The Pig's Pajamas NJ
Rating
1635
peak 1640
Contests
30
in the data
First seen
2019-04-27
latest 2023-06-24
Best ToY finish
#127
Master 2022
Grand champs
4
2 reserve
Category wins
6
12 podiums
Overall top-10s
16
of 30 contests
Avg finish
top 28%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
677.88 ▲
last 5 vs career avg 674.46 (+3.42)
Walk rate
87%
contests with a top-10 call
Top-10 streak
4
best run (overall)
Consistency
±11.73
std dev of overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Chicken
avg 171.10 · weakest Pork (167.47)
Road miles
6039
mi across 30 mapped stops · furthest 1052 mi
Storylines
🎯 The one to beat
WOLF'S REVENGE BBQ has finished one call ahead of The Pig's Pajamas 2 times — their closest competition in the data.
👀 Looking over their shoulder
FOUR SMOKING GUYS has landed one call behind them 3 times.
⚔️ A tough matchup
INSANE SWINE BBQ has come out ahead in 13 of their 16 shared contests.
⚔️ A strong matchup
They've finished ahead of BIG BOB'S SMOKIN QUE in 11 of their 11 shared contests.
🏕️ Happy hunting ground
Twin Valley Fire and Smoke is their spot: 1 Grand Championship in 2 visits.
💔 The heartbreaker
Came within 4.0344 points of the Grand Championship at I Love Barbecue & Music Festival (2021-09-03).
🗡️ Giant slayer
Took the Grand Championship over a 46-team field at Twin Valley Fire and Smoke.
📅 A May team
Something about May: average finish in the top 3% across 3 contests, versus top 28% the rest of the year.
🃏 Against the odds
Their Grand Championship at New Jersey KnoQ-out: Day 2-CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES (2022-04-23) came as the ratings underdog — roughly a 24-in-100 shot against the field's top-rated team, WOLF'S REVENGE BBQ.
Teams like this (closest power rating, NJ first)
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 27 | 14 | 3 | 4 | 179.4400 | 161.6456 | 171.10 | top 30% |
| Pork Ribs | 29 | 15 | 0 | 3 | 177.1428 | 157.6916 | 167.97 | top 35% |
| Pork | 27 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 177.7028 | 157.1316 | 167.47 | top 38% |
| Brisket | 27 | 16 | 3 | 4 | 177.7028 | 158.8800 | 168.23 | top 32% |
“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 state / province
| Where | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| NJ | 8 | 1 | top 37% |
| NY | 7 | 0 | top 25% |
| PA | 5 | 1 | top 16% |
| KS | 2 | 0 | top 48% |
| NH | 2 | 1 | top 19% |
| MA | 1 | 0 | top 35% |
| VT | 1 | 0 | top 42% |
| ON | 1 | 1 | top 2% |
By contest size
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small (<20 teams) | 3 | 0 | top 41% |
| Medium (20–39) | 10 | 1 | top 26% |
| Large (40+) | 14 | 3 | top 27% |
The story so far
- Busiest season: 2022 (12 contests)
- Cooks mostly in NJ (10 of 30 contests)
- Most-entered category: Pork Ribs (29 entries)
- First Grand Championship in the data: Capital BBQ Festival (2019-05-25)
- Wins it all in 13% of contests
- All-time average overall score: 674.46
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
Category scores over time
Overall finish over time (top-% of field, lower is better)
Where they finish (overall)
Best vs average (by meat)
Team of the Year rank by season
Season by season
