Smokin in Steele (Master & Backyard Contest) 🏅 Owatonna, MN | 10 / 33 (314.1940) | 8 (161.1084) | 12 (153.0856) | — | — |
| 2022-05-13 | Minnesota in May (Backyard) Cambridge, MN | 33 / 38 (313.0400) | 34 (152.5028) | 24 (160.5372) | — | — |
| 2022-05-13 | Minnesota in May (One Meat Ribs) Cambridge, MN | — | — | 36 (145.0628) | — | — |
| 2021-10-16 | Bring'n Home the Bacon II Day 2 (BACKYARD) West Salem, WI | 34 / 36 (307.9544) | 36 (147.4172) | 25 (160.5372) | — | — |
| 2021-10-15 | Bring'n Home the Bacon II Day 1 (BACKYARD) West Salem, WI | 37 / 40 (309.7028) | 29 (157.1428) | 35 (152.5600) | — | — |
| 2021-08-21 | Boomer Backyard BBQ Cookoff (BACKYARD ONLY) Canton, MN | 16 / 18 (309.0972) | 17 (150.8228) | 12 (158.2744) | — | — |
| 2021-06-12 | Bring'n Home the Bacon - Day 2 🏅 West Salem, WI | 14 / 45 (332.0228) | 16 (164.0228) | 12 (168.0000) | — | — |
| 2021-06-11 | Bring'n Home the Bacon - Day 1 🏅 West Salem, WI | 16 / 52 (325.1316) | 17 (163.9772) | 14 (161.1544) | — | — |
| Year | Series | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 ↗ | Master | #726 (130 pts) | #630 (230 pts) | #692 (205 pts) | #779 (120 pts) | #780 (120 pts) |
| 2025 ↗ | Master | #875 (120 pts) | #960 (120 pts) | #804 (205 pts) | #762 (185 pts) | #858 (145 pts) |
| 2024 ↗ | Backyard | #150 (386 pts) | #142 (446 pts) | #146 (376 pts) | — | — |
| 2024 ↗ | Master | #1182 (60 pts) | #1242 (60 pts) | #1021 (120 pts) | #1231 (60 pts) | #831 (165 pts) |
| 2023 ↗ | Backyard | — | #104 (619 pts) | #97 (686 pts) | — | — |
| 2023 ↗ | Master | #1255 (60 pts) | #912 (155 pts) | #652 (321 pts) | #1287 (60 pts) | #1296 (60 pts) |
| 2022 ↗ | Backyard | — | #34 (969 pts) | #21 (1141 pts) | — | — |
| 2021 ↗ | Backyard | — | #89 (397 pts) | #73 (457 pts) | — | — |