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.
Pork Ribs is where the weekend gets away from them — it averages 11.34 points below their chicken, and turns into a call 0% of the time against 60%.
Off the trail for 8.1 years, then back at Vine St. BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) (2022-08-20).
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.
Uncle Mikes BBQ has 4 rated contests — short of the five it takes to earn a power ranking — so this rating has barely moved off the 1500 every team starts on and 150 rated teams sit within a point of it. Read the list as the nearest company at a number nobody here has moved far from, not as a verdict on who this team belongs with.
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 5, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Head-to-headLevel with Uncle Mikes BBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Head-to-headThey turned up 6 years after Uncle Mikes BBQ did, first appearing in 2019.
⚔ 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-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 2019, 4 years before Uncle Mikes BBQ'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 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 168.5716 | 145.1544 | 160.21 | top 43% |
| Pork Ribs | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 161.7144 | 130.8116 | 148.87 | top 70% |
| Pork | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 165.6800 | 145.1200 | 155.40 | top 68% |
| Brisket | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 153.6800 | 152.5600 | 153.12 | top 68% |
“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 | 3 | 0 | top 43% |
| MI | 2 | 0 | top 83% |
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medium (20–39) | 3 | 0 | top 64% |
| Large (40+) | 2 | 0 | top 52% |
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) | 3 | 5 | 0 | top 43% | 2023-09-16 |
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +13.4 | Vine St. BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) | 2022-08-20 |
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -14.8 | Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) | 2023-09-16 |
| -11.8 | Taste of Grand Rapids 2014 | 2014-07-25 |
| -7.2 | Taste of Grand Rapids | 2013-07-19 |
| 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 21% | 88.1% | 88.1% |
| 2023 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 97% | 83.2% | 83.2% |
| 2022 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 100% | top 12% | 91.3% | 91.3% |
| 2014 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 91% | 81.3% | 81.3% |
| 2013 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 74% | 87.8% | 87.8% |
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-09-16 | Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) Park Ridge, IL | 34 / 35 (299.3832) | 9 (168.5716) | 35 (130.8116) | — | — |
| 2022-08-20 | Vine St. BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) Park Ridge, IL | 5 / 41 (328.5372) | 5 (166.8228) | 17 (161.7144) | — | — |
| 2014-07-25 | Taste of Grand Rapids 2014 Grand Rapids, MI | 50 / 55 (585.5888) | 52 (145.1544) | 51 (142.7544) | 54 (145.1200) | 37 (152.5600) |
| 2013-07-19 | Taste of Grand Rapids Comstock Park, MI | 29 / 39 (631.8400) | 28 (160.5372) | 33 (151.9428) | 15 (165.6800) | 27 (153.6800) |
| Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) Park Ridge, IL | 8 / 39 (317.0972) | 5 (159.9772) | 13 (157.1200) | — | — |