| Season | Contests | GCs | Category wins | Best overall | Avg overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 686.8112 | 686.81 |
| 2022 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 695.4056 | 680.00 |
| 2021 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 695.4284 | 676.04 |
| 2020 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 674.1596 | 666.55 |
| 2019 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 674.8800 | 667.39 |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-06-24 | Frog Alley BREW-B-QUE Cookoff Schenectady, NY | 6 / 19 (686.8112) | 3 (174.8456) | 2 (173.1428) | 9 (168.5372) | 7 (170.2856) |
| 2022-10-01 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue - SIDES Kansas City, KS | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2022-09-29 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue - INVITATIONAL CONTEST Kansas City, KS | 158 / 249 (677.0512) | 85 (173.1428) | 119 (170.8572) | 72 (173.1200) | 232 (159.9312) |
| 2022-09-29 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue - OPEN CONTEST Kansas City, KS | 161 / 505 (678.1940) | 165 (170.8228) | 20 (177.1428) | 257 (167.3712) | 300 (162.8572) |
| 2022-09-02 | I Love Barbecue & Music Festival (Masters) (JUDGING FULL) Lake Placid, NY | 10 / 22 (661.0744) | 4 (172.5716) | 13 (157.6916) | 13 (158.8228) | 4 (171.9884) |
| 2022-07-30 | Smoke in the Grove (Day 2) Spring Grove, PA | 19 / 42 (686.2744) | 12 (176.5600) | 37 (161.7144) | 7 (176.0000) | 12 (172.0000) |
| 2022-07-29 | Smoke in the Grove (Day 1) Spring Grove, PA | 7 / 54 (682.2056) | 5 (177.1428) | 4 (174.2628) | 14 (169.6800) | 34 (161.1200) |
| 2022-06-04 | Granite State BBQ Championship - CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES Merrimack, NH | 1 / 37 (691.3712) | 1 (179.4400) | 7 (170.8228) | 4 (173.1428) | 14 (167.9656) |
| 2022-05-13 | Twin Valley Fire and Smoke Morgantown, PA | 2 / 39 (690.7884) | 7 (174.8456) | 13 (167.9772) | 14 (170.2628) | 1 (177.7028) |
| 2022-04-23 | New Jersey KnoQ-out: Day 2-CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES Blairstown, NJ | 1 / 41 (695.4056) | 15 (173.7028) | 3 (174.8572) | 5 (174.2628) | 7 (172.5828) |
| 2022-04-23 | New Jersey KnoQ-out - Master of Ribs - Saturday Night Blairstown, NJ | — | — | 5 (173.1200) | — | — |
| 2022-04-22 | New Jersey KnoQ-out: Day 1-CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES Blairstown, NJ | 30 / 48 (657.6112) | 36 (161.6456) | 28 (163.9772) | 10 (173.1084) | 32 (158.8800) |
| 2022-04-22 | New Jersey KnoQ-out - Master of Ribs - Friday Night Blairstown, NJ | — | — | 4 (170.8456) | — | — |
| 2021-09-25 | Nor'Easter BBQ Showdown Southwick, MA | 9 / 26 (663.3372) | 7 (166.2744) | 10 (163.3944) | 8 (170.2628) | 11 (163.4056) |
| 2021-09-03 | I Love Barbecue & Music Festival Lake Placid, NY | 2 / 15 (695.4284) | 1 (178.2972) | 6 (170.8456) | 3 (177.7028) | 6 (168.5828) |
| 2021-07-30 | Smoke in the Grove Spring Grove, PA | 7 / 54 (676.5488) | 26 (168.0000) | 3 (174.2744) | 14 (171.4172) | 23 (162.8572) |
| 2021-06-12 | Granite State BBQ Championship Hancock, NH | 11 / 32 (667.3716) | 12 (170.2744) | 10 (167.9772) | 13 (165.7144) | 19 (163.4056) |
| 2021-05-14 | Twin Valley Fire and Smoke Morgantown, PA | 1 / 46 (688.5716) | 5 (170.2856) | 4 (172.0116) | 6 (169.6916) | 1 (176.5828) |
| 2021-04-24 | New Jersey KnoQ-out: Day 2-CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES Blairstown, NJ | 12 / 40 (672.4912) | 18 (169.7144) | 15 (167.9656) | 22 (165.7028) | 7 (169.1084) |
| 2021-04-23 | New Jersey KnoQ-out: Day 1-CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES Blairstown, NJ | 14 / 40 (668.5144) | 31 (161.6684) | 21 (163.4172) | 7 (172.5716) | 5 (170.8572) |
| 2020-07-31 | New Jersey KnoQ-out: DAY 2-CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES Blairstown, NJ | 11 / 28 (674.1596) | 8 (171.9656) | 7 (170.2628) | 11 (167.3712) | 17 (164.5600) |
| 2020-07-31 | New Jersey KnoQ-out: Day 1-CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES Blairstown, NJ | 9 / 35 (671.3256) | 11 (171.4172) | 25 (161.0856) | 7 (170.2628) | 10 (168.5600) |
| 2020-07-30 | "Last Chance" KnoQ-out - CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES Blairstown, NJ | 14 / 18 (654.1600) | 16 (166.2972) | 15 (158.2284) | 13 (160.5144) | 4 (169.1200) |
| 2019-09-21 | Oinktoberfest Clarence, NY | 10 / 43 (663.9432) | 9 (167.9772) | 18 (163.4172) | 28 (157.1316) | 2 (175.4172) |
| 2019-09-07 | Green Mountain BBQ Championship- CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES Braintree, VT | 13 / 31 (658.7544) | 12 (170.8228) | 17 (160.5600) | 20 (159.3944) | 10 (167.9772) |
| 2019-08-16 | Hudson Valley Ribfest New Paltz, NY | 16 / 53 (659.9200) | 17 (167.4172) | 14 (166.2744) | 26 (162.2400) | 17 (163.9884) |
| 2019-07-20 | Ribs and Rhythm & Blues Auburn, NY | 8 / 34 (671.9888) | 5 (170.8572) | 11 (170.8572) | 17 (162.8572) | 5 (167.4172) |
| 2019-07-05 | I Love Barbecue & Music Festival Lake Placid, NY | 3 / 32 (668.5600) | 9 (167.9772) | 8 (163.4744) | 19 (161.6456) | 1 (175.4628) |
| 2019-05-25 | Capital BBQ Festival Ottawa, ON | 1 / 43 (674.8800) | 1 (172.5828) | 7 (169.1544) | 17 (163.4056) | 6 (169.7372) |
| 2019-04-27 | New Jersey KnoQ-out CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES Blairstown, NJ | 9 / 43 (673.6800) | 5 (173.1544) | 5 (171.4172) | 23 (159.3712) | 7 (169.7372) |
Team of the Year standings (rank per category by season — year links to the full board on kcbs.us)
| Year | Series | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 ↗ | Master | #833 (159 pts) | #751 (219 pts) | #775 (244 pts) | #957 (129 pts) | #916 (149 pts) |
| 2022 ↗ | Master | #127 (1387 pts) | #158 (1247 pts) | #123 (1390 pts) | #175 (1152 pts) | #183 (1127 pts) |
| 2021 ↗ | Master | #145 (1193 pts) | #200 (943 pts) | #188 (1048 pts) | #185 (1008 pts) | #167 (1068 pts) |
| 2020 ↗ | Master | #309 (366 pts) | #340 (366 pts) | #393 (311 pts) | #318 (391 pts) | #286 (421 pts) |
| 2019 ↗ | Master | #241 (1172 pts) | #235 (1162 pts) | #344 (937 pts) | #615 (557 pts) | #191 (1297 pts) |
| 2018 ↗ | Master | #613 (552 pts) | #558 (672 pts) | #550 (687 pts) | #579 (647 pts) | #658 (562 pts) |
| 2017 ↗ | Master | #1075 (295 pts) | #854 (460 pts) | #1111 (310 pts) | #975 (380 pts) | #1122 (295 pts) |
| 2016 ↗ | Master | #1305 (216 pts) | #915 (401 pts) | #1235 (261 pts) | #1472 (206 pts) | #1232 (256 pts) |